Another year, another social media innovation. Just when you thought you’d got to grips with Instagram, out came Insta Stories and IGTV, two new marketing possibilities for brands just like yours.

Of course, it’s not all bad. While you will have to spend time getting to grips with both of these features, the good news is that they’re both awesome for generating leads.

How awesome? Well, Instagram has eclipsed one billion users and both Insta Stories and IGTV allow your brand to stand out from the crowd and grab more conversions.

Number of monthly active Instagram users from January 2013 to June 2018 (in millions)

Let’s take a look at how to do just that.

Reuse your old content

Thought you were going to have to create lots of new video content? Let’s face it, creating new content on a regular basis is time-consuming and expensive. So if you are noticing a decrease in the engagement you are getting, don’t panic!

While you will have to create new content at some point, the good news is that you can also repurpose some of your old, well-performing content.

For example, there’ll be awesome videos you’ve got on your Facebook and YouTube channels that you can post again to IGTV.

Gary Vee does this all the time. He takes popular content from his DailyVee show and re-posts it to the ‘Gram.

Gary Vee’s video on YouTube. Notice how he reposts it to IGTV 👇

 

That said, you might not want to re-post a video in all its glory. Instead, you can adapt your content to the specific medium that is IGTV. For example, you could turn a video into a listicle vid, or you can take bits and pieces out of another video and turn it into a ‘short tips’ video.

Turn your video into a listicle vid or take bits and pieces out of another video and turn it into a ‘short tips’ video.

Just be creative and see what works best with your audience.

The more awesome content you reuse, the higher your chances of growing your followers fast. Then, you’ve got lots of leads on your hands.

You could also create a lead magnet that builds on a particular piece of content, but which people need to hand over their email address to get access to. For example, if you’ve created content that solves a particular problem but which doesn’t solve it 100%, create a lead magnet that fills in the gaps.

Content is a great way to generate more leads via Instagram because it’s what builds relationships. The more awesome content you deliver, the more people will listen to you. And when you reuse old content and repurpose content, you don’t have to put in too much work yourself at this point. Which means you can instead focus on other ways of generating more leads. Such as …

Share exclusive content

What do your biggest fans want? Exclusive content!

Exclusive content is a great way to build a new audience and generate more leads. Why? Because insider content brings people closer to your brand. It helps to foster bonds and makes them feel like they’re really a part of what you’re doing.

Insider content brings people closer to your brand.

Plus, exclusive means they’re getting access to content that other people aren’t. Win.

What kind of exclusive content could you produce? Behind-the-scenes content is always popular. You could, for example, give your customers an insight into what really goes on at your business. And usually, this type of content doesn’t require heavy editing, which is awesome for you.

 

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Публикация от Dunkin’ (@dunkin) 12 Окт 2018 в 12:01 PDT

But you could take people on a tour wherever your business goes, such as industry trade shows or speaking engagements. Take people with you, share your business with them and make them feel special.

Another option is to invite an industry expert over for an interview on your IGTV channel. This way, you can share things like tech news in a creative and compelling way.

Don’t forget to add a call to action at the end to your Instagram posts that make people aware of your exclusive content. Offer lots of value with your regular posts and direct them to where they can follow you for more.

People want what others don’t have access to.

Exclusive content will always work for generating leads simply because it’s exclusive. People want what others don’t have access to, and what offers them value that goes above and beyond expectations.

Create tutorials

When a product is really hard to use, how can you help people understand what it’s about? With a product tutorial.

After all, if your prospects like the look of your product but can’t figure out how to use it, they’re hardly going to buy it.

Product tutorials make people feel good about your brand because it shows them that you care about them. You’re going to go out of your way to teach them about your products.

 

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Milk test. 🥛

A post shared by Jak Snow’s Magic Spray (@magicspraybyjaksnow) on Jun 13, 2019 at 3:01am PDT

You could start with a simple how-to style video, but you could also branch out and get more creative.

For example, you could go the whole hog and create an actual class. This would be a feature-length tutorial – such as a fitness class – that allows you to put together an arsenal of evergreen content that positions your brand as the experts.

Make sure your tutorials are engaging, of course, and make sure to include a link directing people to the product itself at the end of your tutorials.

Optimize the length of your Instagram Stories

Instagram Stories last for 15 seconds at the most, which doesn’t give you much leeway. That said, some of the highest performing videos on the internet are super short, with Hubspot admitting that their shorter videos perform a lot better than their longer ones.

With that in mind, long your videos are is really down to you and what’s best for your audience. While you could create ultrashort 3-second Stories, you might also have 4 different screens running one after the other to tell your story.

Alternatively, you might decide to create a 15-second Story and have just one screen.

Why would you have more than one screen?

It just depends on what your message is. You might decide that more screens suit your audience better, or you might decide that one screen is enough. Experiment and test.

Experiment and test with how often you should include a call to action, too. It’s not necessary to add a CTA to every single Instagram Story you create, as that’s an overkill. Consider adding one to the end of every 3 Stories you do.

Keeping your Instagram Stories short is a great way to generate more leads because there’s less time for your prospects’ minds to wander. You’re being direct, specific and engaging, and you’re not taking up too much of their time.

As a bonus, you’re making them thirsty for more.

Create your own IGTV show!

Always wanted to create your own show for television but never had the chance? Well, now that IGTV is here, you’ve got your chance.

IGTV gives brands like yours the opportunity to generate more leads via your very own recurring ‘TV show.’ You could put out new content for it each week, each month – or even each day, like Gary Vee does.

Whatever you do, a recurring TV show is a great idea because it means your brand is going to be in the mind of your audience fairly often. They’ll eventually expect a new episode – and perhaps they’ll even look forward to it.

People will only keep watching if you give them a reason to watch.

Consistency is key, but so is excitement. People will only keep watching if you give them a reason to watch. Make sure your videos are compelling and exciting, but also make sure to keep the information and actionable advice coming.

At the end of each episode, add a call to action that tells your viewers what to do next:

• subscribe to your email address
• head on over to your website to buy the product featured in the video
• visit your YouTube channel for more content, etc.

The CTA should be related to that particular episode.

Creating your own IGTV show is effective because it humanizes your brand, which is essential for building trust. Consumers on social media don’t want to be sold the hard way. Instead, they want realness from a brand – and they want you to deliver as much value as you can. Tutorials help you do that.

Invite your customers to make their own videos

Social proof is an amazing thing. If you can get your customers to make videos about themselves and share them on your IGTV, you’re onto a winner.

Why? Because people trust other people. In fact, they probably trust them more than they trust you, with 60% of customers saying user-generated content is the most authentic type of content around.

You could invite your customers to make their own testimonials, or perhaps they could make a short video using (and loving) your product.

Alternatively, you could invite them to your IGTV to demonstrate to others how they use (and how much they love) your products. And of course, don’t forget to leverage influencer marketing in this strategy, too.

Invite your customers to your IGTV and show others how they use (and how much they love) your products.

You don’t need to invite celebrities with millions of followers. Instead, try to find micro-influencers among your customers and invite them to collaborate. Most of them will be more than happy to participate.

For each ‘fan story’ make sure you only tell part of it on IGTV. Then, add a piece of text that says something like ‘to see the rest of Tom’s story (and others just like him), click the link in the bio.’

User-generated content is a fab way to get more leads because it’s a form of genuine, human advertising. Plus, it’s social proof, which always works.

Conclusion

Instagram is one of the best ways to generate more leads for your business in 2019. To get an edge on your rivals, you just need to be a bit creative and imaginative with how you make your videos. As long as your videos are engaging, snappy, educational and – where permissible – fun, you should find that Instagram becomes your new best friend.

Make sure to make the most of IGTV insights, too, so that you keep track of how well your videos are performing.

About the author: 

Aljaz Fajmut is a digital marketer, internet entrepreneur, and the founder of Nightwatch— a search visibility tool of the next generation. Check out Nightwatch blog for SEO and marketing tips and follow him on Twitter @aljazfajmut