How to optimize and best produce videos for your social channels.
Welcome to Vidico's sixth issue. ??
In today’s newsletter, you will learn the best tips for creating and optimizing video content specifically for your social channels.?So let's dive in!
Creating videos for social media channels is often regarded as a low-paying marketing strategy. While video is the most consumed type of content, only 2% of marketers go as high as spending between 75% of their full ad spend on video marketing.?
Key Takeaways
?? Decide on the format (organic and/or paid content)
?? Opt for the right video type
?? Choose the right length
?? Match the native content on the relevant platform
?? Decide on the styles
Why do you need to be using social as a paid channel?
If your marketing strategy does not include video and social media, you are mistaken.?
Let’s discuss the why.?
Reason #1
?? Social media gives you more reach and acquisition potential than any other channel.
Let’s only talk about two popular social networks, TikTok and Facebook.?
TikTok counts more than 1 billion monthly active users . ??
Users in key markets like the US and UK spend around 24 hours each month watching videos on the app, according to The Verge . This is a far greater engagement time than YouTube (22 hours and 40 minutes every month).
?Meanwhile, Facebook counts more than 4 billion video watches every day with over 500 million viewers watching 100 million hours of Facebook videos daily. ???
Also, according to Facebook , 71% of shoppers find video ads shown to them to be relevant and 62% of users become interested in a product or service after discovering it in Stories.??
Social platforms have insane business potential that’s hard to ignore. Twitter also records 2 billion video views daily , while LinkedIn counts millions of views daily.?
Social channels offer your brand plenty of reach and put you in users’ feeds more than Google and YouTube combined.
Reason #2
?? Customers search for products on social media before making purchase decisions.
This is inherent to most customers, especially Gen Zs and Millenials, and pertains to whatever product. As proof, the 2022 GWI Gen Z report found that 46% of Gen Zers rely on TikTok to find product and brand information, while 69% use Instagram.?
Given this trend, it makes sense to use videos across your company’s channels to both meet this trend and be where your customers search for products when they want to buy.?
How to optimize and produce videos for social channels
Here it is – how to optimize your videos for social channels. We will discuss the different elements and formats of your videos, as well as how to nail your choices.?
?? Decide on the format (organic and/or paid content)
So, should you upload your videos as organic or paid content??
From our point of view, prioritise paid content on messaging you want to test so you can learn more about your audiences. Here is why paid is best for this.
Most social media algorithms only take your content as far as your followers. “Maybe” they will also show your content to your followers’ connections because your followers have engaged with it somehow. But in most cases, this brings you crickets (10 likes, six from employees, and one comment).?
Paid content helps you to define your audience and targeting scope. Also, paid content gives you far greater exposure than organic content as your content reaches more than the people that follow you. So, you will need to pay, and it’s worth it to paint a bigger, clearer picture of who your audience is and how they are placed in the funnel.?
?? Opt for the right video type
From our experience, the types of videos that gain the most traction on social media are explainers, DYI, life hacks, tips, and the like. For business, this translates into product videos such as how-tos, demos, behind the scenes, testimonials, and explainer videos.?
Matching with the video content already performing well on the platform will tell you more about the type of video you need to create. But ideally, your video type should also be inspired by your marketing goals and funnels.?
领英推荐
?? Choose the right length.
Your best length for social media ads is between 15 and 45 seconds. Your ads should only include bite-sized information that connects viewers with your brand. Here is why we recommend this.?
People generally don’t like video ads breaking their experience; however, short the laps or the relevance of the ad video. Platforms like TikTok and LinkedIn will include your ad video organically, and viewers won’t notice. So it’s okay. But platforms like Facebook sometimes include ads-video. Here’s the problem with that.?
Let’s take Facebook for example:
So, as much as social media offers a great pool of potential customers, any ad that breaks users’ experience threatens your success. It’s essential to make the videos short and punchy at the beginning.
?? Always match the native content on the platform
You need to examine your target platforms and the content that exists natively there.?
Your goal is to learn more about the type, length, style, mood, format, and everything about the videos that are already doing very well on the platform. For example, on TikTok, we would recommend:
See where we are going??
The idea is to set yourself up for success by matching the platform’s requirements and best practices.?
?? Decide on the style
For social media ads, we see there are three broad video styles you can create. You can stick to one or try a few in order to test which resonates best with your audience.
Just remember to prioritise the style that is native to your platform
?? User Generated Content (UGC)
These are short and brilliant videos that seamlessly fit into the feed. They work best for quick and rapid brand awareness tools. Here is an example of a UGC video we’ve produced for Finder.?
The purpose of a social video is to quickly connect your brand to your audience and get them to check you out. Finder shows how its product benefits users and 23 seconds and ends with a beautiful CTA as the end card.?
FYI, the target platforms are TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. You can see how the aspect ratio and resolutions have been prepared to match.?
?? Motion Graphics
Motion graphics include copy-led animations using brand styles and templated assets. This style is best if you have an App or Software product. Here is an example LinkedIn video we’ve created for Hibob using motion graphics.?
This video focuses on what the company has to offer and ends with a quick CTA urging viewers to learn more. Simple and short, it gets the trick done in 15 seconds.?This particular asset was used across LinkedIn ads.
?? In-Studio
AKA live-action, these help you showcase products and communicate attractive offers to drive conversions. They are best for eCommerce brands that want to use a high-quality live-action approach to show their products in lifestyle situations.
Here is an example we’ve created for thankyou.
This video gets the point across by showing the product in action, in beautiful light. It leverages smooth transitions with high-quality imaging to make the product attractive. This asset was used in Instagram stories and in social product listings.
Congrats! You now know how to create a paid social video strategy. ??
And if you need an extra hand, you know who to call ??
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