Video marketing is a powerful tool that has the ability to inform, entertain and engage audiences. So far in 2021, 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, an increase from 85% in 2020. Hubspot found that 99% of marketers using video as part of their strategy plan to continue using it, with 95% planning further investment into future video campaigns.
These stats highlight just how key video content is for social media campaigns. By using video, you can engage your audience in a creative way, share key messages, promote a new product and increase brand awareness. Each social media platform serves a different purpose and therefore video content should be tailored depending on the channel to maximise performance. Here’s an overview of the type of content that works best on each channel when it comes to video.
Instagram – IGTV and Reels
The image led platform has recently shifted more into the world of video content with the introduction of Instagram reels and IGTV. Instagram Reels were introduced to the platform last summer and are short, 15 second, multi-clip videos. These bite-sized videos are shared on users profiles and are a quick and effective way to share engaging content. These resonate well with particular younger audiences who utilise apps such as TikTok. If you’re looking to share a quick, unedited clip to showcase a new product or tap into a trend – reels are the best tool to use on this platform.
IGTV are longer style videos that can be up to 30 minutes in length. IGTV videos can be found on the users main profile as well as in a separate IGTV tab. This type of content is often more considered and structured. The best type of content for IGTVs are interviews, Q&A format or tutorials. The longer the video, typically the less engagement users receive on Instagram – so even if you are looking to create longer form content keep it concise and engaging.
LinkedIn – native video
Video performs impressively well on LinkedIn. Since the platform launched native video content in 2017, many marketers have used organic and advertising campaign videos as a popular tool and are seeing an increase in engagement and revenue from doing so. LinkedIn videos see three times the amount of engagement compared to text based posts on the platform.
Native video is video content that is directly uploaded to either a personal or business account. This type of video plays automatically in the LinkedIn feed, leading to higher engagement. Native videos have proven to be five times more effective in starting conversations amongst LinkedIn users in contrast to other types of content on the platform. This highlights that using video on LinkedIn can be a powerful way to engage with your audience and that sharing native videos are the best for this platform.
Twitter – GIFs and animation
Twitter is a very fast paced platform as the feeds are constantly updating with people and brands sharing content often multiple times throughout the day. Because of this, the video content that’s shared also needs to match this. That’s why GIFs and animated assets tend to perform well on Twitter. This type of content is easily digestible and catches peoples attention when they are scrolling through the channel.
Facebook – in-stream and newsfeed
Facebook users are known to love video, with 1.25 billion monthly viewers being the highest recorded number of views on the platform. Marketers have been tapping into this to promote brands with in-stream video ads, that prove to be the most successful. This allows businesses to create small adverts that will be played either before or during another video, grabbing the attention of a viewer immediately and potentially reaching a wider audience. Due to the fact it is always updating, Facebook newsfeed is also an effective way to use video on the platform to promote a product or service – all you need is movement and sound to capture your target audience and tell your brands story.
YouTube – long form content
The original video content platform – YouTube remains one of the strongest platforms for video content. Not only is YouTube a platform for users to enjoy content by creators and entertainers it also provides marketers with a chance to reach audiences in as many creative ways as possible with few barriers. With such a diverse range of content on the platform, it is essential that your video is able to stand out among the rest and to do just that you need a thumbnail and title that stands out. A thumbnail is the small image shown as a preview for the video, this could be an animation to really stand out.
When it comes to the video itself, most users spend up to 40 minutes on YouTube every day meaning that long form content generally works best on the channel. This allows you to have more creative freedom and think outside of the box when it comes to video due to the length not necessarily being a key factor. We tend to see shorter content working better on other platforms, so if you’re looking to create a longer video – YouTube is likely to be the best place to host the content.
TikTok – The latest trend
TikTok has gained traction over the last year with 1.1 billion monthly users as of 2021, such popularity has created a new platform for video marketing and promotion for brands and businesses. The platform allows users to create 60 second videos with the editing tools at their thumbs, allowing for great accessibility and ease of content creation.
Brands have been using TikTok as a marketing tool but unlike the other channels – users are very particular about the types of videos that they view. Videos that are seen as too polished or too ad-like do not get strong engagement. It is a great platform for brands to have a bit of fun, tap into trends and also promote brand awareness. Ryanair have done so with humour and creativity and have gained over 1m followers on the platform.
At Prohibition, we know that video marketing is only going to continue to grow that’s why we work with a range of brands across all sectors to deliver quality videos that help portray everything from a product launch, brand key messages and pieces to camera. Get in contact today to find out how we could help you! Drop us a line at hello@prohibitionpr.co.uk
