How to introduce video to your social media marketing
If you have not started to add video to your social media content, now is the time. With more companies relying on images to sell their products or raise brand awareness, it is important to know how to introduce this into your feeds.
Why are you posting?
Before you create your content, think about what you hope to achieve. Do you want to create brand awareness or just share knowledge to link with similar companies? Think about what is important to you. Whether this is generating site traffic, increasing likes or retaining customers, plan your content based on these goals; from there, you can decide where to post your content.
Knowing where to share it
Different social media platforms have their own types of video specialities; therefore, it is important to know which platform will work best for your content.
Facebook
If you have a company Facebook page, you should be posting videos to help keep your brand fresh and up to date. Many users choose to watch content without sound; therefore, you should consider adding captions to your videos. You could also take advantage of live video or try going behind the scenes; alternatively, if you have a respectable following, hosting a Q&A session might be advantageous.
Instagram
This platform is purely visual, which means your content must be high quality to stand out. Making sure your video thumbnail is eye catching is one way to start.
Important: Instagram has set time limits: one minute for videos on your feed or 10-second live stories. You must make your content direct and easy to take in.
Twitter
Users of Twitter want content that is entertaining; otherwise, it will quickly move down their feed. Keep it simple and to the point to make the post as shareable as possible.
YouTube
With YouTube, anything goes. You can post much longer videos, which makes this a perfect platform for tutorials and interviews. Spend more time making quality content to help your video stand out if it is recommended to those watching similar content.
Note: Although you have much more time to play around with, you should keep in mind your social engagement so that viewers do not get bored of longer videos.
Snapchat
This platform is not for everyone. It is hard to analyse data, which means that you need to post lots of content and be extremely active to gain better brand awareness. If you have the time, using Snapchat Stories is a good way to link several stories together to create a narrative that works well for your brand.
Quality videos
When beginning to post video content, you might be wary of quality. If you have had no experience, this can be daunting; however, you can make a video to rival your competitors by equipping yourself with the essentials. Smartphone cameras are just as good as some of the expensive cameras out there, so make the most of them. A basic lighting kit and microphone can work wonders, while free editing apps enable you to put your video together yourself.
Tip: If buying equipment is not cost effective, consider renting it to save money.