It’s no secret that video is champion content when it comes to social media. With social video generating 1200% more shares than text and image combined, this social media trend continues to dominate platforms and is helping companies improve brand awareness, conversion rates and sales figures. So, how can you make the most of your next video campaign to ensure it reaches it’s full potential? Here’s our top 10 tips to help you out:
Design your video content to be shareable
Your number one priority when creating a video for social should be the factor of share-ability. This needs to be considered from the initial planning stages right the way through to publication. Consider what will make viewers want to share your video. Is it ‘how to’ content that can teach viewers something useful or perhaps its intention is to entertain and/or incite a certain emotion. Think about the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’ to ensure the objective of shareability is weaved throughout each strategic stage.
Use audience insights for video content inspiration
If you need inspiration on what your target audience likes, then do your research! Conduct audience analysis using listening tools to create a persona of what your target audience likes, dislikes and wants to view, engage with and share. Use this insight to influence your video strategy to ensure it resonates with your audience. A top tip is to re-target video content to users who have previously viewed or engaged with your brand (e.g. visited your page, added an item to cart etc.) to encourage them to return to the sales funnel.
Ensure your video content is relevant to the social channel
One of the most common pitfalls we see is brands instinctively posting the same video across all their social channels, with the assumption that more channels means more engagement. Avoid making this mistake as misplaced videos on the wrong channels can dilute the impact of the video. Instead make a clear plan for how you will use the content by understanding each channels audience demographics and tailor it accordingly. This in turn will result in better engagement. Remember, all platforms have their own native video features and favour it in their algorithms so it’s really important that you do your research before posting. This doesn’t mean you necessarily need a different video for each platform, it would just be wise to think carefully about how various edits might work in favour of the social network that you’re posting on.
Embrace the power of storytelling in your video content
Incorporating your brands key narratives is essential for effective video marketing and a great way to do this is through the successful model of storytelling. Every video needs a beginning, middle, and end as well as some form of conflict, a resolution (your product and service) and of course, a hero (the consumer). Be sure these elements are consistent with your brand message and your overall positioning. One way brands are doing this is through the creation of ‘shows’, which is a series of content with an ongoing narrative between each episode. Unlike one-off thought leadership pieces or how-to videos, ‘shows’ give viewers a reason to come back, watch and subscribe and in turn, engage with your content on a larger and wider scale.
Playing on emotions can work well for videos
Positive, uplifting content that provokes happiness is really effective when it comes to video as we are more likely to share content that contains positive emotional stimuli. Creating an emotional connection between a brand and the consumer means they are much more likely to engage with and share your content. These authentic emotions increase trust and make people want to engage and convert from consumer to customer. Here are some really good examples of brands promoting ‘feel good’ content that has resonated with their target audience: Heinz, Old Spice and Android.
Be mindful of the length of your video content
When it comes to social video, shorter, snappier and to the point content is (nearly always) better. Revise your social video length limits and make sure your video is optimised for the channel that you’re posting on. As a quick reminder, Twitter videos are capped at 2 minutes 20 seconds, Instagram started with 15 seconds but moved to 60 seconds, and Snapchat videos are capped at 10 secs. The only exception is YouTube which is used by people who want long form content. As with anything, it’s usually best to get to the point and capture your audiences attention straight away and short, snappy video content allows for just that.
Try make sure your video content engages your audience instantly
A consumer’s attention span is very short, so you need to work quickly to ensure you grab your audience’s attention within the first 10 seconds of your video. If you fail to do so, their thumb is just a quick scroll away from the next video and they’re likely to move on. Make sure your key message is included within the initial 10 second time frame and avoid videos going over 30 seconds where possible. A study by LinkedIn found that videos under 30 seconds reported a 200% lift in view completion rates showing people’s willingness to take 30 seconds out of their day for an engaging and succinct video. In the simplest terms – keep it clear, engaging and to the point.
Ensure you optimise all videos for SEO
Just like any piece of content, you should actively think about how consumers will search for your video and optimise accordingly. Think about your video’s metadata and ensure the content descriptions are relevant, succinct and contain keywords. Don’t forget, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and having a video on a page makes it 53% more likely to show up on page one of Google so make sure you optimise all your video content just as much as you would for any other content, if not more.
Distribution and amplification are critical for videos on social media
In order to ensure that your video reaches it’s full potential, it’s crucial that you plan for amplification. Consider a paid strategy using social ads to increase views, engagements and shares. Another way of getting your content seen by a wider audience is by getting relevant influencers, employees and advocates to share the video onto their own channels. Social traction spreads like wildfire, so the more people interacting and engaging with your content, the better it’s overall success and performance will be.
Make sure that all content is visually engaging
Our final top tip is to think like a silent film director. Deliver your message with graphics and text to extend viewer attention span, rather than just focusing on sound. Don’t forget to subtitle for social platforms, as the majority of watchers will listen without sound and may skip your video if subtitles aren’t available. The only case where this doesn’t apply is with YouTube, as it’s a channel where consumers actively go to watch video, so it can be assumed users listen with sound and don’t need subtitles.
At Prohibition, we’ve worked across a wide range of video production projects for various clients that have achieved high engagement, helped boost brand awareness and been successfully amplified across social media. If you’re looking for further help with how to make the most of video, feel free to get in touch with us via phone 0113 430 4160 or email hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk.
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