Video is one of the most effective forms of content marketing.
In fact, it makes up to 80% of all the traffic the internet has been getting in 2019.
This is why you need to be serious with video marketing on social sites.
However, to engage your audience, you will need to have quality social videos.
Social Media videos are those videos you upload to video hosting sites such as YouTube to engage an audience and boost your engagement.
When it comes to social media, they include everything; from the 30-seconds clips that do well on social media platforms such as Facebook to 30-minute shows on YouTube.
To create engaging and interesting social videos, you need to understand your audience in different social networks and what they need. Let’s discuss strategies to use in different social networks.
There are many elements you need to consider when it comes to social media videos, including length, subtitles, sound, and details.
To see higher engagement levels and build a rapport with your target audience, you will need to know how each social network operate and work.
=> Twitter Videos Tips:
To get your video content seen and go viral on Twitter is quite a struggle.
Although videos on Twitter tend to be seen regularly than text content, not all videos will do.
On Twitter, post random videos that capture spontaneous moments, hold Q&A sessions, reply to tweets with video, and educate people by posting short clips of educational content. Teasers also do go on Twitter as well as trending topics.
Behind the scenes, videos, and entertainment videos will also create more engagement on Twitter.
The best thing with Twitter videos is that they have better engagement, a better chance of going viral, and better chance of getting more views than on other platforms thanks to their automatic play (Users don’t need to click play button for video to play).
=> Instagram Video Tips:
Instagram is another platform that is becoming more reliant on social Media videos.
Instagram 60-second videos, Instagram Live, and stories are all avenues that Instagram offers to allow users to showcase their video content.
However, for your videos to go viral On Instagram, you need to use several tips;
- Go behind the scenes…You can show them a backstage look of your event, how you make your product, and what your normal day in the office is like, etc.
- How-to videos will also go viral on Instagram
- Promotional videos, although you have to be careful with this strategy. You need to balance between promotional videos and other videos
- Post funny and entertainment videos
- Give a sneak peek such as clips of your upcoming products or events
- Don’t always rely on sounds, post videos with subtitles
Instagram has been embracing the use of videos, and if your video takes into consideration the above tips, chances of going viral will be higher.
With the introduction of Instagram stories, you can increase your brand awareness.
=> Facebook Video Tips:
Facebook expects video content to overtake text content in the future, and thus are putting different strategies in place.
To be part of the future and have your video go viral on Facebook:
- Optimize them for news feed
- Have a killer intro and capture people from the word go
- Focus on native videos- post videos directly to the platform. Posting links of videos from other hosting sites such as YouTube is not as effective as posting videos directly on FB
- Have call to actions by using words such as watch more, shop now, learn more, sign up, etc.
- Also, make use of Facebook Live feature as it helps your video rank better in news feed
More and more people are using Facebook for entertainment, learning, and staying informed. Use videos to meet their needs.
=> YouTube Video Tips:
YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine and the mecca of video content. However, you will rarely find it easy to make it on YouTube.
To make your videos known and have a high number of views, you will need to;
- Use YouTube analytic report to improve your videos
- Share your YouTube videos on social media
- Optimize your video descriptions, titles, and have subtitles for your videos
- Optimize your channel so it can rank high
- Have a couple of videos on your channel
- Create lengthier, informative videos
=> Snapchat Video Tips:
Snapchat is popular with younger generations, and it is another avenue your business needs to explore.
To have your social Media videos go viral on Snapchat, you need to;
- Offer incentives such as discounts and coupons in your video campaigns
- Build anticipation by creating short clips; divide a lengthy video into short clips to create anticipation
- Offer giveaways; young people like free things
- Tell stories; everyone likes stories
There you have them; brief tips on how to succeed using social videos on different platforms.
Now, let’s discuss how to make your social video go viral and benefit you in a great way.
Tips for Creating a Successful Social Video:
Major brands, publishers, and marketers are turning to social videos to increase their brand awareness and land more buyers on social media.
The idea is to come up with a video that covers several platforms. In the current world, if content is still the king, social video its kingdom.
To succeed in social media, just like the big brands, here are several tips to keep in mind;
[1] Focus on story and not the sale:
Hard selling and cold calling are no longer accepted in today’s world. Nobody wants to hear �salesy’ language. That’s why you need to embrace storytelling or value you are adding.
To connect better with your audience, you will need to tap into emotions- happy, sad, etc. To do this, create a character, introduce conflict, and provide a resolution. This way, your audience will understand your story.
The best way to do this is through storytelling. And by storytelling, your brand personality will come out loud and clear.
[2] The first ten seconds counts:
We are living in a world where the attention span of the online audience is getting shorter and shorter.
That’s you need to focus on making your intro captivating and interesting and also create short videos.
If you look at viral videos, they are normally short.
A study done by HubSpot showed that the ideal size of Instagram videos is 26 seconds, while that of Twitter is 45 seconds.
The ideal length of Facebook videos is 1 minute, while that of YouTube videos is 2 minutes. This is according to the same report.
However, despite this, the first 10 seconds are very important and will help capture your viewer’s attention.
Therefore, be precise and to the point.
[3] Relevance is key:
When it comes to social videos, one-size-fits-all doesn’t work.
You will need to create videos that suit your audience.
For instance, you don’t need to evoke sad feeling on an audience that is looking for website services.
Therefore, it is vital to bring on relevant experiences to specific audiences to avoid becoming irrelevant.
[4] Have a clear goal:
Social Media videos should help you achieve your brand goals, which means you need to gear them to achieve your overall marketing goal.
To do this, make sure that you have a clear call-to-action and encourage your users to act.
Create your CTA based on your objective.
Your objective can be to increase sales of a certain product, drive more traffic to a website or blog, get your audience to sign up, increase brand awareness, etc.
Make sure that your viewers know what to do next after watching your video.
[5] Have a unique style of videos:
To make your video successful and reflect your brand, you will need to focus on a certain genre and style of videos. This means that you might need to use a template to make your videos relatable.
In addition, use video orientation that matches your social network. For better mobile-viewing experience, go with squared videos.
[6] Optimize your videos for search engines:
When it comes to SEO for videos, description is everything. Descriptions allow search engine bots understand what your video is all about.
Therefore, make sure to integrate relevant keywords into your unique titles and compelling description.
Besides, transcribing your video content will help you cater to different audiences, especially those who will prefer reading. Integrate keywords into your video transcripts.
From the above 6 tips, it is clear that for you to become successful with social videos, you need to understand your audience and play with the rules of different social media platforms and search engines.
Now that we have talked about social videos, let’s discuss other videos you can use on social networks;
It is important to note that certain types of videos perform better on certain social media platforms than others. Therefore, keep this in mind to avoid mixing up.
Here are different types of videos you can post on social media platforms;
1.Interview Q/A:
- One of the ways of engaging your audience is by answering their most burning questions.
- To do this, find a customer, thought leader, or team member and have a screen chat.
- You can opt to get your fans to ask questions or prepare questions in advance.
- You can either record them or go live.
2.Behind-the-scenes videos:
- Virtually everyone likes to see what happens behind the curtain. It not only helps you to create a connection and build trust with your audience but also help to highlight your culture as a company.
- You can conduct office tours as your employees are working on a project or creating a product or go backstage during a launching event.
- Behind-the-scenes videos are great when you are showcasing new products.
3.Live Videos:
- Most social media platforms are now embracing live videos, and audiences are responding well.
- Live streams help to show that a brand is more transparent, and this helps to foster a deeper connection with fans and also boost engagement.
- You can have a live video discussing behind-the-scenes, Q&A’s, or event content.
- Know the best time to go live so as you can reach more audiences.
4.User-generated content:
- Creating content is not an easy task. Allow your loyal fans to do the legwork for you by sharing some of their content.
- You can look out for videos your fans have posted and repost or share, reach out to influencers, or hold a contest to get user-generated content.
5.Product/Feature Video:
- Product videos showcasing the different features of a product and how each feature can be beneficial has been shown to influence the purchase decision of many people.
- Videos offer a great way to demonstrate the different features of a product.
- And when done on a social media post, it seems more of an authentic video rather than an ad, and this encourages people to buy it.
6.Promos and deals:
- Who doesn’t like a deal? Offer your followers exclusive deals, and you will see your engagement skyrocket.
- Do an eye-catching video promoting a product and offer discounts or coupons and watch your sales and engagement go up.
7.Announcement/reveals:
- Social media is the best place to announce some big news such as announcing a new product line or expansion to your line of product.
- It offers a perfect way to build anticipation and excitement.
8.Giveaways and contests:
- Who doesn’t like free things? Contests can help drum up your engagement, and you can use videos to extend your online reach further.
- You should create videos that promote your contests such as those announcing the start of a contest or announcing the winner.
- You can pick winners on air among viewers who engaged with your video.
9.Tutorials/how-to:
- How-to videos and tutorials are one of the most searched-for videos.
- While you might need to make them shorter to suit your social media audience, they make the best videos to post on social networks.
10.Breaking News/Trends:
- Most people use social media to get news of the day or learn about trending topics.
- While it is important to be careful not to engage more on tragic events, trending topics, and breaking news can help spark engagement and boost your brand name more.
- A video can help you portray breaking news better than text. Breaking news, especially on Twitter, can help spark engagement and make your post go viral.
11.Events:
- Posting videos of your events or events you attended can also work in your favor on social media.
- You can live stream or record and later edit the parts.
- Offering viewers an exclusive look of how your event was will make them feel special.
Bottom Line:
We have shared tips on how to make your social Media video beneficial and go viral and different videos you can post on different social media platforms.
It is our hope that you have learned a thing or two about social videos, and now you will endeavor to create more videos to engage your audience and make your brand name known on different platforms.
