How to Share a YouTube Video on Instagram (Step-by-Step Guide)

Are you looking to cross-promote your YouTube videos on Instagram? Sharing videos from YouTube onto Instagram is a great way to drive traffic between the two platforms and expose your content to new audiences. Instagram has features that make it easy to share videos that you’ve uploaded to YouTube on both your Instagram feed and stories. By reposting your YouTube videos, you can leverage Instagram’s highly engaged user base to promote your YouTube channel and videos.

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll look at how to seamlessly share YouTube videos on Instagram using both the mobile app and desktop browser.

Sharing a YouTube Video to Your Instagram Feed

If you want to share a YouTube video to your permanent Instagram feed, you’ll need to do so from a mobile device using the Instagram app. Here are the steps:

1. Open the YouTube app on your mobile device and navigate to the video you want to share on Instagram.
2. Tap the “Share” icon underneath the video player. This will open the share sheet.
3. From the share sheet, select the option to “Copy link.” This copies the video’s URL to your clipboard.
4. Now open the Instagram app and tap on the “+” icon in the top right to create a new post.
5. In the “New Post” section, select “Feed” to share the video to your main Instagram feed. 
6. Tap on the “Paste” link in the caption field. This will paste the YouTube video URL that you copied earlier.
7. Instagram will then process the link and generate a preview of the YouTube video within the Instagram post editor.
8. You can optionally add a caption and edit filters/settings for the post.
9. When ready, tap “Share” to publish the YouTube video to your Instagram feed.

Your Instagram post will now contain the embedded YouTube video playable directly through Instagram. Viewers can watch the video content right on Instagram or tap the YouTube logo to open and view it in the YouTube app.

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Sharing a YouTube Video to Your Instagram Stories

Sharing a YouTube video to your Instagram stories follows a very similar process, but with slightly different steps:

1. Open the YouTube app and go to the video you’d like to share to your story.
2. Tap the share icon and select “Copy link” to copy the video URL.
3. Open the Instagram app and go to your story camera by swiping right from your feed or tapping “Your Story” in the top left.
4. In the story editor, tap the “Sticker” icon in the top right toolbar.
5. Select the “URL” sticker option which allows you to input a URL link.
6. Tap the text box and use the “Paste” option to input the YouTube video link you copied earlier.
7. Once pasted, Instagram will generate a preview thumbnail of the YouTube video which you can resize/reposition on your story.
8. You can optionally draw, add stickers, apply filters or use Instagram’s other story editing tools. 
9. When ready, tap “Send To” and select “Your Story” to share the YouTube video to your Instagram story.

The YouTube video will now be embedded and playable within your Instagram story for 24 hours. Anyone viewing your story can tap on the embedded video preview to open and watch the full YouTube video.

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Sharing a YouTube Video on Desktop 

While not as seamless as mobile, you can also share YouTube videos to Instagram from a desktop web browser. The process takes a few more steps:

1. Open YouTube.com in a web browser and go to the video you want to share.
2. Copy the video URL from the address bar.
3. Go to Instagram.com and log into your account in the browser.
4. Click the “+” icon in the top nav to create a new post.
5. In the “Create New Post” dialog, click on the “Upload Photos” button even though we’ll be uploading a video. 
6. In the file upload window, paste the previously copied YouTube URL into the address bar and press enter. This will load and preview the YouTube video.
7. Click the “Open” button to upload the YouTube video to your Instagram web post.
8. Once the video processes, enter in a caption for your post if desired.
9. Click “Share” to publish the YouTube video to your Instagram feed.

The video will now appear embedded and playable within your Instagram post on the web. Anyone who views it can tap/click the video to watch it. The video quality may be compressed from the original YouTube source.

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Tips And Additional Info

Following a few additional best practices can help you get more reach when cross-promoting YouTube videos on Instagram:

• Always add captions: Whether sharing to your feed or stories, be sure to write creative, keyword-rich captions to hook viewers and optimize for discovery. Mention the YouTube video title or describe the content.
• Use relevant hashtags: Research and include relevant, popular hashtags that your Instagram audience monitors. This helps get your YouTube content discovered by new users.
• Post at optimal times: There are ideal days/times for sharing on each platform. Do research to find out when your audience is most active on each.
• Promote your YouTube channel: Use your Instagram presence to promote your overall YouTube channel and drive new subscribers from Instagram over to YouTube.
• Engage your audience: Once published, actively engage with viewers on Instagram – respond to comments, ask questions, and encourage discussion around your YouTube videos.

Don’t forget that cross-promotion works both ways. In addition to sharing YouTube videos on Instagram, you can promote and link to your Instagram account and content from within your YouTube videos and channel as well.

Also Read – How to Fix Instagram Feed Not Loading on Your Site

Conclusion

We can sum it up by saying, leveraging both Instagram and YouTube together as complementary platforms, you can effectively cross-pollinate your audience and maximize your video viewership, engagement and growth. The more the mere is it not.