Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 Social media video will take your marketing strategy to the next level. Video content can consist of personal, authentic posts that engage your audience with audio and visual storytelling. In fact, social media video can be an even stronger medium to attract attention to your business than images or text alone. According to recent studies, “87% of video marketers say video has increased traffic to their website and 80% of video marketers say video has directly helped increase sales.” Clearly, social media video is a productive and worthwhile endeavor to undertake. What is more, more than 75% of all video views come from mobile devices, so optimizing your video content for mobile is key for success. Now: how exactly do you make the most of the video content you create? Suitable Topics For Social Media Video Video advertising can come in many shapes and forms. Think of topics that are relevant to your business and would provide value to your clients, while also promoting your company. The 80/20 rule is helpful to follow; it means that 80 percent of content is informational and beneficial to your audience while 20 percent is directed at increasing sales or enticing new clients. To find out more about this rule, check out this video from Erika Taylor Montgomery, CEO of Three Girls Media. Video Marketing doesn’t have to require expensive equipment or elaborate shoots. You can make successful social media video with your phone and free editing software. Some great topics for video marketing include: How-to videos Client testimonials Product demonstrations Educational videos Problem-solving videos Webinars Funny/personable videos Be creative when conceiving video topics and make sure you have a variety of post types to keep audiences interested. A combination of personable, informative and promotional videos is a good way to go. Creative Topics For Social Media Video Out-of-the-box video is a great way to stand out of the pack! Here is a list of ideas from Single Grain to get you thinking about videos that can help you get creative with your marketing. Vlogging Behind the scenes/company culture Interview Q&A Record an event Reviews Live streaming Contests/giveaways A great way to get started is by spit balling all these ideas with your team and finding which best suits your goals, business and voice. Questions To Ask On Social Media Video Engage your audience by lending credibility to your brand. Well thought-out, to-the-point social media video can answer the questions of your potential customers. Creating informative ads encourage customers to take the next step to visit your website or give your business a call. It is a wise idea to first do some research and fully understand your customer base. You want to understand both the demographics as well as the questions or hesitancies your potential customers may have. This list of questions from Single Grain details possible questions to ask customers to better understand their perspective: “What was your main concern about buying our product? No matter how “ready” your customers are to buy, they will always have some reservations. They may be concerned about the price, have doubts about whether your product will deliver results as promised or wonder if another product is a better fit for their specific situation. What results did you get after buying the product? Follow up the previous question by getting satisfied customers to explain their specific problem and how your product provided the solution. This tactic lets new leads hear about the benefits and results they can expect, which is highly persuasive content. What specific feature did you like most? Get happy customers to highlight their favorite features, as it usually comes with a story. This resonates better with new prospects than a simple list of their likes and dislikes. Remember that specific questions are more likely to unearth specific answers. What are 2-3 other “unexpected” benefits you got as a result of our product? You can use this question to reveal some unadvertised benefits that your customers receive from your product. Potential customers can see these perks as “bonuses,” which may be enough to sway them in favor of closing a deal.” Get To The Point In order to get to the point in your social media videos it is important to first be clear what the goal of your video is and how you will achieve it. Planning your video can be aided by creating a SMART goal. SMART is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Specific: In video preparation, an example of a specific goal is “get more website traffic.” Measurable: In social media video, metrics such as website analytics measures whether a video caused more people to click on the link to your landing. Achievable: In this context, achievable means setting realistic expectations as to how much growth one would expect. While video content also builds brand recognition and increases engagement online, it is good to have a specific intent that is attainable when developing your video marketing. Relevant: Relevancy entails being cognizant of the needs, wants and interests of your target audience. Know who you are communicating with through your video advertising and adjust your approach accordingly. Is your client base more interested in a serious, professional customer testimonial? Or, would a funny holiday video from the staff promote a sense of community that your online presence is lacking? Time-bound: This means staying organized, meeting deadlines, keeping a calendar and posting social media video in a timely manner. Narrow Your Focus Idea Rocket Animation states: “If your message is too complex to explain in a sentence, it isn’t ready for mobile audiences.” The key to a successful mobile video is to be laser-focused on one product, one idea, one sale, etc. Because of this, it is also strategic to make multiple short videos, so you have a plethora of fresh content for your audience. In this case, you can draw conclusions about which videos perform the best and then continue to make more of that type of video. Post Social Media Video At Peak Times There are optimal times to post on social media. Analytics reports are always coming out with the most up to date information based on collected data. These times and days of the week indicate when you can maximize viewership of social media video. For example, this article shares the best times to post on Instagram in 2021. One caveat is that each individual company’s social media has its own followers and demographics, and therefore your individual peak posting times may vary slightly. To determine this, frequently check analytics on your social media platforms to see when the best time to post social media video is for your business. Native Content Think of the formatting and context of each social media platform before creating video and plan accordingly. Native content, or content that is made with specific platform’s formatting in mind, performs the best. For example, it’s better to create a video that is made for Facebook’s layout, instead of just linking a YouTube video to your Facebook page. In terms of content, social media video may serve different purposes on different platforms. Ask yourself: Who is my audience on this platform? What are the technical advantages and disadvantages of this platform? What type of content are my clients seeking when they are on this platform? Social Media Video Is Best With Square Formatting Square video is optimal for video marketing on Facebook and Instagram feeds. This way, none of your content will be cut off and will play seamlessly in client’s feeds. There are resources in free editing software programs to make your videos square, such as Animoto or Adobe Spark. Another option is to include vertical video, such as video is filmed when shot on a smartphone. This approach may look more casual and blend in with other video content from a customer’s friends. The type of format you choose will leave different impressions of your brand. Social Media Video Editing Keep shots interesting and incorporate a lot of movement. Use interesting frames and transitions. Keep a quick pace to hold the attention of quick-scrolling viewers. Quirky angles can also be a good way to spice it up. You could even think outside the box and consider animated videos: Idea Rocket says: “Animation lets you zoom to the top of a skyscraper, dive into your computer screen, or even jump into a child’s drawing. Use unexpected perspectives and innovative story angles to catch and keep attention.” Use The Autoplay Feature Social media is inundated with content and any steps or additional work to reach content is going to lose a huge portion of your audience. Use the autoplay feature on Facebook so that your video advertising grabs viewer’s attention right off the bat. Create Strategic Video Thumbnails Viewers’ attention is so short that your first chance to capture your audience is the thumbnail of your social media video. Idea Rocket describes this as such: “Scrub through your video for an exciting moment, grab that frame, and use it to create a video thumbnail. Then hook viewers by adding a bold text overlay announcing what your video is about. For animated videos, you can ask your animator to create a custom thumbnail that projects a more professional image than a screenshot.” Keep Social Media Video Short Get to the point when making social media videos. Skip long introductions and get right into the meat of your content. Facebook measures a video as viewed when it was watched for more than 3 seconds. Attention spans are short and content is plentiful. Make sure you know why you are creating a video and what you want to say before you get into it. A good rule of thumb is to keep social media video to two minutes and under. Data has shown that the bulk of viewers will remain engaged until the two-minute mark. Keep social media short and concise and you will better retain users who are moving through content quickly. However, each platform has its own specific length targets for optimal viewership: Facebook: 10–30 seconds Twitter: 45 seconds Instagram feed: 30 seconds or less Instagram Stories: 15 seconds Try to keep things short and snappy and within these time brackets to make sure your audience takes the time to watch the full video. Use Captions 85% of Facebook video is watched without sound. Use captions and when possible, include a transcription of the video you post on your website or social media. This is crucial as: Captions increase accessibility, so that everyone can enjoy your video content. Using text on social media video will increase SEO, leading to more website traffic and organic discovery. Captions make it so those using mobile devices can watch without audio. You can add captions manually or use free online services to caption your videos. Check out this article to learn about free resources to caption your videos once they are made. End With A Call To Action No video marketing is complete without giving viewers some direction at the end. Do you want your clients to visit your website? Follow you on social media? Make it clear to your customers what they should do or where they should go after they finish the video. A simple way to do this is by using title cards that include a link or handle, which can be made using a free graphic design program such as Canva. With some planning, quality video content is a great way to expand the reach of your business’s online presence. Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on Three Girls Media and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Allison HallView full profile ›More by this author:How to Take Facebook Ads to the Next LevelHow to Take Product Photos Like a Pro14 Simple Steps to a Successful Etsy Marketing Strategy