If you’ve stuck around long enough, you know that Instagram is an avid adaptability machine. From its humble beginnings of being a small photograph-sharing platform to being one of the top social media platforms with more than 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram definitely knows how to keep up with the Kardashians. 

“Adaptability is about the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.” - Max McKeown

One of the many changes Instagram has adjusted to is consumers’ shift towards video content. 

“Video content is оnе of thе mоѕt popular mediums for businesses today. And fоr gооd reason: vidео is mоrе engaging, mоrе memorable, аnd mоrе popular аmоng соnѕumеrѕ than аnу оthеr type оf соntеnt. Videos can generate 300% more traffic for your interior design firm. People actually want to watch videos from brands just like yours.”

Excerpt from: 9 Video Ideas You Can't-Miss If You’re Growing a Design Business. Plus Tips to Get You Started.

Why The Sudden Shift To Videos?

Video content has been around long before new IG features like IG Reels came out, so then why does it feel like every single Instagram post is now a video? 

As PTSD-provoking as it may be, I want to take you back to the start of the pandemic. Back when everyone was buying air fryers and stocking up on toilet paper, what was everyone and their mother raving about? TikTok! 

TikTok quite literally changed the game. It changed regular people’s lives, it made small business owners 7 figure earners, and it scared the bejeezus out of Instagram. 

Instagram was quickly becoming second tier to this newbie in the social media platform space, so they quickly strategized a plan, got their engines running, and now here we are with what feels like an overwhelming amount of IG video features and algorithm changes.

Does This Mean The Algorithm Favors Videos Over Images? 

In short, no. It’s a common misconception that the IG algorithm favors video over images, and I understand why people feel this way. 

Video is a better tool to use if you want to show your audience what your brand is about. It creates a medium for you to establish more authentic connections with your audience, and when that audience feels like they know your brand, they are more likely to purchase from and work with you. But the reality is that the algorithm doesn’t favor a video over an image or an image over a video, it simply favors whatever gets better engagement. It just so happens that videos get better engagement over images! But nothing is set in stone regarding the algorithm’s preferences.

Different Video Formats On Instagram

If you’re anything like me, then you’re pretty overwhelmed with all the different IG features. What do they do, which one will help me get more leads, what should I post for each, and the list goes on and on. Sometimes I genuinely feel like I can’t catch a break from all the constant updates and changes that happen on there. But, I did some digging and finally got up to speed with the different video formats on Instagram. 

Related Article: Getting Started on Instagram - How to Promote your Design Business on Instagram

Instagram Stories

According to HubSpot, Instagram Stories allow Instagram users to share photos and videos to their Story — which is visible to followers of the user's Instagram account. Recently-posted Stories are denoted by a gradient border around the user's profile picture. Like Snaps in Snapchat, Instagram Stories disappear after 24 hours. ​​And although you might know the basics of sharing them, there are hidden tools within the app that can make the photos and videos you add to your Story more creative and engaging.

Now stories don’t exactly disappear forever. In fact, the highlight section of a profile’s bio is where expired stories live, like so:

Fun IG features and tools are what make IG stories so popular! Elements like filters, emojis, tags, and stickers can all be added to Stories. Stories are also the only “post” section on Instagram that allows the use of links with IG’s latest “Link” sticker.

IG Stories are where you get to be creative, let people into your day-to-day life, and engage with others in a way that no other video feature allows you to.

Best Practices

Ideal Video Length: 

Up to 15 seconds per slide

Recommended Size:

1080x1920 pixels

Recommended Aspect Ratio:

9:16

Video Ideas: 

• Behind the scenes
• Make a poll
• Create a quiz
• Create a countdown
• Ask for feedback

How Often Should You Post:

At least once every day

Call To Actions To Include:

• Link In Bio
• DM Me
• Click Here For The Link

Instagram Video

Instagram Video is a hybrid of IGTV and in-feed video posts. Instagram Video posts can be posted the same way images are posted through IG’s built-in camera option or by uploading a video from your Photo Library. Opposite to IG Stories, Instagram Videos can be up to 60 minutes in length!

Like a regular image feed post, an IG video post can include a filter, location, caption, user tags, and hashtags. Once posted, users can interact with these videos the same way they would with regular posts, so likes, comments, share, and bookmarks are all allowed.

Like IG Stories, IG Videos also have a dedicated home within your IG profile page. In fact, they now have their own Video tab on a user’s profile which gives marketers an indication that videos are becoming that much more important.

Best Practices

Ideal Video Length:

3 to 60 seconds

Recommended Size:

1080x1350 pixels

Recommended Aspect Ratio:

4:5

Topics:

• Teaser videos: promote a new project
• Time-Lapse video: share a behind the scenes video on a project or your design process
• Explainer video: showcase a process, share a customer, vendor, or project story
• User-generated video: share a video a client shared with you

How Often Should You Post:

2-3 times per week

Call To Actions To Include:

• Visit the link in my bio to get started!
• Like this if you enjoyed this video!
• Share this with a friend you think would benefit from this!

Instagram Live

Instagram Live is where you can live video stream from Instagram’s built-in camera. This feature has especially become popular during the pandemic era. With businesses going remote, brands and celebrities have been taking advantage of Instagram Lives to host workshops, interviews, product reveals, and much more!

Live streams can last up to four hours and be hosted by one or two accounts. When an account goes live, they appear at the front of the Stories bar with a “Live” icon. Once the live is over, the video can be shared for up to 30 days before it gets deleted.

The number of live viewers watching a live stream appears at the top of the screen where people can engage by posting comments or emoji reactions. Some viewers even purchase badges so that heart icons appear next to their name in the comments. Instagram Live hosts can pin comments, turn comments off, or set up keyword filters to moderate some comments.

Best Practices

Ideal Video Length:

60 minutes

Recommended Size:

1080x1920 pixels

Recommended Aspect Ratio:

9:16

Topics:

• Interview an interior design influencer
• Share behind the scenes on a special project
• Share a free master class 

How Often Should You Post:

Once a week

Call To Actions To Include:

During the IG live, encourage viewers to engage with the link you’ve included in your bio

IG Reels

IG Reels is Instagram’s latest video format. Directly inspired by TikTok’s platform, these videos can be anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds long, created with Instagram’s built-in camera, or uploaded from your Photo Library.

IG Reels have been especially popular on Instagram because accounts have been able to exponentially grow their reach through this feature like no other feature has been able to. Recording effects include timed text, AR filters, green screen mode, timer and speed controls, and access to IG’s audio library. 

IG Reels are also displayed in a user’s feed, the Reels tab, and a dedicated profile tab.

Like Instagram Videos, IG Reels can include captions, hashtags, and most recently, product tags! Users can engage with Reels by liking, commenting, or sharing.

Best Practices

Ideal Video Length:

15 to 30 seconds

Recommended Size:

1080x1920 pixels

Recommended Aspect Ratio:

9:16

Topics:

• Participate in trending challenges
• Show Before and Afters
• Answer frequently asked questions
• Share your experience as an interior designer
• Share a common design challenge

How Often Should You Post:

At least once a day

Call To Actions To Include:

• Follow for more tips!
• Like and Follow for more interior design tips!
• Tag a friend that can relate to this!

How To: Build A Strategy to Maximize Time and Effort While Generating More Leads

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, it’s important to note which formats work best for interior designers. Keeping in mind that our time as designers is already limited, I focused on the formats that would yield the maximum results:

✔️ Instagram Stories

As mentioned, Instagram Stories make you more relatable, easy-going, and it gives your audience an inside look into your work, your personality, your day-to-day life as a designer, and overall it builds loyalty and trust with your audience. Because IG stories are also the easiest to create therefore less time-consuming to create, it is one of my top picks. 

✔️ IG Reels

IG Reels are in my opinion, the most important video format on Instagram right now. Due to the fact that it has exploded other users’ accounts and they’re not difficult to make either, I would highly focus my attention on creating IG Reels around interior design.

Now I know how frustrating it can feel to be present on social media, especially when in order to succeed online, you have to be present what feels like 24/7. Thankfully, I have a couple of strategies I’d like to share with you on how to maximize your time and effort when creating video content for IG...

- Keep Videos Short

As a study by Hubspot found, the perfect video length on Instagram is just 26 seconds. 

- Use Subtitles

An astounding 83% of people watch videos online with the sound turned off, and 50% of people want captions so they can watch videos on mute. So if there's a message, tip, or lesson you want to communicate, then I suggest you include captions in your videos.

- Plan Videos Ahead

This tip will save you hours of stress and frustration! I know how busy our schedules as designers and business owners are, so creating time for recording video content can feel close to impossible. With that, I recommend designating a specific day out of the month to strictly record video content. On this day, start by doing some research first. Figure out how many videos you'd need to record in order to have a full month's worth of content, all the way from IG Stories to IG Reels. Look for some ideas and inspiration on Instagram, TikTok, or even Pinterest. Once you've made a clear outline of each video you'd like to create, you're now ready to start filming!

- Video Scheduler

Unfortunately, IG Reels still have to be uploaded manually so there is no way around using a third-party application to automatically post these for you, but all other forms of videos on Instagram can be scheduled ahead of time! After you've created your month's worth of content, take some time to schedule as many videos ahead of time as you can through apps like Later. For the IG Reels that need to be posted manually, create 'ready to be published' drafts of each IG Reel so that when the publishing day comes for each particular video, all you need to do is press 'Post'!

If you made it all the way to the end of this post, thanks for sticking around and I can't wait to see the amazing videos you create online. Also, please feel free to follow me on Instagram as well so that I can check your videos out and comment on your amazing work!