How Brands Are Using Instagram's New Video Upload Feature

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By Seth Fiegerman2013-08-10 15:55:39 -0400

The camera hovers perfectly in front of a young woman's face as she speaks movingly about the feeling of finally being comfortable with yourself. "I always describe it as love," she says. "You don't know when it hits you, you don't know how it hit you, but all of the sudden you're in love." Then the shot fades to a white screen and the Gap logo appears.

Although just a few seconds long, it's effective and all the more impressive considering it appears on Instagram. If the clip looks more professional than other videos posted to the social network in recent weeks, that's because it is: This one wasn't produced on the site first, but was rather uploaded from footage captured during shooting for another video in Gap's Back to Blue series.

See also: Instagram Video: 5 Excellent Examples From Brands

Instagram introduced the option to upload videos on Wednesday rather than force users to create them from scratch. The Gap was one of the brands that expressed excitement about the new feature, using it that same day.

"Creating compelling video is a skill, often requires editing and sound mixing, and the import feature will change the game regarding the types of creative all users publish going forward," Rachel Tipograph, director of global digital and social media for Gap, told Mashable. "Brands can now be more planful by producing Instagram video content designed for the network, but also in service of business needs."

When Instagram introduced the option to record videos in late June, it seemed almost perfectly designed for brands. The service set the max video length at 15 seconds — timing that marketers are all too comfortable with — and incorporated the videos into its existing photo feed, ensuring that companies wouldn't have to build up a following for their videos from scratch, as they did with Vine. Perhaps most importantly, Instagram videos have the potential to be a kind of backdoor for brands to serve video ads on Facebook.

For better or worse, the option to record videos elsewhere and upload them to Instagram likely means that casual users will start to notice overly polished clips in their feed, as well more clips that may have aired elsewhere first. That said, brands we spoke with recognize that they can't just repurpose old videos for Instagram.

"We're excited to create content specifically geared for Instagram, and also share those must-see moments from our product-education videos and coverage of community events," said Sarah Hearn, social-media manager at Lululemon, which uploaded its first Instagram video this week. "Instagram is where our community stories come to life, and just like we consider a beautiful photo for Pinterest, now we have the space to think about video on a more consistent basis."

It's not just retail brands that are excited about the new Instagram feature, either. NowThisNews, a video-news service that focuses on social and mobile platforms, recently introduced what may be the first video news channel on Instagram.

A few hours after Instagram introduced the upload option, NowThisNews uploaded its first video, and tweeted that it "loves" the new feature, presumably because it makes it easier to edit and produce more professional news clips for the social network.

Image: AFP/Getty Images

Topics: Apps and Software, Business, Facebook, instagram, instagram video, Marketing