Posted by Social media platforms have now more than online places to meet friends online. With more than 4.6 billion users worldwide, these platforms are channels for marketers to showcase their business using various content. And one of the most popular types of content in today’s users’ feeds is videos.
Video marketing and social media platforms go hand-in-hand. Whether it’s branded videos, teaser videos from the upcoming highly-anticipated movies, or meme clips that everyone has been talking about, users can easily find them on their social media.
According to the stats, more than 73% of users want to see videos on social media. Not to mention that video posts on social media get 48% more views. These staggering numbers prove how effective video marketing can be on social media.
At this point, the burning question is, “how to make your videos stand out on those crowded platforms?”
Here’s a quick guide to making sure that your social video marketing campaign is effective.
What kind of videos to create for social media campaigns?
There are many types of videos that you can create for social media campaigns. However, not all of them will be effective on every platform. But, short-form videos have been gaining a lot of traction on most social media platforms.
Remember that social media users are fickle. They move from one continent to another in a blink of an eye. That’s why short-form videos work best on the platforms. Here are some short and engaging videos social media loves:
Explainer videos
Explainer videos are short videos that explain a product or service. They answer the “what”, “who”, and even “why” questions about your business. The best thing about this type of video is it doesn’t have to be too long for users to understand what your business is all about.
Live videos
Live-streaming videos might not that short. But it’s highly engaging for social media users. Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Twitter’s Periscope are all live video streaming platforms. Live videos are great for giving users a behind-the-scenes look at your business or for hosting Q&A sessions with your followers.
How-to videos
How-to videos are great for sharing tips and tricks using your products or services with users. It also shows how helpful and experienced you are in the field of business which can increase your trustworthiness as a business.
Short clips
Short clips are perfect for creating teaser videos for upcoming products or events. GIFs from your videos or funny memes are also great for generating hype around current trends.
User-Generated videos
The best way to engage your followers is to create videos featuring them. It’s a great opportunity for you to show how much you appreciate their support and give something back. User-generated content also builds trust between your business and the users.
What platforms should you choose?
No social media platforms are made the same. Each one has its own quirks that you need to take into account when creating your videos. While one of them can help you boost your online presence, others can be ideal to add social proof to generate more trust from users.
Choosing the right social media platform for your videos can help you target the right audience with the right message, which can lead to a more effective campaign result.
Here are some of the popular social media platforms and how you can use them for video marketing.
YouTube
YouTube is the perfect platform for long-form videos. It’s also great for how-to and product demonstration videos. With more than 2 billion active users, this platform is ideal if you want to increase your brand awareness and expand your reach.
Facebook is the best social media platform for short-form videos and live streaming. It’s also great for building hype through short clips. Facebook has more than one billion active users right now, making it very easy to reach out to millions at once on this platform.
Instagram is a powerful social media platform if you want to focus on user-generated campaigns and create an emotional bond with your followers.
Instagram has more than 1.1 billion active users monthly and 500 million of them use it daily. It’s the perfect platform for short-form videos because its algorithm favors shorter clips over long ones.
In this platform, users want to interact with brands in a casual, friendly manner. So, any customer-centered videos like how-tos, FAQa, and teasers are perfect for the platform.
LinkedIn is the best platform for B2B videos as the majority of its demographics are professionals and job seekers. When you have insightful videos and aim to show your expertise among your business peers, LinkedIn is the best platform for you.
TikTok
There’s no better place like TikTok when it comes to experimenting with creative and entertaining videos for attracting younger crowds. If you want to focus on trendy, lighthearted videos that are still related to your brand or product, TikTok is the perfect place for you.
Video marketing for social media: best practices
Now that you know the essential video types and platforms to focus on, it’s time to dive deeper into creating high-performing social media videos. Follow these best practices to create engaging video content:
Research your target audience
To create effective videos for your brand, you need to thoroughly understand who your target audiences are.
To do this, you need to conduct market research and understand their demographics, interests, and behaviors. Only then can you create videos that resonate with them and speak directly to their needs.
Focus on the quality of content
The key to successful video marketing is creating content that’s both interesting and engaging. This means avoiding generic stock footage or boring talking heads in your videos. Instead, blend in entertaining or educational elements that can keep your audience hooked.
Use storytelling method
Social media users love it when a video tells a story. You can see that every viral video always has a story that evokes users’ emotions.
Therefore, it’s essential that you apply storytelling techniques in your videos instead of blatantly bragging about your products or services.
Create videos regularly
The beauty of social media video marketing is that you can still create engaging videos with scrappy production. This will help businesses with a limited budget to commit to their social video strategy effortlessly have.
After all, you can’t simply rely on one single video and hope it can work like magic. You need a series of videos that can capture your audience’s attention at once and make them stay in the long run.
Keep it short and simple
We’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth repeating: people have limited attention spans, especially on social media. So, you need to make every second of your videos count.
That’s why you should always create short-form videos for this platform as no one wants to watch a long video unless it’s very entertaining or educational.
Make the video mobile-friendly
The vast majority of social media users are on their mobile devices. It’s crucial that your videos be optimized for viewing on these devices. This means:
- keeping file sizes small
- using vertical video formats (whenever possible)
- adding captions
- avoiding intrusive auto-play features.
Incorporate a CTA
No matter how many times your videos are watched, when no one takes action, then what’s the point? That’s where call-to-action comes in handy.
At the end of your videos, make sure to add a clear CTA that encourages viewers to perform your desired actions, whether it’s visiting your website, following your profile, or more.
Wrapping up
Social media platforms have now become video channels for marketers that aim to reach a wider audience and engage with them. Or, we can even say that videos can be such powerful tools for your social media campaigns to strengthen your online presence. One thing to bear in mind here is that Rome wasn’t built in one day, and neither was your social media video marketing strategy.
So, you can’t expect your videos to go viral overnight. The key here is to produce great content and keep at it consistently for better results.