YouTube is one of the most popular social media networks on a global scale; with over 2 billion monthly active users and counting, it’s not uncommon for those with an Instagram account to join forces and build a presence on YouTube as well.
If you’re looking for a way to share a YouTube video on Instagram, it may not be as simple as it seems. It’s a bit more difficult now to connect YouTube to Instagram. In this post, we’ll give you the information you need to be able to convert a YouTube video to an Instagram video format and share on IG.
If you have both Instagram and YouTube accounts, or simply want to share a YouTube video on Instagram as a repost, this article is for you. Let’s get started!
How to Share a YouTube Video on Instagram
When you have a YouTube channel and want to promote your videos, it is a bit of a complicated process. Instagram has just made it a bit easier, however, since now all users can share a link in their Instagram story.
Previously, the “swipe up” feature, which allows you to post a link to an external website in your Instagram story, was only made available to accounts that had over 10k followers. At the end of October 2021, they just made it possible for any user to share a link in their story using the feature.
If you don’t want to use that feature, there are a few other things you can do:
- Share the video link in the caption of your IGTV video and share on the account linked to that IGTV.
- Share your Instagram story or post and instruct users to visit the link in your bio to view the YouTube video.
- Promote your link using Instagram ads.
These are a couple of options available to you when you want to know how to share a YouTube video on Instagram.
Sharing a YouTube Video on Instagram
When you try to share your YouTube video on Instagram directly from the YouTube “share” button, you’ll notice that the option isn’t available as one of the social sharing icons that appear.
In order to share on Instagram directly, you’ll need to do the following:
- Download the YouTube video
- Share the downloaded YouTube videos on Instagram.
If you have an original copy of the YouTube video, you can upload it directly to Instagram. If you don’t, you can use a YouTube downloader tool that will help you download the video and then repost. One popular option is YTmp3, especially for short videos. Longer videos may present some trouble and errors in downloading.
Be careful doing this— you should never download something you find online and try to take credit for it as your own. This can put you in hot water in terms of intellectual property and may even get action taken against your Instagram account.
If you download someone else’s video and post it on Instagram, be sure to give credit to the original poster; it’s a good idea to mention the YouTube account that posted it and make it very clear that this is not your video.
How to Share a YouTube Video on Instagram Stories
This is the easiest way to share a YouTube video on Instagram since you can now post the link directly into your Instagram story.
Here are the steps to share a YouTube video on Instagram stories:
- Copy the YouTube video URL
- Open the Instagram camera and take a picture, or upload the content you want to share from your album
- Click the Sticker button on the Instagram story editor (looks like a post-it with a happy face)
- Find the Link sticker
- Paste the link of the YouTube video
- The link will appear within your story as a sticker that users can click on
While this isn’t exactly the same as swipe up, you will still be able to add links easily to your Instagram content. You can use the editing tools on Instagram stories such as text, GIFs, and more to direct users’ attention to the link and direct them to click on it.
How to Share a YouTube Video on Instagram on Mobile
If you downloaded the YouTube video to your mobile phone, you can easily upload the content to Instagram using any of the above instructions.
You can upload content directly to Instagram from your mobile device; you just need to make sure that you get the video to your mobile device by transferring it or uploading it if you didn’t download directly to mobile.
For iOS, your downloaded videos will appear in your photo album. On Android devices, it will appear in your download folder.
You can also upload the YouTube video to your IG story on mobile using the video link as we instructed in the above section.
How to Share a YouTube Video on Instagram on Desktop
You need to upload any content to Instagram via mobile, so you can’t share a YouTube video on Instagram via desktop.
You can use a website to download the YouTube video to your desktop, then share it to your mobile device and upload it to Instagram. Or, simply copy the link and add it to your link in bio or Instagram story.
These are the easiest ways to share a YouTube video on Instagram.
Why Share YouTube Videos on Instagram?
You can get more YouTube views and watch time when you share your YouTube views on Instagram.
If you were hoping to get the YouTube format available while sharing a video on Instagram, unfortunately that’s not going to be possible. You’ll either have to upload the video separately, or you can post the link into your story.
If your main goal is to increase your YouTube views by sharing on Instagram, the best way is to share the active link. That way, when people watch the video, the views will be registered on your YouTube channel and not just separate views on your Instagram content.
You can post one link in your Instagram bio, so if you direct users to your newest video, they will be able to watch it and increase your YouTube view count and watch time. This is a great cross-promotion strategy.
The same will happen when you post the link in your Instagram story. You’ll also get metrics on how many people clicked the link to check out your content to see if your strategy is working; if not many people clicked, you may want to consider ways to draw more attention to your link and change your call to action so that people are more motivated to click.
If you use a link in bio tool like linkin.bio or linktr.ee, you can upload links to multiple YouTube videos; otherwise, you’ll have to swap them out of your Instagram bio.
Final Thoughts: Sharing YouTube Videos on IG
While there is no direct way to cross-promote your content from YouTube on Instagram and vice versa, having a strong presence on both platforms can increase your reputation and also provide more avenues for monetization.
You can take advantage of the link in bio as well as Instagram stories to directly connect people to your YouTube account; alternatively, in your YouTube video caption, you can link out to your Instagram account.
If you upload the YouTube video directly to Instagram, none of those views will be registered for your YouTube upload and you’ll only get benefits on your Instagram’s content performance.
We hope this was helpful in helping you understand how to share a YouTube video on Instagram! Looking to get more reach for your Instagram content and build your follower count? Check out Growthoid’s free 3-day trial to see just what we can do for you!
