Create bite-sized short videos for your content strategy

Are you a business owner or creative and want to try a new trend for your content strategy? Looking to increase the engagement of your videos? Video marketing is a vital tool to your content strategy, so trying new techniques and trends to increase your engagement and business goals opens your company up for more growth opportunities. If your videos tend to be on the long side, find out how short videos can also fit in your video marketing strategy.

Short-form videos last up to 30 seconds, 2 minutes, or 10 minutes, but it mostly depends on the platform. Generally, shorter videos are better as it is more concentrated on one concept. This is a content medium on the major platforms, including YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels, and targets consumers who watch short-form videos as their source of news and entertainment. Shorter videos are very beneficial as they can boost your Google search ranking, increase your viewer’s time on your website, and increase open rates in email newsletters when “video” is in the subject line.

The type of content to put in your short video is unlimited. Your short videos will need to be creative and concise to capture your audience’s attention in a short time frame. To help stay on track, write down the main points you want to talk about in your video. Some ideas for short-form content are product demonstrations, behind-the-scenes clips, customer testimonials, promotions, and live-streaming videos. As technology increases, so does the accessibility of video production. Feel free to use your phone or a camera to record your video, following any video guidelines the platforms have before uploading. Once the video has been on social media for a while, check your video goals and continue to monitor how other brands are conquering short-form videos to use to your advantage.

Credit: Pamela Kock How You Can Add Short-Form Video to Your Content Strategy

Video marketing trends for 2021

Analyzing and monitoring trends is an essential component of your video marketing strategy. As more companies are using videos for their business strategy and more viewers are watching videos, the strategies and aspects of video have changed over time. Let’s review popular video marketing trends to implement for your audience.

Stories are everything on social media. Limited timed stories are a trending feature on social media as they are usually done at the moment and show more authenticity to your audience. This feature is a great opportunity to advertise your products or answer frequently asked questions.

One of the platforms with a story feature is Instagram. Instagram has over 500 million active users a day, and 250 million users use the story feature on the app, while 65% of marketers plan to use the feature in 2021, according to Wyzowl. Plan on also uploading videos on IGTV, as this feature is becoming popular. Another popular app with a high engagement rate of 52.1%, according to CloutMeter, is TikTok. TikTok thrives on its short videos. It is the app to monitor future trends and connect with consumers on the app.

If your business is in the B2B market, videos also have a strong impact as many B2B customers watch authentic videos before making a purchasing decision. According to Animoto, 58% of consumers look at a brand’s social media profile before going on the website to find more information. Make sure the social media platforms are up to date with current content about your business. On LinkedIn, videos showcase your company and products to your network. Aim to have your video length be on the short side and capture your audience’s attention in the first three seconds. Videos are such a versatile piece of content, so create original and entertaining videos for your audience.

Credit: Written by Ivana Vnučec 6 Video Marketing Trends for 2021

Update your video marketing with these tips

Video is an active force in our current lives. If you upload videos onto your website, email newsletter, and social media, do you know if your type of video is trending? What types of video content is popular in 2021? Let’s view which video types you should consider for your business.

Video marketing works to connect your customers and viewers through all sorts of educational, informative, and entertaining content. Your company should have videos about your brand story, product demos, testimonials, and employee training. Now, how you talk about the type of content can be expressed through multiple types of video content such as YouTube shorts, IGTV or TikTok videos for how-to videos, live streaming to further connect with your audience, and 360º video for a truly unique experience.

Videos are an opportunity for your company to improve SEO, increase conversion rates and brand awareness. Viewers retain more information on video than other forms of content, which can help them make buying decisions. Whether you’re creating videos to promote your brand, product, or service, try your hand with these types of videos to boost your marketing strategy.

Written by: Kathi Fuhrman 2021 VIDEO MARKETING TIPS

TikTok's Magic

“I don’t think there’s any other social media platform that is directly increasing traffic of others. I think TikTok is best at that.”

Hear MontaVega Media’s COO Matthew Rogers share his experience and insights on TikTok’s algorithm and how impactful the platform is to increasing traffic across other social media platforms.

Listen to this episode again as we talk about the importance of building trust in your client relationships, using past work to guide clients towards a decision, the importance of building a team that strengthens your weaknesses, and why TikTok is the best social media platform right now because of the favorable algorithm which increases traffic across all platforms.

Listen to episode 53 on Apple Podcasts here: Developing Client Relationships, Effective Growth Tips For TikTok, And The Importance Of Building The Right Tea‪m‬

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LOL! Let humor thrive in your video campaigns

Laugh a little. Laugh a lot. Go ahead! It will make you and your viewers happy. Give your viewers insight into who your company is on a personal level. One way to do that is by using humor. Ready to see how humor uplifts your video advertising campaigns? Our reasons below will encourage you to start adding those jokes to your scripts and strategy.

We all know the power video marketing has on your brand; it can strengthen the relationship of your consumers by keeping them entertained and informed. We also understand the power viral videos have on our social media feeds. We are compelled to watch and share within our network. Humor is a strong factor in these viral videos. People love to laugh and share videos that made them laugh on social media. Humor will help your videos get your company noticed as it’s more than a video showcasing a product’s features and benefits, but it’s a video showing personality. Using humor also reveals a brand’s approachability and empathy.

When incorporating humor into your strategy, know who your audience is and post the video to YouTube to increase your likelihood to appear high on the search results. Make your customers feel comfortable and informed about your brand. It’s important to note that while humor can make an awkward situation into a laughable one or a relatable situation, not every joke is going to carry over to your audience. That is why it is best to place the humor naturally in the conversation, keep them short, use proper timing, and avoid talking about a serious topic that could be deemed too lighthearted and devalues its severity. Humor is a great tool to use in your marketing campaigns to increase engagement for your brand.

Credit: Scenic Road WHY HUMOR WORKS IN ADVERTISING AND YOUTUBE CAMPAIGNS

What's Trending For Video Marketing in 2021?

Video continues to be the content medium used in industries ranging from insurance firms to charities. As video continues to be rampant with consumption in 2021, it is time to monitor which video marketing trends will be present this year.

Social media platforms continue to offer new features to their platforms. LinkedIn introduced two new features added at the end of 2020 to join the channels with prominent social video and live-streaming abilities. Strategize how using LinkedIn Stories and LinkedIn Live can help your professional videos. Increased social media use calls for more opportunities to appeal to your audience. With most users using multiple platforms to communicate with others, your company should also branch out onto the social media platforms and create content that reflects your brand and product offering in different video formats and aspect ratios.

Regarding your video creation process, expect to see more industries adapting and improving the work from home video content approach with podcasts, Zoom calls, and live events. Adaptation is key, and if you’re struggling with how to inform your consumers about a product or service, then incorporate explainer videos into your video marketing. According to Google, about 70% of viewers watch YouTube videos to assist in a problem they have. Use explainer videos to guide your audience to make the right decision for them. Continue to test and monitor these trends while promoting valuable and relatable content.

Credit: The Animation Guys 2021 Video Marketing Trends To Look Out For

Top reasons to include animation in your video marketing strategy for 2021

By now, you should know that video has been a present force in how consumers connect and become knowledgeable of your brand. As marketers and small business owners, fine-tuning your marketing strategy is another part of the process of a successful video marketing campaign. If you’re looking for more ideas on video marketing, look no further than animation. Animation has always been a popular video style in cinema. So why not use animation in your own explainer videos? Doubtful? We’ll reveal the top reasons to include animation in your video marketing strategy for 2021.

It’s important to note that video marketing will be incredibly important this year. If the average person watches 100 minutes of video a day and there is a 14% increase in video strategy implementation from 2015 to 2020, according to a Marketing Charts survey and HubSpot, then there’s no reason not to explore how your video marketing strategy can succeed in 2021.

Explainer videos are powerful on their own: your company becomes an educational source to your consumers, which further increases the trust and relationship between consumer and company. Add animation to the mix, and viewers will want to see what’s next in-store. This does well for brand awareness and helps you stand out from the competition. Explain your brand story, products, or services without feeling like you’re not connecting with your audience. An animated explainer video has engaging visuals, voice-overs, and music for your consumers to watch, understand and retain the information about your product or service.

Including an animated explainer video in your video marketing strategy demonstrates the effort your company makes to present complex topics that are meaningful and informational to the consumer. The eye-catching visuals in your thumbnail may stop consumers mid-scroll, but the visuals, voice-overs, and music will keep them watching.

Credit: Ripple Animation Why 2021 Will Be the Year of Animated Video Marketing

Here Is What You Should Do For Your B2B and B2C Video Marketing

Still thinking about incorporating video into your marketing strategy? Are you wondering how video is making an impact in B2C and B2B marketing? Video marketing is increasingly becoming the medium marketers use to share their message with their consumers. Due to its popularity, there have been changes in how consumers and viewers react to the company’s offerings. Before we go into depth on the changes facing the B2B & B2C sectors, let’s dive into the benefits of video marketing these companies have experienced.

Videos are full of possibilities in the eyes of marketers. The outward goal of spreading the message is visible to the consumer. But the underlying goal in the same video is to increase the brand awareness to the viewers who watch the video. Videos create a cost-effective experience for the consumer that combines different mediums (text, images, audio) in a short timeframe to provide information to the viewer on your brand values, your products or services, and your brand story. It’s all about connecting potential customers and current customers to your brand story. That connection, backed by the storytelling strategy, has proven to increase ROI as 80% of viewers recall branded videos. An increased brand awareness, conversions, and low cost in video advertising all mean well, but how does that correlate to B2B and B2C companies?

B2C companies are focusing on the storytelling aspect of video marketing. Consumers want to be able to envision themselves using the product or service. One way companies are serving this change is through influencer marketing and interactive product videos. If consumers see an influencer unboxing and demonstrating how a product is used and incorporated into their lifestyle consumers will start to picture themselves using the product. Video testimonials and immersive product videos also are on the rise in B2C companies. In B2B companies, videos are created based on the stages of the sales funnel. Live videos and webinars are also an option to connect with your audience, while repurposing content from the blog can provide a B2B company with content lined up ready to reach an audience on different platforms. Videos are not going anywhere anytime soon, so as these changes are changing how marketing operates, adapt to the changes with video marketing by your side.

Credit: Written by Modern Diplomacy How Video Marketing Is Changing B2B & B2C Marketing

8 Industries Where Video Marketing is Needed

More industries are using videos in their marketing strategy. Video marketing is a powerful and versatile medium to further connect with your customers. Videos don't just help foster the relationship between you and the customer; they also can increase sales, conversions, and trust. Don’t know if your company should include videos? Not to worry, because we have a list of the 8-industries that need a video marketing strategy.

Let’s preface this by saying having a video marketing strategy is necessary for all industries. Video marketing is the opportunity for companies to showcase their products/services and improve the engagement with their customers through the content in the video. The industries: SAAS (software as a service), travel & hospitality, healthcare, education, agencies, law, finance, and E-commerce, have many terms and competitors that make it difficult for a customer to identify what they need; and which company is best for them. Establish a relationship with your potential customers by creating video types such as brand videos, product demos, explainer videos, and testimonials. This will give your customers a bit of insight into what your company is like before they make their important decision.

Trust is a crucial aspect of these industries and is one of the goals in video marketing. Create a human-side approach to your business through a video marketing strategy. There are tools and resources to create videos without needing a production company. Don’t discount your industry as a reason why a strategy isn’t used. Try it and see how it works for your company.

Credit: Margot Whitney 8 Industries That Must Have a Video Marketing Strategy

Promoting Your Videos

Looking for the best strategies to get views to your video once it’s uploaded? Promotional efforts start by understanding the type of traffic on the platform or blogs you want to reach. Once that is determined, upload the video with an engaging post filled with relevant keywords and hashtags when your audience is active on the platform. In this clip from our video content course, we go over the tactics you need to do to promote your videos on social media through organic reach and paid ads.

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Video Marketing is Statistically Bound to Make an Impact in Your Business

Are you a facts-based person and need to know why you should invest your time and effort into video marketing? We understand how necessary it is to have all the facts and research handy before jumping into a new activity. That’s why we have a list of popular video marketing statistics that proves why your content strategy needs video marketing.

Videos are meant to grab your viewer’s attention. When a video is on your landing page, more potential customers will spend about 88% more time on your site, especially if the video is what led them to your landing page. That’s right! Videos help with SEO. In addition to SEO, 88% of marketers using videos in their strategy see a return on investment in video marketing, according to Animoto. Incorporating video marketing can increase sales, conversion rates, brand awareness, and the level of trust between your business and the customer.

What’s one way you can increase the trust with your customers? By creating content that ranges from entertaining, informational, and educational, all with the goals of appealing to your audience and showcasing more sides of your business. Explainer videos do well in this regard as they allow your business to share your knowledge on a topic or share more about your business. 96% of users watch explainer videos to help them learn about a related term in your industry or about your product or service. Those users also prefer to watch videos made from a brand or business, according to HubSpot. About 85% of U.S. internet users watch online videos, according to Statista. That percentage of internet users can wind up watching your video. You’ll want to grab their attention with interesting authentic content that is optimized for the platform and device your viewers may be watching on. One of the platforms you should upload on is YouTube. A majority of marketers are already using video marketing on the platform, with nine out of ten marketers planning on using YouTube for video marketing, according to Wyzowl, so it makes sense to join your competition and start uploading videos there. Videos are a very versatile content medium that’s set to work with your brand and better your content marketing strategy.

Credit: Written by Katherine Rundell 7 Popular Video Marketing Statistics of 2020

Find Your Optimal Video Length for the Best Engagement

So you’ve entered into the world of video marketing and you’re already uploading videos to your audience! Great job! Are those videos meeting the engagement goals you set for them? Have you considered that the video length is a possible reason for not hitting your goal? If not, don’t worry, because our guide goes over the conditions in a video that could determine the engagement.

Before we get into the video length, it’s crucial to consider the other reasons why viewers might not fully watch your video. When you create videos for your business, you may create them to be informative, educational, or entertaining. The videos you upload are to appeal to your target audience, optimizing for the device they are on. This is where viewing your analytics plays a role. Look into where your viewers are watching your video as well as when the engagement tends to drop. This will help you create content that keeps them engaged throughout the video. After you’ve adjusted the content, target audience, and device optimization, if needed, let’s move on to the video length.

Video length is a good metric to review towards understanding your viewers, as you can pinpoint where most of your viewers finished the video and what they might have missed after they left the video. Each video type has a desired length that has optimal engagement. Most videos that perform well vary between 30-119 seconds, according to The Next Web. However, according to Wisita, a 2-minute video can do well in engagement. However, don’t be restricted to create videos within two minutes. The longer your video is, the more you will have to stay connected with your audience as engagement continues to drop.

Here are some strategies to include in the context of your video to help your customers stay engaged. Focus on one main subject and if that subject is a pain point your customer requested, that’s even better because you will have their attention during the video. To ensure that, write the pain point or main subject in the title, caption, and keywords of the video. Don’t forget to add captions and include a CTA to take them to another video or through a sales funnel. If you’re planning on uploading your video on social media, keep in mind that those platforms have varying optimal video lengths as well. Now your short, concise, engaging video is ready to be uploaded! For more information, click the article below.

Credit: Jesica Mraz Short vs. Long Videos: What is the Best Explainer Video Length?

Effective Marketing Strategies to Drive Customers

Last week, we shared with you our feature in Feedspot’s Top 40 Video Production Blogs and Websites To Follow in 2020. Now let’s take a look at these brands who went viral, focusing on the takeaways of each. We’ve got many strategies to share, so let’s get started!

Dominique Ansel Bakery created a pastry that blended his current offering of croissants and a customer suggestion of donuts. The bakery focused on the quality of the cronuts than the quantity. That helped his bakery control the demand of his customers.

Another viral success story comes from the fashion and apparel short shorts brand, Chubbies. After a successful initial test, the founders spent months building their brand and their inventory. That time spent was necessary as they were able to narrow in on an ideal customer and brand story they could target and expand on in the future. When companies go viral, not every viewer is going to know who your company is. Having a strong brand identity before sending your content lets those in and out of your target audience know who you are.

Some more strategies are to utilize ongoing trends, reach outside your target audience, and use user-generated content on social media. Finally, create content that is appealing, relevant, and drives customers to action, regardless if it goes viral or not. Always remember to have a strategy and PR plan in place when you have more demand for your product or service or when engagement is increasing. These takeaways provide useful strategies business owners can implement for their own brand.

Credit: Written by Meg Prater Help! My Brand Went Viral: 16 Small Brands That Made It Big

Social Media Video Marketing Tips Every Small Business Owner Should Know

Are you a small business owner and are struggling with your online presence? Have you considered uploading videos about you and your company to social media? Videos on social media are only increasing, with Facebook seeing a 258% increase in branded videos from 2016-2017. Your videos will have a higher chance of getting noticed if you follow these following tips.

Outside of your goals for your business, consider adding these to your video marketing strategy. Create videos that draw your viewers' attention, sustain their attention, and leads them to an action outside the video. To start, think of the social media user in mind when you create your appealing video. Looking for ideas on what to post? Look no further than in your FAQ section. Your frequently asked questions section is a fantastic source for video content because you will be creating videos that answer your target audience’s questions and shows that you acknowledge their questions. Have some background footage from a recent company video? Post it! Don’t have a video? Do it live! Live-streaming is an excellent way to authentically show who you and your company are while interacting and informing viewers on company news or a product or service your company has to offer.

Another opportunity for engagement is to create short attention-grabbing videos. Focus on grabbing their attention in the first 30 seconds of your video. Telling an enriching story that draws your viewers in and connects them to the story is an idea. Think about creating short informational or how-to videos that appeal to a customer’s question or pain point that leaves the customer wanting more videos. When they’re looking for more of your videos or how to interact with your company, the best place to tell them is in a CTA. Include a Call-to-Action at the end of your video that directs viewers, whether it’s to sign up for an email list or to click a link for related material; make the CTA clear and actionable.

Once you’ve created your engaging video, upload it natively. Native videos play automatically on the platform it was uploaded to, as opposed to external video links. Your viewers want to watch videos on the platform their currently watching videos on. Taking them away to YouTube when they were on Facebook won’t help your Facebook video’s engagement as expressed by the 478% more shares Facebook native videos have than external video links, in a study by Quintly. Uploading engaging short native videos will do wonders for your business! For more information about how social media videos can help your business, check out more tips in the article!

Credit: Written by Sean 7 Social Media Video Marketing Tips for Your Small Business

Platform Research

Let's focus on the platforms your videos will be displayed on after you've created a video creation strategy. Understanding what and how your ideal customer engages in video content will help you determine where and how to reach your viewers. In this clip from our video content course, we also uncover the benefits of posting videos natively on platforms.

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Know the Reason why Millennials Love Watching Videos

Does your target market feature Millenials? Are you wondering how to reach them through video marketing? The methods and strategies of marketing have drastically improved in a way that strives to understand the customer on a personalized buying journey. If your target market features Generation Y or Millennials, you’ll want to understand why they are so attached to videos, and how you as a small business owner or creative, can leverage this knowledge for your own video content strategy.

Before you start to create engaging content for millennials, you’ll need to understand their purchasing behavior and why fellow marketers are targeting this generation. Members of the younger generation are watching more videos through streaming services and social media. According to this article, millennials spend at least one hour a day watching videos. About 84% of millennials follow brands on Facebook, and they are more likely to purchase a product after watching a video than someone born in a later generation, according to a Mashable article. Adjust your current marketing strategy and feature your company’s products and services on platforms your target market will be on. Be wary about how your content is portrayed to young people. As millennials are people who have grown up in the digital boom, they are used to avoiding advertisements that are inauthentic.

Overall, if you want to reach a millennial who loves watching videos and sharing them with their network, you’re going to want to create authentic, thought-provoking, engaging videos that demonstrate your products and services and company well. They want to be entertained and informed! For more tips on how to target and understand millennials, the article has more interesting facts and statistics below!

Credit: Written by Shaq Abboud Why Are Millennials So Attracted To Video Marketing?

Need More Reasons to Implement Video Advertising? Read This.

What are the key reasons for utilizing video advertising in your business? Still wondering what your return on investment is if you were to invest in video advertising? Continue reading because our article has nine reasons for how using video advertising is beneficial for your business.

If you’re a business owner, you understand how important it is to reach your target market. If you haven’t been using video to advertise your business, you may be wondering what results using video marketing may have. For starters, your video has the potential to be shared and viewed across multiple platforms and potential customers, especially on mobile devices. With video being the main medium to absorb content, the viewers that see your videos can turn into your customers.

While using video is an excellent way to promote your products and services in your company, it is also a great idea to use videos to inform or share stories to viewers about what your company, industry, or certain products are about. Using this video this way is a great opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge of terms in your industry or answering any questions potential customers may have.

According to the article, 92% of B2B prospects watch videos, and around ⅓ of online shoppers purchase a product after viewing a product video. Another reason you should continue and start adding videos to the type of content you upload is that adding a video to your product will show a 35% increase the chance a potential customer buys your product. Uploading videos can also help with your SEO.

Once you add videos to your choice of content, you will see the difference in how it performs among your other forms of content. So start creating your story in your video and grab the attention of your future consumers!

Credit: Steve Day The 9 Key Advantages to Video Advertising

Lights! Camera! Action! What Else Should You Include in Your YouTube Videos?

Having difficulty maintaining an audience to watch your YouTube videos? If you are uploading videos on this platform, it is especially important to include information that makes your video discoverable and interesting to an outside viewer. Confused about where to start? We’ve got the basic information and tips to include to help you upload your videos to YouTube. We explain what the keywords, thumbnails, categories, end cards, descriptions, and titles have on your videos’ audience engagement and reach.

Uploading videos to YouTube requires more than just simply selecting the file. There are multiple steps that will dramatically help you to reach your target audience and upload more efficiently, and we’re here to help you with some of the basics. 

First of all, videos can actually be uploaded from both computers and mobile devices. On mobile, you can upload videos you have on your camera roll, or film something to directly upload. 

There are various elements that will help you reach your audience, these being titles, descriptions, categories, and keywords. Titles may seem self-explanatory, but are incredibly instrumental in a user’s decision to click on your video or not. Descriptions will normally have a short paragraph describing your video and may include links to things such as your website or other videos. Keywords are words associated with your video that you can include in the upload process. These can be researched using tools such as Google Adwords and will help users find your video when searching phrases that include your keywords. Lastly, categories are what your video roughly falls into, such as music, gaming, or comedy. Only one category can be chosen, however, so pick what category your video fits into best if it would work with several. 

Thumbnails, along with titles, will be the first thing that users see about your video, and so are extremely important. Thumbnails should have an aspect ratio of 16x9, and ideally a resolution of 720p.

Lastly, end cards can be added to the last little bit of your video. These can direct users, with only one click, to subscribe to your channel, another one of your videos, playlists, another user’s channel, or even your website. These can be great to keep the user engaged with your content after watching your video.

How to Upload Videos to Facebook

Facebook videos are known for reaching a large number of people. So why not create your own video and upload it to your Facebook page or profile? Don’t know how? Stay tuned, we’ve got an incredible guide that offers tips and information surrounding uploading videos onto the platform. This video touches on uploading on Instagram through Facebook and on the available aspect ratios, file sizes, and maximum run time you should know to post effectively on the platform!

When it comes to uploading videos to social media platforms, Facebook is certainly on the easier side. However, there are still a few pointers that will help you boost your efficiency and effectiveness when uploading. That’s exactly what we’re here to help you with.

 Videos are uploaded alongside a post, which will be a description of your video, company, etc to pull users into watching your video.

Unlike Instagram, Facebook is fully available on both computers and mobile devices, and the process of uploading videos is the same on both platforms.

Facebook videos have multiple technical requirements. They should be MP4 files, under a file size of 10GB and a run time of 240 minutes, or 4 hours. They also should be ideally a resolution of 1080P, for videos with aspect ratios of 16:9.

There are 3 aspect ratios available for Facebook videos: 16:9, or “landscape”, 1:1, or “square” and 9:16, or portrait. Both native Facebook videos and ads use all 3 of these aspect ratios. Collections ads, however, only use 16:9 and 1:1, and carousel ads use only 1:1.

Lastly, you can connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts to allow simultaneous uploads between the two platforms. This can be very helpful in reducing time if you run multiple social media pages.

Video Uploading Tips: Instagram Edition

New to posting videos on Instagram? Looking for video uploading rules or strategies to implement so your videos don’t look cut off in your profile? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with our video that goes into the basic tips into uploading videos on Instagram. We explain the certain aspect ratios, resolution sizes, as well as the recommended device needed to upload videos onto the platform. Know all the components of uploading to Instagram, and soon your videos will be IG ready!

Instagram is probably one of, if not the most confusing platforms to upload videos to. With what seems like a million different aspect ratios and rules, it can be overwhelming. That’s why we’re here to provide you with the basics and have you racking up views and likes in no time.

First of all, there are two types of videos on Instagram: regular videos, which are under 60 seconds, and IGTV videos, which are over 60 seconds. Each of the two types of videos has two aspect ratios. Regular videos can have aspect ratios of either 1.9:1 or 4:5, while IGTV can have videos with aspect ratios of either 16:9 or 9:16. IGTV videos, on top of being over 60 seconds in length, have to be both an MP4 file and under a 3.6 GB file size.

IGTV videos, similar to YouTube, have thumbnails, which is a picture that users see before viewing the video. These thumbnails have a totally different aspect ratio of 1:1.55. The minimum resolution of them can be 492 x 792 pixels, but Instagram recommends a resolution of 1240 x 1920 pixels.

While Instagram can be used on both mobile devices and computers, it is very limited on computers. The only videos you can upload from computers are IGTV videos, not regular videos. Keep this in mind when you need to upload regular videos. 

Lastly, you can connect your Instagram and Facebook accounts to allow simultaneous uploads between the two platforms. This can be very helpful in reducing time if you run multiple social media pages.