Social media videos are like a dream for companies who want to expand their brand, build deeper relationships with their customers and prospects and grow their sales.
Videos are especially eye-catching on social media as you scroll through a feed. Being found is very important for any brand. Besides helping with SEO, they also drive engagement by increasing time duration on your web pages. And if that’s not enough, videos can be repurposed in different mediums, such as social media marketing, website, emails, press releases, as well as video ads such as Facebook ads and Google ads.
From a marketing and sales perspective, social media videos can do a lot of heavy lifting for your brand. And I’m not the only believer. In 2022, 82% of all content published online will be videos. So if you haven’t added videos to your social media channels yet, today would be a good time to start. And if you have already started, please make time to do more.
Why?
Consider these statistics:
- Videos improve conversions by 86%.
- 90% of users say video helps them make a purchase
- 80% of people switch between online search and video when researching a purchase.
- 92% of people share videos with others.
To position your social media videos for success, you will need to consider format and venue. Some video formats are more appealing to your prospects based on where they are in the sales cycle. Some social media channels are more popular with your audiences. There is something to be said for being in the right place and at the right time. Let me explain:
10 Social Media Formats That Build Brand
Framing your content determines success. Are you presenting what your prospects want? Are you answering their questions and addressing their concerns, which keeps them from making a purchase? Here are 10 ways to reach your target audience with social media videos:
- How-To Videos: In a digital world, helping is the new selling. All your prospects are only one click away from your brand—but they are also one click away from your competition and distractions. How do you draw them closer to you? Be helpful. Using video will make it easy for them to digest. For example, we recorded Zoom interviews with local nonprofits and small businesses that had to shift their business model to survive during the first year of COVID-19. Then, we turned that content into a more engaging video format to publish on our social media to help more organizations.
- Product Launch Videos: Reviewing a new product or service will help your audience to quickly grasp the benefits. While some people best learn through reading, others learn from listening and watching. Product launch videos reach a larger audience, and they are more likely to be shared.
- Live Videos: Immediacy adds value to everything. Broadcasting live video is a great way to serve a larger audience in a cost-effective way. Since 2020, connecting from afar has gone mainstream. Using live video allows your organization to be “everywhere” while standing in one spot.
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- When the American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association needed to quickly share critical COVID-19 developments to its membership during a nationwide state of emergency, we used the Facebook Live feature as the ideal way to reach their largest audience on a national scope and promoted the event on APSNA’s social media channels. The one-day virtual event helped deepen engagement with members, reaching more than 4,000 individuals nationwide.
- Testimonial Videos: There are certain things that you are not “allowed” to say in business. “My company is the best” is one example. “My company has great customer service” is another one. However, your customers can say these types of praises without sounding self-serving—and it should be encouraged and promoted. Any time a customer takes a moment to thank you for helping them, ask them for one more moment and get a testimonial.
- Behind-The-Scenes Videos: Taking your prospects behind the scenes creates a different perspective that is extremely relatable. Let your audience see all the hard work that goes into delivering your products and services. This type of video will also allow you to showcase your team as they walk the viewers through their processes enroute to a final product.
- Case Study Videos: Transforming a case study into a video means you will have to select the more interesting aspects of the project, while leaving room for the human touch that connect with viewers in a very authentic way.
- Repurpose Blog Videos: Repurposing content is a great way to create more value for little effort. Take a second look at your blogs and turn one into a video. Start with a listicle. Or, better yet, use the listicle as the foundation for a new video series.
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- At CMA, we craft short tip videos from our employees based off our blog content as another way to promote our great content to connect with more people. (Yes, all videos are filmed and edited in house at CMA.)
- Explainer Videos: The only thing better than business is repeat business. Meaning, it’s new revenue that comes back to you without any extra expense. Explainer videos, which highlight a part of your product or service, is the type of content that helps your clients better understand your value. It builds a deeper relationship with your customer base and encourages future purchases. Remember, making a sale isn’t the end of the cycle—there’s always another step and another sale.
- Takeover Videos: Business is another word for relationships. And takeover videos strengthen those types of connections. Select a key ally for your brand—it can be a customer, partner or employee—and let them post on your social channels for a specific period. This effort will add a different perspective to your typical social media offering.
- Interview Videos: This type of format underscores thought leadership. What better way to showcase your leadership’s vision and path forward than to hear them articulate it themselves on video? You could use a Q-and-A format or a traditional interview setting to bring out their expertise.
In practice, a robust campaign features multiple types of videos on social, which provides variety to engage your audience.
15 Social Media Video Tips Per Platform
All social media channels are not created equal. Each one has different strengths, cultures and audiences.
Here are some tips for the more popular social media platforms that explode with video marketing:
YouTube
Social Media Video Tip #1: Add a call-to-action (CTA) button throughout your videos, as well as at the end of your videos to dramatically boost your brand. First off, don’t assume everyone will watch your entire video, which is why you should have at least one CTA appear early in the video. Secondly, you should have a CTA button at the very end because users need direction on how to proceed. For example, most organizations link them to another video or the subscription button. However, sending your traffic to your website is also a smart move. Let’s face it, your website is where the sales happen.
Social Media Video Tip #2: YouTube allows you to create videos up to 12 hours long. In other words, this platform allows you to create in-depth how-to videos, grand explainers on deep topics and tutorials that help your audience help themselves. Most users prefer short videos, but they will make time to watch longer-formatted videos if the topic is compelling to them. To make the longer videos more digestible, think about capping each section after 15 to 20 minutes, which allows your audience to recharge their attention span.
- Every year, the International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA) presents its prestigious ICMA Élan Awards to spotlight the best of the best in the global transaction card industry, honoring world-class achievements in card design, technological innovation and other categories that establish the global vanguard for card manufacturing excellence. Due to travel bans from the pandemic, we turned the 2021 Élan Awards into engaging video content. Using YouTube Premiere, we generated more than 700 views in the first 72 hours for the global event that crossed many time zones. The successful event was promoted on social media, email and its website.
Social Media Video Tip #3: People judge a book by its cover. And the same can be said about video thumbnails. Don’t let the platform pick the thumbnail for you—which typically happens when a still photo is pulled from your video. Instead, create and upload an eye-catching custom thumbnail to entice more people to watch your video.
Social Media Video Tip #4: When you plan your next video on Facebook, take a different perspective. Pretend you need to get your message across without sound. What? Why? Because 85% of users on Facebook watch videos without the sound. That means your videos need to be visually compelling and easy to follow. In most cases, it means you would add subtitles to the mix to ensure your key points get across to your audience.
Social Media Video Tip #5: Upload your videos on Facebook’s platform. In other words, don’t publish your video on YouTube and then drop the link in your Facebook post. There are two important reasons why you should take the extra step: 1) Facebook rewards users who upload native videos on their platform because it keeps more people on the Facebook platform. As a result, Facebook will show your videos to more people. 2) Videos that were uploaded to Facebook auto play in feeds, which capture the attention of users who are scrolling through items. This is a really big deal as online life has become one big scrap for everyone’s attention.
Social Media Video Tip #6: Entertaining videos play well on Facebook. There are two kinds of online surfers—those that want to work and those that want to play. Facebook is all about more play, not more work. To capitalize on this cultural expectation, you should develop videos that are funny, heart-warming and authentic. For a moment, consider taking a less than serious approach to your advertising campaign. But make sure you track your results. When it comes to social media, keep the best and leave behind the rest.
Social Media Video Tip #7: Don’t go over the limit. On Instagram, you have 60 seconds to get your message across in a video. This fact needs to be top of mind. In fact, it might be best to hit the most important points right away to make sure users are able to digest before the video ends.
Social Media Video Tip #8: Leverage user-generated content on your Instagram account. Whenever you see a customer enjoying your product or service, don’t keep it a secret. Instead, share it on your account. User-generated videos are a great example of how you can add authenticity and good vibes for your brand without adding any more work for yourself. It will also subconsciously influence other prospects and other clients without your organization saying a word.
Social Media Video Tip #9: Take full advantage of the Instagram “loop” when making your next video. The platform continually plays videos until the user scrolls away, which means developing a video that seamlessly loops will ensure more people will spend more time watching because they won’t know when it ends. Of course, at some point, they will get the gist but, by then, they will have spent more time with your brand.
Social Media Video Tip #10: Twitter is where brevity lives. And the people who use this channel like it that way. So go with the flow. Make sure your short videos are to the point. Use compelling imagery in the first few seconds to win them over.
Social Media Video Tip #11: Create an interesting, descriptive caption to let people know what they can expect. Or don’t. Some companies will sprinkle in some teasers to pique the interest of their audience. Things like “This is what happens when…” can serve as a quirky introduction to the video that’s loaded with suspense and anticipation.
Social Media Video Tip #12: A Twitter video that is 15 seconds or less are more memorable than videos 30 seconds or longer. So play along.
Social Media Video Tip #13: Create videos that educate your target audience, as opposed to selling them. People turn to LinkedIn for items that impact their careers and industry. In a digital world, helping is selling. And to get to that point, you need to build your brand to create a level of comfort among your prospects.
Social Media Video Tip #14: Square videos, 30 to 90 seconds in duration, work well on LinkedIn. And if you use a letterboxing format, you can use titles and captions in the top and bottom of the frame.
Social Media Video Tip #15: Develop video previews for upcoming content, such as blog posts, guides and whitepapers. LinkedIn users are always looking for various forms of education and insight. Plus, this tactic will increase the effectiveness of your overall content.
Simply put, social media videos make your brand stand out among your competition. Videos use eye-catching visuals, music and real people with real voices that quickly make a powerful connection with your target audience.
And that can make your brand go BOOM!