When life shifted overnight to an unrecognizable state, a tremendous shift happened for businesses.
The two areas that came out as winners in these unforeseen circumstances were video & Social Media. When the whole world was under lockdown, people turned to social media and the king of content–videos.
Over the past decade, video has inevitably become vital and has dethroned every other content type while establishing an authority that’s difficult to overturn. And it is no exaggeration that video today is not just part of a marketing campaign; rather, it is the center of customer outreach, especially on social media.
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Social Media Video Marketing – A Key Trend
With 4.33 billion social media users around the world at the start of 2021, equating to more than 55% of the total global population, the most sought-after platform to pave the way for marketing success is none other than Social Media.
According to research, 93% of marketers say they’ve landed a new customer thanks to a video on social media. That’s a pretty high number, isn’t it?
When we think of social media video marketing, TikTok and Instagram are now the two most popular platforms for videos. But thanks to the revolution that video content has brought, viewers can now access various forms of video content from virtual reality, 360° videos, branding promotion clips, live streams, and interactive videos on almost every social platform.
But despite the popularity of videos on Social Media for business, many marketers still miss leveraging this powerful tool for their marketing. With online videos accounting for more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022 as per Cisco, it is imperative to make the most of your video assets across social media.
What is video social media marketing?
Video social media marketing is a process of using videos to promote your business on various platforms. It’s important because it has the power to engage your audience and get them involved in your content.
The four reasons for video social media marketing are that competitors already use videos, people enjoy videos, it’s a popular form of content, and you’re falling behind your competition. Videos are great at engaging audiences as well as boosting brand association 140% more than text-only posts.
Still not convinced; want more reasons? Here we go:
Why Post Videos on Social Media?
a) Video Content Increases Brand Exposure:
Video content, when syndicated on social media, can ensure instant brand recognition. Being well aware of the impact of video content, you can offer interesting insights about your brand and can help add an associative meaning and credibility to your social media campaigns while building a corporate identity.
b) Videos Boost Social Media Engagement:
If you’ve recently searched anything on Google or have logged into social media, you might have come across video content within the first 20 seconds of your scroll.
Well, that is because video content typically performs best for most algorithms, based on the fact that sharing video content is an unparalleled way to capture viewers’ interest, as Videos posted on social media generate 1200% more shares than text and image content combined.
c) Videos Drive Conversions:
Regardless of which social media platform you choose to syndicate your video, your content always reciprocates with results. As per WebFX, Video improves conversions by 86%.
Whether you want your consumer to make a purchase, drive them to your website or just intrigue them to share your content, every video you post on social media is going to act as a handshake to a potential customer.
And to make the most cost-effective marketing video that converts, you might need to use some tools and tricks; effective hashtags, key demographics, trends, and more.
d) Video Content has a Longer Lead Time:
When you read this further, you will be able to recall a handful of videos that pop into your feed, even when you’ve watched it once.
In case you might be asking yourself, let us tell you why this happens. Because in comparison to images, videos tend to have a longer shelf life. Being more active on social media makes us better at scanning content while scrolling, thus making it much easier for one to scroll through images.
On the other hand, videos have an extra second to grab the user’s attention even when one has scrolled down and missed your content.
Top Social Media Video Marketing Platforms
Social media is driven by content, and there are numerous ways to build your brand on social media. Still, the video, the most famous content type, continues to boom on various social media platforms. Focusing on your audience’s video experience could help your brand’s success.
Top social media platforms that are winning in social video marketing are:
1. Instagram:
More than 72% of millennials use Instagram to connect with others, including influencers. Gone are the days when Instagram was just for keeping up with your favorite celebrities’ life insights.
The rise in demand for video content has led the platform to witness a spike in the ad business. This has led to a wide variety of content and more monetization options for creators. Be it live video, short reels, or long-form video content–IGTV, has got it all.
No wonder Instagram is one of the best visual storytelling social platforms out there in 2021.
2. Facebook Watch:
Facebook launched Facebook Watch in 2018 with the aim of owning the digital video landscape.
Partnering with major networks such as MTV and launching watch parties where a group of friends can enjoy watching a video together contributed to its immense progress as a social video platform.
Social viewing in a more personalized manner is what people love about Facebook Watch. Recommendations in its Discover tab, with fun categories such as “Most Talked About,” “Shows Your Friends Are Watching,” etc., made it one of the most loved social video platforms.
3. Snapchat Spotlight:
Do you still think of Snapchat as a photo-sharing platform or the platform with goofy filters? Well, if you do, you’re missing out on a great branding opportunity.
Snapchat, along with all its goofy features, offers businesses a very interactive platform to engage with their audience using Geofilters, Stickers, Lenses, Discover, Snapmap, and traditional ads.
With a video watch count of 10 billion per day, Snapchat is one of the leading video social media platforms.
With over 5 billion snaps created every day, the Spotlight feature empowers the Snapchat community to express themselves and reach a larger audience.
4. TikTok:
This social platform needs no introduction. Being one of the most versatile social video platforms, TikTok is majorly used to get extravagant fame by making and publishing videos.
Although you might think of TikTok as a Gen-Z platform, let us tell you, it is a lot more than that. It is one of the most downloaded apps, making it great for marketing and advertising initiatives.
5. Twitter:
Twitter is home to 67 million monthly active users in the US alone. However, the most interesting fact about Twitter is that this particular platform discovers most of its trending material organically.
And that is why Twitter doesn’t have to do much when it comes to engaging its audience, as its users simply scroll and find interesting topics to share on their own.
Being an organically grown platform, any video posted on Twitter intends to have 10x more engagement and is 300% more likely to be retweeted than other tweets.
6. Linkedin:
In 2017, LinkedIn introduced itself as a video platform, enabling users to share their stories professionally. Being a platform for professionals, posting videos can help you stimulate the interest of your connections and boost your brand awareness, furthering relationships.
Now we know how social media plays an important role in video marketing; the next thing that’s worth a thought is what kind of videos you can create on social media and what to take care of while creating videos for social media.
And that is exactly what we’ll unfold next. Let’s roll!
Types of Videos For Social Media
While it’s true that videos perform great on social media, what works for one brand might not work for you. Although there are numerous social media curation tools that might help, before you plan to create one, make sure that you’ve tried your hands-on experimenting with different video platforms and types to know which your audience interacts the most with.
Without further ado, let’s get to know the different types of videos:
1. Interview & Q/A:
Interview videos are certainly one of the most-watched videos on social media and are great for repurposing. These videos are up close and personal and offer a detailed account of information or knowledge about a particular topic or person.
2. Behind-the-Scenes Videos:
A genuine behind-the-scenes video can help you present the culture, values, and people behind your brand. Easy and fun to create. These videos can help you connect and build trust with your audience.
3. Product Videos:
It’s no surprise to say that social media posts influence buyers’ decisions. Creating product videos where you present a specific product or highlight a particular product feature is one of the smartest strategies that you can use to persuade your customers to make a purchase.
4. Tutorial Videos:
The internet is filled with tutorials and how-to-do videos. There’s pretty much everything available online if you wish to learn, right from cooking, and makeup to marketing and even making drones and robots. And this is because people prefer learning from videos rather than reading books and blogs. So, why not leverage the benefits of tutorial videos for your brand?
5. Live Videos:
Live videos became extremely popular during the pandemic in 2020. With all the major social media platforms offering LIVE streaming, this video type has become one of the most preferred ways of engaging with your audience and nurturing a personal connection.
Now that you are well aware of the types of social media videos, it’s time to tap into a few strategies that might help you create some amazing video content and establish a greater connection with your target audience. Here we go:
Things to Remember while Creating Social Media Videos
1. Make a Road Map:
One of the primary factors of content is to engage and interact with your audience. And this engagement and interaction will happen only when your audience finds your brand message compelling enough.
Knowing the objective of your video content will make it easier for you to engage with the target customer, making your campaign a lot more successful.
2. Hook Your Viewers Within the First Few Seconds:
When it comes to video content, it’s imperative to use the first few seconds wisely, as the first few screen glimpses are going to decide whether the viewer will continue to watch or skip. Try adding a noticeable title and caption to your video to grab attention within the first 3 to 4 seconds.
3. Powerful Storytelling:
Getting your viewers’ attention is important, but keeping them engaged with your content is equally important. Any video which is posted on social media has a message, or a call-to-action attached to it, which certainly means that the video content aims to entertain, inspire or educate.
4. Keep Your Content Short and Crisp:
Short content performs best. Owing to the shorter attention spans on social media, keeping your content short and crisp is important. People usually engage with content that doesn’t exceed 2-3 mins, and when it comes to Instagram, it’s imperative to make it even shorter, reducing it to 15-30 seconds.
5. Subtitles Are Important:
Adding subtitles to your video content is important for two reasons: people can play without audio, and non-native speakers or hearing-challenged users can consume your content without hassle.
6. Don’t Forget to add CTA:
Once you’ve grabbed the attention of your viewer – and have got them hooked to the content – the next important thing is to lead your viewer with a purpose. Guide them on what they can do next. Add a call-to-action; just don’t force them to be your next customer, rather, let them experience how your brand resonates with their needs and values.
Summing it up
Social Media has set the pace for ever-evolving content preferences. There’s a lot more to see and experience. With every new trend comes an opportunity for your brand to adapt and excel at content marketing. Now that video content is thriving; it’s the best time to ramp up current marketing initiatives and get ahead of the competitors.
For a detailed account of how the Internet has revolutionized business segments and what the projections of transformation moving forward, have a look at the Annual Internet Report (2018–2023) by Cisco.
Image source: Freepik Premium
