Over the past few years, videos have been enjoying a meteoric rise fueled by growth in mobile usage, evolving consumer habits, and the increasing popularity of streaming services and social media platforms. Social media videos today continue to push boundaries, with more than 85 per cent of marketers using them as a significant part of their digital marketing efforts.
Posting videos on social media platforms help the brand build trust and connect with potential customers, improve lead generation, and boost conversions. However, the growth of these channels also means more competition; it’s easy for your video to get lost in the avalanche of content posted on different platforms every day.
That being said, creating and developing video content has never been easier. With the increasing number of tools and apps such as InVideo offering customers intuitive interfaces and templates, almost anyone can create attractive and engaging videos effortlessly.
Let’s see how you can create amazing social media videos that grab instant attention and stand out from others in today’s evolving digital landscape.
Always Start With a Well-Designed Strategy
Shooting videos and bringing them in front of your followers is a satisfying experience when looking at the engagement they inspire. However, before creating content for social media, make sure to have a clear plan about your videos and the video marketing strategy.
Ask yourself what you’re trying to achieve with these videos—attract followers, increase brand awareness, improve sales, or get more subscribers?
Have a clear understanding of your objectives and see that they align with your business goals. A well-planned strategy also enables you to evaluate the success and effectiveness of your digital marketing campaign.
Invest in Equipment
Social media is one of the most popular components of any content marketing strategy. The reason is the low cost and minimal investment associated with it. Most social media users look for appealing, valuable content and don’t demand professional-quality production. So, you need not spend on expensive equipment to win the social media video marketing game.
You can even use your smartphone to record short, entertaining clips. Invest in some cheap, basic necessities like lighting, a tripod, external microphones, and other accessories for improved convenience and improved quality of videos. You can also invest in a video camera if your budget permits.
With some experience, you can even use an easy online video editor to edit and repurpose videos; a sophisticated, premium tool is no longer necessary.
Keep Your Videos Short
With so much to focus on nowadays, we can concentrate our attention on one thing for only a short time. The increasing volume of content on the internet and the urge to find new things leads us to switch between topics more frequently.
The same applies to social media videos. As attention spans reduce, you should ensure your videos are short and crisp. Even if your content is useful, few people would want to watch your video if it’s more than 15 minutes long.
Social media users want the content to be easy-to-consume, relevant, short, and engaging. Ensure that you remove all the extra bits and keep only the most fascinating and relevant parts in your video. If you want to educate users on a complex topic, consider breaking it into smaller clips and posting it as a series rather than stuffing the information into a long video.
Focus on the First Few Seconds
In this age of shortening attention spans, social media users tend to move to the next video in about eight seconds.
This is why you need to capture their attention in the first few seconds when they decide whether they should continue watching or scroll to other content. Consider starting your video with inspiring quotes, thought-provoking questions, impressive visuals and music, and strong hooks.
Try and insert your brand logo, name, tagline, and the product you want to promote so that users can quickly get a hint of your brand and your offerings. The intro should leave the audience curious about what happens next and encourage them to watch the entire video.
Include Subtitles
One of the biggest benefits of social media videos is that they help you reach a global audience. This also means that your video is likely to be watched by people who don’t understand your language.
Subtitles are an important consideration as they not only help foreign viewers comprehend the message but also help the native audience watch the video in environments and scenarios where they can’t turn on the sound.
Another reason to include subtitles is the auto-play feature introduced by many social media platforms. As users scroll through their feeds, videos start playing without audio, so attention-grabbing text helps your video stand out. Subtitles can be used to get your message across even when the video is muted and watched on auto-play on various platforms.
Focus on Storytelling
Catching audience attention is important, but retaining attention is even more critical. This is why you should create a high-quality video that encourages viewers to stay glued till the end.
Your video content should not only look attractive, sound great, and feel interesting but should also tell a compelling story with a lot of value, emotions, and relevance.
The storytelling capability allows you to build a connection with the audience on a personal level and deliver a message that touches their emotions. This should take your social media videos to the next level and create a brand that resonates with the audience.
Include a Call-To-Action
When viewers reach the end of your video, they like to get some guidance on where to go next or what to do. This is your chance to engage them better with your brand.
Adding a CTA towards the end of your video gives the users a purpose and encourages them to do what you want them to do.
Remember, however, that your CTA should not be too focused on sales, or it can turn people off. It should be coherent with your business objectives and campaign goals.
Optimize for Multiple Channels
You can use the same video content across multiple social media channels to reach a large audience. However, optimize them for every network as each social media platform has different requirements.
Design and size are important for catching the eye with social media visuals. Consider adjusting your video to the right length, dimensions, orientation, and other aspects of each channel.
For example, landscape videos work nicely on YouTube, but vertical videos are a better fit for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, as these videos are mostly watched on mobile devices.
Measure the Results
It’s a good idea to analyze and measure the results of your social media video marketing strategy. Keep track of critical metrics to know how much engagement your videos drive.
These metrics help you understand how well you’re doing, what content is the most effective, and what areas you should improve on.
Final Thoughts
Social media videos have great potential in increasing engagement and driving business growth, taking your digital marketing to another level in this crowded space. Use these tips and strategies to create stunning social media videos that maximize your brand presence and deliver business results.
Increasing competition on these networks and changing audience behaviours and expectations require that you stay on top of the latest trends to stay relevant and stand out from others.
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