Instagram announced the launch of IGTV, a new home for longer vertical videos from content creators, athletes and regular users.
The platform will allow anyone, who doesn’t have a small or newer account, to upload hour-long content that people can essentially subscribe to. Viewers will be able to swipe through a variety of videos or visit the Browse tab to watch recommended videos, popular videos and even continue watching previously started ones. Now don’t worry, you won’t have to exit out of Instagram in order to use this new application, there will be a button to help you transition back and forth.
With this recent news and Instagram’s 1 billion users, it’ll come as no surprise to see more professional athletes investing in content creation and their own content. If they haven’t already, they better do it, and also understand that they don’t need a huge budget or team to achieve it.
According to TechCrunch, eMarketer expects Instagram to earn $5.48 billion in U.S. ad revenue in 2018. So, although there aren’t any ad options now with IGTV, there will be ways eventually to monetize the content on this platform. Athletes will not only profit from Instagram’s regular ads but now an additional platform that will more than likely be connected to Facebook’s back-end ad functions.
Most professional athletes do not have the money, star power or opportunity to secure major film deals like Steph Curry or create an entertainment company like LeBron James. But, platforms like IGTV and YouTube allows athletes to develop and profit off of their own content while controlling their narrative.
Something simple as a vlog can be effective and beneficial, it really doesn’t require a movie studio or some crazy budget. Small content creates an avenue for athletes to brand themselves and to develop a more personalized following.
The implementation of video content within one’s strategy has proven to be effective and honestly, that’s where things are going for social media. We’ve seen an increase in “documentation content,” whether for podcasters like Desus and Mero, or even newly vlogging/streaming celebrities like Karl Anthony Towns and Will Smith (although I feel like Gary Vaynerchuk had something to do with both of those situations).
Social media’s accessibility and low-budget will encourage more athletes to create their own content and profit off of it as much as television programs or even radio stations do.
They just have to understand that this is an essential part of branding and simply doing press runs, playing and posting fashion photos on Instagram isn’t enough anymore.
Instagram IGTV demo
Here’s how Instagram’s new IGTV video hub for creators works. Available in both Instagram’s main app and a standalone IGTV app, you can browse videos that are up to one hour long from popular creators and ones you follow. You can also upload your own longer videos.
