Instagram now lets users add IGTV video ‘previews’ to Stories

Soon Instagram users will be able to include a static image from any IGTV video in their Stories. Announced Thursday, the video “preview” will launch the full video on IGTV when the image is clicked within the Story (example below).

Why you should care

This “previews” feature is aimed at helping increase the exposure of IGTV videos via Instagram’s popular Stories format.

Since its launch in June, IGTV has been slow to gain traction. Instagram’s inability to attract creators and publishers to its video platform has been attributed to it still being something of a novelty. In August, a number of video publishers — including Discovery Lifestyle Digital Studios and GQ — told Digiday it was too early in the platform’s lifecycle to know what content would work on it.

Without enough content — or bigger audiences — Facebook will also have trouble monetizing Instagram’s video platform. Creating new ways to drive engagement on IGTV is one way the company may be able to speed up the launch of any ad offerings.

More on Instagram’s IGTV

• IGTV was designed to support long-form video content, allowing creators to upload videos that run up to 60 minutes in length and optimized for full-screen vertical viewing.
• The Instagram app includes a dedicated section for IGTV content, and there is also a standalone IGTV app.
• At the time of its launch, Instagram recruited a number of influences to build out their own IGTV channels, including the well-known YouTuber Lele Pons, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian West and Kevin Hart.
• See it in action in Instagram’s tweet below.

Now you can share your favorite IGTV videos to your story. Tap the paper airplane at the bottom of the video you want to share. When friends see your story, they can tap the preview to watch the whole video in IGTV. pic.twitter.com/oaatUoOqZY

— Instagram (@instagram) November 1, 2018