You may remember a few weeks ago, we made a post about why you should use IGTV in your business. Well, now we’re going one step further and comparing the new video platform to its more famous competitor, YouTube:

Levels of Establishment:

While Instagram is one of the more popular social media sites, IGTV is still fledgeling at the moment, having only just been let out of the oven.

YouTube is a lot more established, with over a decade of experience in video hosting, they’re the go-to option. Give IGTV another 9 months to a year, and we’ll see whether it has been able to grow and offer competition.

Different Content:

IGTV is for more instant content, as opposed to the more artistic, high production value videos popular on YouTube. Simply re-uploading content from YouTube might seem like a quick way to get content onto the app, but the vertical video of IGTV means you’ll get ugly black bars unless you re-export to fit the new aspect ratio.

Limited Time:

YouTube did away with its time limits a long time ago, allowing users to upload videos as short as five seconds, or longer pieces which can last for hours. IGTV however, still has the limit of 15 minutes for most users, 1 hour for a selected few. This isn’t a massive problem if your content is short-form, but it is something to bare-in-mind if you’re planning on anything on the longer side.

Different Markets:

Although both platforms handle video, their purpose and setup are worlds apart. Instagram is a social media platform which includes images and video, used primarily for seeing what people you follow or your friends are up to. YouTube is used more for searching, like a Google with videos. This difference can influence what content you should be posting. If you’re trying to inform customers or answer questions then YouTube would be the best platform, but if you’re just looking to entertain, then, by all means try out IGTV.

Community Relations:

Despite its industry dominance, YouTube doesn’t have the cleanest reputation when it comes to relations with its creators; creators complain about unfair copyright claims, low pay, censorship and harmful algorithms. With all the controversy surrounding YouTube, it might be tempting to move over to the newer, less problematic platform of IGTV, where these issues haven’t had time to manifest yet.

Penniless:

Although IGTV is new, and so far, free of contention, it is lacking one of YouTube’s key features: A monetisation programme. Although brands will sign deals with individual Instagrammers (or influencers), the site itself doesn’t pay out to content creators for their work. YouTube’s partner programme on the other hand, does. Although be warned: YouTube’s requirements on getting into their partner programme are getting tighter.

So, those are some of the differences between IGTV and YouTube that you should consider if you’re thinking of using the platforms.

How could your business use IGTV?

Sources:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/28/17506866/igtv-instagram-creators-youtube-marques-brownlee

https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/opinion-technology/instagrams-igtv-is-here-should-youtube-be-worried-at-all-5229142/

https://www.guidingtech.com/igtv-pros-and-cons-should-you-be-spending-time-on-it/