From useful insights to behind the scene bloopers, Instagram stories are an excellent engagement tool for any business and can help offer an insight into their brand that consumers would fail to get through other mediums.
But the clock is ticking. With an Instagram Story video length, you have a limited number of seconds to work with, and you’ve got to make this one count.
In this article, we will provide you with information about video content on Instagram and provide you with practical solutions and instructions.
What are Instagram Stories and Reels?
Okay, boomer, we can break it down for you!
Within Instagram, you can create posts that last forever on your timeline, which is commonplace. Another feature used within Instagram is Stories, where you can post images or videos that disappear after 24 hours.
Reels is a more recent feature and Instagram’s answer to the rise of TikTok, where you can post slightly longer videos.
However, if you do post videos on your Instagram Stories, you are limited by how long your video clips can be.
Don’t Skip: How to Make Instagram Reels That Skyrocket Your Engagement
Instagram Story Video Length
When you’re creating content, whether it’s for your business or personal life, you should always try to create content that is highly engaging, entertaining, and insightful.
One of the most captivating forms of content is long-form video, but it can sometimes feel like your wings are getting clipped by the video length limits on Instagram. Rather than posting your entire video, with its incredible conclusion that you spent hours creating, your story may cut it off at the ideal moment, which is bad for your brand.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how the different video lengths stack up on Instagram:
Instagram Story video length: 15 seconds maximum.
Instagram Reels video length: 90 seconds maximum
Instagram video ads: On Stories, up to 15 seconds, and on Reels, up to 30 seconds.
How to Post Longer Videos on Instagram Stories
With all that said, the rules seem very simple. You must stick to 15-second stories, or the end of your video will get cut, and it won’t have the same impact.
Except things aren’t quite so cut and dry. Fortunately, there are a few ways to get your longer video content to play out on Instagram stories, ensuring your audience can experience your Wes Anderson masterpiece in all its glory.
Cutting your content
For starters, if your content is only a little longer than 15 seconds, you can use various tools to cut it, getting rid of dead space and making it fit within your 15-second window.
It’s time to get ruthless. That two-second pause for emotional effect? Yeah, that can probably go. Before you know it, your content will easily fit the format, and you’ll wonder why it was ever longer than 15 seconds.
15-second stints
If your piece of finely crafted art simply cannot be cut, don’t worry; all is not lost! Your masterpiece can still be shared with the world via Instagram stories. To do this, cut your video into 15-second stints, and upload each segment one by one.
While it isn’t the best audience experience, this ensures that your content is shared in full, and you don’t have to make any edits if you can’t bring yourself to shorten your vision.
Move it to Reels
Finally, if neither of these options satisfies your creative itch, you can move your artistic prowess to Reels, where the video length increases to 90 seconds. You can also post your Reels to Stories, which gives your audience a tease of longer videos and the ability to click through and watch.
Three Instagram Video Editing Tools to Try
VideoShow
When you’re tailoring your content for Instagram, you don’t want to be opening up numerous apps, each with its own purpose. You need a tool that has everything in one place, making it much quicker and easier.
VideoShow is that all-in-one tool. You can cut, edit, and even add elements like text, stickers, or emojis.
InShot
If you want a tool that is built to be used on your phone, with a user interface that reflects that, InShot is a great choice. It is limited in its capabilities, but it’s very simple and easy to use on your phone, and can easily trim, cut, and split videos.
Quik
Quik is a video app built by GoPro, but you don’t need one to use the platform. A perk of Quik is that it allows you to import footage from anywhere, and create videos for you by collating your content, making producing content easier than ever!
Keep Learning: How to Set Up Instagram Shopping and Increase Sales
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