Every major social media platform now supports video. It is important to choose the right strategy for the right audience.
It can be very overwhelming when creating video for social media to know how best to communicate appropriately on each platform. It is tempting to use a scattergun approach, repurposing the same videos across all channels, but a sensible marketing strategy is to create video content specifically for the platforms where your clients hang out.
YouTube
The original social video channel, YouTube is still the most popular platform for video content. YouTube users search for videos based on interest, so content is key here, with entertainment and education being the most common reasons that people turn to YouTube.
Content that works well on YouTube:
- How-to videos
- Product demonstrations
- Reviews
- Videos with entertainment value
- Series such as Blentec’s “Will it Blend?”
- Tutorials
Organising your YouTube channel with playlists based on themes, can enable visitors to your site to easily see the content they are interested in and find related videos.
There are three types of video on Facebook:
Videos that are hosted elsewhere but linked in a Facebook post
You may wish to share a YouTube or Instagram Video for instance.
As videos hosted elsewhere do not autoplay on Facebook, using a good headline and great thumbnail image will help to tempt Facebook users to click to view your video.
Pre-recorded video uploaded directly to Facebook
Native video content autoplays in newsfeeds, so is more likely to engage your viewers and will get more views than video that is linked.
As the video autoplays without sound, it is important to use a strong visual hook, to entice people to click on the video and listen to your message to the end. Embedded captions can draw people into your content as it plays in their newsfeed so they don’t miss your message.
Facebook Live
Facebook Live is the latest way to create video content for Facebook, where you can broadcast live and connect with your followers. You can engage and interact with people while on air, which creates trust and helps to build your brand.
You can start a dialogue, run a Q&A, bring your audience in on important moments or take them behind the scenes at special events. The longer the video, the more chance of engagement and interaction, so make sure you have a strong internet connection.
Posting status updates before you go live and using a great headline will help to create a buzz around your live broadcast, to get more followers to join you online. You can interact with them as they comment on your feed while you are live on air. You can also save your video to your timeline and share it again later.
Facebook is also a great platform for user created content made by your fans, tagged with your custom hashtags.
Instagram currently allows video of 15 seconds in length, but is rolling out 60 second video this year. This is great news for video marketing. Research your target demographic carefully to ensure the video content you produce is in line with their interests.
Video autoplays without sound by default, so as with native Facebook video a great visual hook will increase your engagement. You may also wish to use embedded captions, depending on your content.
Content that works well on Instagram:
- Instagram is primarily a visual medium, so content with strong visual appeal will do well
- Short product demonstrations
- Useful Tips
- Series of shortform videos. Shield 5 used this to great effect, with a well-produced serialised thriller.
- Behind the scenes footage
- Cinematic shorts
- Animations
Twitter allows users to post 30 second video, which also autoplays without sound.
Twitter users like to follow the latest news and updates from their favourite channels, so this is the content that will appeal to the twitter audience.
Content that works well on Twitter:
- Sharing your video blogs
- Behind the scenes at your product launches or events
- Short demonstrations
- Tips
Whichever platform you choose, it is important to create content to build trust and an emotional connection.
In social media, you don’t need to be selling, in fact a non-salesy approach often works better to show your personality and a more human side to your business. Appeal to your target audience’s interests, check your analytics and pay attention to which content gets the most likes, comments and shares and more importantly, which converts.
