If you haven’t been paying attention, video is now an important part of every major social media platform. In fact, many social media platforms openly admit they favor video content over any other type. Regardless of the topic, videos perform the best in most algorithms since it captures a viewer’s attention for longer. With that in mind, one of your 2022 digital marketing goals should be implementing more video into your social media calendar. Not sure where to start? Here’s a quick rundown on the most popular video platforms, types of videos to create, and what it could mean for your business.
Facebook isn’t going away any time soon, especially if your market is primarily Boomer, Gen X and even Millennials. Here are a few types of video content you can use on Facebook for your business:
On-demand videos. These are the videos you typically see in the feed, that can be any length under 60 minutes long. We suggest working with 1 to 3-minute bite-sized content pieces. These videos can be used on your Facebook page or in Ads Manager.
Examples of successful on-demand videos: feature/product videos, explaining a process, team spotlights, interviews.
Facebook Stories. This quick, on-the-fly content is great for garnering interaction and feedback from your community. They are only viewable for 24 hours, so stories don’t require much planning or thought.
Great ideas for Facebook Stories: behind the scenes, polls, quizzes, Q&A video replies.
Livestreams. This is the most effective video format that will garner the most attention. When you go live, every one of your Facebook followers will get a notification. Your potential reach is significantly higher than any other static post on Facebook.
Potential Livestream topics: Q&As, events, new product launches, interviews, influencer takeovers, announcements.
What types of videos succeed on Facebook?
When people are on Facebook, they’re more likely to be drawn to engaging, thoughtful, humorous, or controversial content. Whichever type of video format you choose, successful videos always have an eye-catching title and a succinctly written description that quickly clues the viewer into what they’re about to watch. The most important tip? Don’t forget to record the video in the proper orientation! Facebook stories are portrait, whereas everything else should be recorded in landscape view.
In 2021, there were over 170 million Americans with active accounts on Instagram, many of whom use the app every day. With the average age of 18-49, it’s highly likely that your market is on Instagram!
Instagram has four types of video content that can reach different segments of your audience:
Reels. A video up to 60 seconds that can be found on your feed, Explore Page, and your Reels section on your account page. (This type of video is in direct competition to TikTok.)
Livestreaming. All of your followers receive a notification when you go live. You can also partner with another brand or account to go live together for increased exposure.
Stories. Like Facebook Stories, Instagram has a 24-hours-only-then-it’s-gone option. While followers might miss your posts in their feed because of the algorithm, everyone that follows you has the potential to see your stories. Posting fun, engaging and feedback gathering content is ideal for Instagram Stories.
Instagram Video. This is a standard uploaded video can include longform videos that show up in your follower’s feed and the video section of your profile.
How can videos grow your Instagram account?
Videos not only are more favored by the algorithm, but also viewers. They get more attention, and for longer periods, than a simple graphic. The best way to grow your Instagram account with video is to have a regular posting schedule, catchy headlines, and powerful hashtags so that you can cast a wider net.
TikTok
TikTok is a video-only platform that’s primarily used by Millennials, Gen Z and younger. While short videos work well, you can record a video that’s up to 3 minutes long.
Should my business be on TikTok?
Great question! We get asked this a lot. Since TikTok is so similar to Instagram Reels, we put them head to head (link to article) so that business owners could make an assessment as to which platform to use. The features you need to take to ensure a video will be seen are also pretty similar to Instagram Reels: an appealing caption and powerful hashtags. What’s important to remember is that most successful accounts have at least one video upload per day. That’s a LOT of time to devote to creating and editing videos! Probably too much of an investment for most small businesses.
Twitch
Twitch is the world’s largest online video game streaming platform. It has over 15 million active users every day. While your business not might be in the online gaming sphere, if you’re trying to reach young men aged 18-34, it is likely they are on this platform. Traditional advertising methods don’t always resonate with Zoomers (Gen Z), but Twitch viewers are more than willing to pay attention to whatever/whomever their favorite streamers are fans of.
YouTube
YouTube has over 1 billion active daily users, so there’s no doubt that your market is on this platform. While most of the content is uploaded videos, there is an option to livestream on YouTube, and subscribers will get a notification once you go live on the platform.
How can my videos go viral on YouTube?
This is another question we get asked all the time. The truth is, it’s very hard to predict which video will go viral. The first step is to create content that touches people – whether it’s funny, heartwarming or controversial. That may be the easy part, because the engine that makes videos viral happens when people feel compelled to share it. And this is the part that’s hard to predict. If you’ve created a wildly successful video before, your best bet is to try to figure out exactly what about it appealed to people. Then recreate that, using new content of course.
While creating a viral video is a worthy goal, it’s important to remember YouTube’s most valuable feature. YouTube is a very powerful search engine – second only to Google on the internet - that aggregates educational, engaging, and well indexed content. If your videos have detailed descriptions, attention-grabbing titles, and are coherent and well-produced, then you are setting your business up for success on YouTube.
If you have a business with aa national or international market, Twitter is a platform that should be a part of your social media strategy. You have the ability to livestream both video and audio content as well as upload videos up to 140 seconds in length.
How does my business find success with videos on Twitter?
Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags! Twitter runs on hashtags and keywords, and videos with the proper keywords will pull more viewers in, whether it’s your current audience or potential followers.
Hopefully, you found this bare-bones discussion about using video on social media platforms helpful. Now you are ready to go out and conquer the World of Video! If instead you are feeling overwhelmed by the thought of adding video to your marketing plans, we are here to help. Contact Content&Creativity at 610-937-5187 or info@contentandcreativity.com.