Video is still one of the most compelling social media tools. Viewers look at more than 5 billion YouTube videos every day. And Facebook? 11% of Facebook posts are videos and those videos get 8 billion views per day.
The numbers are too compelling. Now is the time to figure out how to integrate video into your social media strategy.
The great thing about video is that it’s an extremely flexible tool that can be adapted to any business.
Complicated product? Make an explainer video! No one wants to be on camera? Try an animated explainer video! Need to get more in-depth? Motion graphic videos are perfect for taking viewers on an in-depth journey.
Social media users love videos that are short and sweet.
One of the social media marketing laws is that social media users’ attention spans can be very, very short. Making short, useful videos that are interesting to watch is a great way to catch and keep eyes when you post.
The Buzzfeed company Tasty has perfected this strategy by pioneering and popularizing the hands-only cooking videos. These videos started out ranging from 30-90 seconds and used a steady cam to show the steps of cooking simple recipes. The videos were silent (background music plays if you choose) and on-screen text gave measurements and steps.
The videos were so popular that the Tasty Facebook page has substantially more followers and viewers than Buzzfeed’s main page and has five spin-off pages in addition to international versions.
One key consideration for these kinds of videos is producing them in a way that makes sound optional. Most social media users, especially those on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, are accessing the platforms on their phones and mobile devices where headphones are optional and not normally used. In this situation, videos that need sound to be understood and enjoyed will be skipped over for videos that don’t need or use sound.
But don’t be afraid to embrace a long-form concept.
Short attention spans aside, viewers are watching longer and longer videos every year. The average YouTube session is now 40 minutes long, up 50% from last year. The average length of YouTube videos that people watch is more than eleven minutes.
Millennials and younger generations are also becoming more skeptical of social media videos that are clearly advertisements. They are unafraid to skip the slick, well-produced videos that make up the majority of video advertisements. However, they are also curious generations who want to more about the world they live in. If you can make a long-form video that is interesting and informative, odd are that you will capture their attention easier than the best-produced ad you could make.
All of this is to say that, do not be afraid to make longer videos if your content calls for it.
Go for something unusual.
Explainer videos are great. They can be an incredibly informative and truly effective way to showcase your product or service.
Users can also see a thousand of them during a social media scrolling session.
BlendTec is the master of this strategy with their groundbreaking, and immensely silly, “Will It Blend?” video series. The crux of the videos was the founder of the company attempting, and succeeding, to destroy common household items using their signature blender. These videos brought an incredible amount of commercial brand recognition to a company that had previously only been known in the restaurant and high-end kitchen market.
Throwing in some animation and making animated explainer videos can add something new and fun to your video strategy. Motion graphic videos can grab users’ attention by showing expected things in new and unexpected ways.
Start Now!
It’s never too late to start incorporating video into your social media strategy and marketing efforts. It’s a great way to grow your brand recognition and expand your online reach. It’s also surprisingly affordable to implement. Take some time this week to jot down some ideas on how you can start incorporating video to take your marketing efforts to the next level.
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