5 Instagram Video Mistakes (One of the Original Tips References a Feature That No Longer Exists)

This guide’s second original tip told businesses to prioritize IGTV while competition was still low. IGTV’s brand was retired in October 2021 and the standalone app shut down entirely in March 2022, with everything folded into what’s now simply called Instagram Video and, increasingly, Reels.

Reels now account for over 60% of all time spent on Instagram, according to 2026 marketing research, and Instagram itself has grown to 3 billion monthly active users as of late 2025, up a billion in under three years. The core argument behind this guide, that video consistently outperforms static images on Instagram, remains completely correct, and it’s backed by better data than was available in 2018. But two of the five original mistakes need real correction, not just a stat refresh, since they point toward a feature that’s gone and a hashtag number that’s now actively counterproductive.

1. Reposting the same video across platforms without adapting it

This original point still holds, and it’s aged well. Content built for a different platform’s audience and aspect ratio still tends to underperform when dropped onto Instagram unchanged. What’s changed slightly is the aspect ratio landscape itself: with Reels now dominant and most short-form video across platforms converging on a vertical 9:16 format, the specific square-vs-landscape mismatch this guide originally described is less common, but tailoring content to Instagram’s specific audience and algorithm behavior remains just as necessary.

2. Not maximizing Reels (the feature that replaced this point’s original advice)

The original version of this guide urged businesses to invest early in IGTV while reach was high and competition was low. IGTV no longer exists in any form: Instagram retired the standalone brand in October 2021 and shut the app down completely in March 2022, merging all long-form video into what’s now called Instagram Video, with short-form Reels becoming the platform’s dominant format. The underlying advice transfers directly: Reels reach non-followers through the Explore page and algorithmic recommendations in a way static feed posts don’t, achieving an average reach rate of 30.81%, compared to just 14.45% for carousels and 13.14% for images, according to 2026 platform data.

3. Not adding overlay text, now closer to mandatory than optional

The original guide’s advice to add overlay text because many viewers mute audio was correct in 2018 and has only become more relevant. 85% of mobile video is now watched without sound, according to 2026 video marketing research, meaning captions and on-screen text aren’t a nice-to-have anymore, they’re the primary way most viewers actually receive a video’s message. The Ben & Jerry’s example this guide cited, videos built entirely around music and overlay text with no spoken narration, is now closer to the default expectation than a clever workaround.

4. Getting the caption and hashtag count wrong, corrected

The original guide’s caption advice, provide context and include a clear call to action, remains exactly right. Its specific hashtag guidance does not: it recommended 11 or more hashtags for maximum interactions, based on older engagement data. Instagram now caps posts at just 5 hashtags maximum, down from a former limit of 30, and 2026 analysis of 1.6 million Instagram posts found exactly 5 hashtags achieves the highest reach, with 1 to 3 hashtags actually performing slightly worse than using none at all. Following the original “11 or more” advice today isn’t just outdated, it’s no longer physically possible on the platform.

5. Not promoting the video after posting it

This final point remains sound with no real update needed: posting a video and stopping there still leaves engagement on the table. Outreach to relevant creators, and where budget allows, running the video as a proper ad through Instagram’s ad manager, remain the two most reliable ways to extend a video’s reach beyond your existing followers, a topic covered in more depth in our guide to Instagram video ads.

The one thing worth remembering from all this

This guide’s own history is a useful lesson in how fast a single platform’s features can turn over. In under four years, one of its five original tips pointed to a feature that was completely discontinued, and its most specific piece of advice, an exact hashtag count, was made obsolete by a platform policy change. The underlying principle, that video consistently outperforms static content on Instagram, has held up. The specific tactics built on top of it are worth re-checking regularly rather than assumed to still apply.

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