With so many different forms of content able to be posted and shared on Instagram, you might be wondering what’s different about posting a video compared to a reel, a story, or a generic grid post.
Posting a video is one of the easiest forms of content sharing on the app – and in this blog we’re going to tell you how and why.
5 Steps to Post a Video on Instagram
- Select the square with a plus sign in it, from the bottom of your Instagram app screen. This button can also be found in the top right hand corner of your profile page, next to the menu button.
- Scroll down through your camera reel until you find the video you want to post. Alternatively, click on the ‘Recents’ button with the dropdown arrow, and select ‘Videos’ from the albums option. This will take you straight to the videos stored on your device.
- Once you’ve found the video you want to share, click ‘Next’ in the top right hand corner.
- Edit the video accordingly, until you are ready to click ‘Next’ once again (this time in the bottom right hand corner of the screen)
- Add the caption you want your video to be displayed with, and any other details (such as location, tagged individuals, and any sharing capabilities). Finally, click ‘Share’.
Once posted, this video is available to find via your profile grid or in the reels tab (more on that a little later!)
If you start the process listed above and run out of time or decide to come back to your video project later, rather than clicking ‘Share’ at the end, click ‘Save Draft’.
Posting a Video Within a Carousel of Other Images
If you want to share a video within a wider selection of images, follow step 1 as above, leaving you on the camera reel screen. This is where it gets a little more complicated…
- Select the first image or video that you want to share within the carousel
- Once you’ve selected that first image, click on the button in the top right of the camera reel which looks like two squares on top of each other
- You can now select multiple images – including videos – which will all be shared as a single post.
NB: All images and videos will exhibit the formatting of the first image that you select, so be sure that the first item selected has the configuration that you want across your entire post (horizontal or portrait mode, etc)
- Once you’re happy with your selection, click ‘Next’ and carry onto the next screen where you can edit the colouring on each visual individually or as a full set. Then click ‘Next’ again.
- This caption screen is the same as that you would expect to see when posting a standard image update on Instagram, with options to tag people and products or share the post to other platforms.
- Finally, click ‘Share’ when you are ready to publish your post.
Via this method, your video will be embedded in the post wherever you chose to place it and will start playing automatically when a user lands on that slide of the carousel.
Posting a Video to Your Instagram Story
Adding a video to your Instagram story requires just 3 quick steps.
- On your profile page, select the plus sign inside the square in the top right of the screen, and click ‘Story’.
- Scroll through the camera roll to find the video you want to share or navigate directly to your videos by selecting ‘Recents’ then ‘Videos’.
- Add any text, emojis, and other features you want to appear alongside your video, then click on the white arrow in the bottom right hand corner of the screen to publish your post.
If the video is long, then Instagram will cut it into a shareable chunk. You can use a sliding bar across the bottom of the screen on the preview page, to determine exactly which section of the footage or video you want to share. If you want to share the full video, you will need to upload it as a post and then share the post to your story.
How Does a Video Differ From a Reel?
Reels are created in the Instagram app, using a combination of clips and images that you put together to form a single short form video.
Conversely, a video is something that you have captured on your device and wish to share as a standalone piece of content. This could still be a collage of different clips and images put together, but you will have done this on another platform – uploading the video to Instagram as you would any other single post.
Having said that, once posted to the app, all video footage ends up listed under the ‘Reels’ option on your profile page – meaning that while the uploading experience is different, how they are viewed is largely the same.
What’s your favourite way to share video footage on Instagram? Let us know!
Strengthen your Instagram presence with Twicsy’s offerings. Dive into our likes, comments, followers, and views.
