This article was originally written in English by Ana Gotter.
Most brands always wanted more views on their videos on Instagram but since the number of views is shown publicly in each video the pressure has officially become present.
Over the past year, Instagram has positioned itself as one of the Social Networks platform where businesses must implement their marketing strategy. The platform focused on the visual is known for its high levels of interaction, and the videos here are as important as on other platforms. The challenge of brands is to focus on how to get a greater number of views on Instagram videos.
Fortunately, there are some proven methods that will improve the views of your videos and that are backed by statistics and case studies.
Alert: These methods do not include the purchase of followers on Instagram or views of your videos. This will not work and may end up destroying your campaign efforts (you can find out how here or here). Instead, we will analyze four strategies that have proven effective in obtaining more views of videos on Instagram.
1. Choose relevant hashtags
On Instagram, as on Twitter, it is very important to use hashtags and those you choose can directly affect your number of views. An intelligent hashtag may be enough to encourage users to watch your video. Most importantly, the correct hashtag will help you expand your search reach and connect with potential clients who search for those words.
Brands also use hashtags to create videos on trending topics. These topics have a large number of searches and can give you greater visibility quickly. I do not recommend that you only make videos on trending topics but using them occasionally and strategically will help you increase your views.
Instagram posts have an average of up to 12.6% more interaction on average than those without any. In 2015 the best publications contained an average of 2.5 hashtags per publication. And, believe it or not, 70% of the most used hashtags on Instagram are branded hashtags.
The Instagram video campaign of the Zara #iamdenim store is an excellent example of how to use the correct hashtags can have a positive impact on brands. It was a collaborative design project from real people to real people and their videos showed ordinary people and influencers using the products. The result was a great interaction, a high number of views and a growth in the number of followers.
2. Optimize your description
Instagram is and (I assume) will remain a highly visual platform. It's all about the images and the videos. A fairly common mistake I notice is not using descriptions to attract users. This is very important in videos as it can convince users to stay watching instead of continuing browsing.
There are some ways to optimize the descriptions for your video that have been checked:
Your description must be long enough to get attention but not too long for your users to skip it. Keep in mind that a video offers a greater context than a simple photograph. Several studies have shown that there is no ideal length for descriptions. Try what works best for your audience.
Place the most important text before the "see more" button if your description is long. Use spaces to separate paragraphs that make the text easier to read.
Use hashtags to improve interaction.
Mention relevant users specifically to influencers; This can expand your visibility by up to 56%. A case study by Tommy Hilfiger showed an increase of up to 3 times more views than his average when they labeled an influencer.
3. Schedule your posts at key times
While the Instagram algorithm has affected the way we view our posts, programming live videos during key hours can make a big difference. Since much of the interaction on Instagram happens right after being published, knowing the moments when your audience is online can dramatically increase the views of your videos. Once you have a round of good interaction, Instagram will boost your content and increase the number of your views.
