Social media is one of the best ways to keep your followers engaged. However, things are different on every platform. This guide will help you figure out what you need to do right.
There are lots of things you can post to social media platforms – emojis, text, pictures, GIFs, and video. If you’ve used all of these items, you’ve probably discovered that video is one of the most effective items in getting your message across. It’s more exciting, less common, and filled with emotion. Unlike text, videos tell a bigger story.
Social media videos help your followers understand your story or world and strengthen your bond with them. Videos humanize a brand, personalize product launches and make the sales team approachable and fun when used correctly.
As you use social media to market your products and services, you should keep in mind that every platform has its limitations. Therefore, if you want to get the best results, you need to create different videos for every platform. If you have limited bandwidth, you should go for platforms that will help you achieve your goals quickly instead of spreading yourself too thin.
Advantages of social media videos
If your brand will be on social media, you should consider visiting mimy online and using video to save time and market your brand. A recent study found that videos generate up to twelve times as many shares as images and text combined. If you go a mile ahead to record it live, a feature that most platforms support now, people will watch three times as long. These are great results for a few extra minutes of work.
Plus, some social media platforms like Facebook give bonus features to videos uploaded directly instead of posting links. Facebook auto-plays uploads and circulates them more widely, meaning they’ll grab attention when shown to people.
How social media videos differ based on the platform
Every social media platform has a unique way of creating videos. One of the similarities in all the platforms is they prefer a widescreen format and a screen resolution of around 1920 by 1080p. However, the similarities end there.
1. YouTube videos
YouTube is one of the largest social networks and search engines in the world. It is also one of the platforms where videos are the primary mode of communication. If you’ve been thinking of uploading videos on social media, this is one of the most lenient sites. Videos are a big deal here. And you can repost videos without grave consequences.
It’s the best platform to upload company trailers, long broadcasts, and webinars. When planning content for YouTube, you should ensure that it can be discovered by users trying to solve a specific problem. YouTube users find the appropriate videos by searching on Google or the YouTube app. They usually use terms like “Best way to”, “How to”, or “Product Review”.
To achieve your expected results on YouTube, you need to add featured videos, explain what your channel is about, and spend time organizing your videos into playlists to allow viewers to watch more than one. Since YouTube supports the widescreen format (16:9), you should always go for 1920 by 1080p. If you want to generate revenue, you can run ads.
2. Facebook video
Facebook is the second-largest platform social media site after YouTube. When it comes to reaching your audience, Facebook video marketing works differently. Unlike platforms like YouTube which show videos to everybody, this platform shows only to friends. Users on this platform tend to be interested in inspiration or entertainment than solving problems. Videos that perform well on Facebook tend to have a broad emotional appeal like surprising facts, customer stories, and vivid imagery.
Another huge difference: 85 percent of users on Facebook watch videos with the sound off. Keep in mind that most of them are using their smartphones on commute or in the office. Therefore, you should ensure that your Facebook videos entertain on silent. You should consider adding captions for your users to understand what’s happening. You should use sound effects, voiceovers, and music but ensure that your video makes sense without them.
For extra visibility in your followers’ feeds, you should upload square videos. You should also upload videos directly to Facebook instead of posting a link that directs people to view on other platforms like YouTube. Why? Facebook wants to retain its people; not to link them to their competitors. The platform has been designed to give preference to uploaded videos.
Here are a few Facebook ideas:
- Upload videos to your brand’s page: Post videos that evoke emotions, inspirational videos, commercials, event recordings, and spotlights.
- Add videos to your brand’s cover page: One of the first things your viewers should see is a video montage
- Post updates, events, or roadshows to Facebook stories
- Stream interviews, new hires, and product launches on Facebook Live
- Run ads to earn extra cash
3. LinkedIn Video
Today, LinkedIn is popularly referred to as a video-friendly social platform. In 2017, the platform launched key video features and now offers a wide range of options to record videos within the app or desktop interface. As the leading professional social platform, videos that perform well here are usually related to careers or company-centric. On LinkedIn, you’ll see lots of videos on successful funding, praising mentors, live broadcasts, and off-the-cut interviews.
LinkedIn videos tend to be temporal. This means that they usually disappear quickly. Unlike YouTube, they can’t live forever, or allow you to create playlists. Old videos get buried in the feed unless you promote them as an ad or repost them.
Recently, LinkedIn has added hashtags that allow people to follow and on which your video can trend or be seen by people who are following the hashtag. Trending videos tend to be a function of using the hashtag and earning lots of reactions, likes, and shares. The recommended LinkedIn video size ranges from 4096 by 2304 to 1920 by 1080p. However, any camera or device that you’re using will do.
4. Twitter video
Twitter is a debate platform in the social media world where everyone is connected. And things trend quickly. Everything moves quickly on this platform and videos that perform well tend to have a low social media value production. They also tend to be authentic at the moment. Twitter features a wide range of interest groups. And categorizing them involves finding hashtags that bad together. Anything can trend and live streams work amazingly well. It’s one of the reasons why people are addicted to the platform.
There are lots of videos on Twitter. But most of them involve someone filming something using their phones or talking to the camera. You shouldn’t be surprised that most of the videos on Twitter are very short. You should be too because attention spans are microscopic. Twitter’s recommended video size is 1920 by 1200p while vertical videos are 1200 by 1920p. Don’t be surprised by this because any device that you are using to tweet has a built-in camera that can accommodate that ratio and size.
5. Instagram video
Instagram is mainly a visual platform that prioritizes videos and images over text. Any video that you post will compete with clear designs, photography, and art. Therefore, the pressure to find something that’s visually captivating is higher on these sites. Snapchat may have invented the video story feature. But Instagram popularized it. Almost 400 million people use the feature to post videos or photos in a slideshow format that disappears at the end of the day.
Instagram provides lots of features for showcasing stories with emojis, text, interactive stickers, and GIFs. Similar to PowerPoint’s animated texts, it’s easy to overdo it. Instagram’s discovery process is propelled by hashtags. Unlike other sites, you are not penalized or limited to use lots of hashtags. You can add up to 50 hashtags. However, you should always put them at the bottom of your post to avoid interrupting your content. The recommended video size on this platform is 1080 by 1080p. Instagram’s videos and images are square in the default setting. But you can always share vertical or horizontal content.
6. Pinterest video
Similar to YouTube, Pinterest is mainly a discovery platform. The primary focus is photos and users are usually goal-oriented. They are actively looking for gift inspiration, recipes, products to buy, or design inspiration. On Pinterest, the best videos are actionable and show viewers how to do try something new. Users interact with the platform by scrolling or searching through a huge feed where videos auto-play. The motion of your videos can distinguish your post from others.
7. TikTok videos
In many ways, TikTok is not similar to other social media platforms. The standard length of a video here is fifteen seconds. Videos in vertical format are common here. The platform boasts an active and loyal user base.
It has around 800 million active users where 30 million are based in the US. The average user opens the app at least eight times every day and stays for at least five minutes every time. There are more than 30 influencers on the platform who have millions of followers. When it comes to brands, TikTok has proven to be great with consumer brands such as Skittles, Nike, The Washington Post, San Diego Zoo, Fenty Beauty, Pepsi, and the NBA to name a few. Also, B2B companies are testing the waters too.
8. Snapchat video
Snapchat rose to fame thanks to its disappearing video messages feature which was copied by Instagram and Facebook quickly even though Snapchat is still popular. The managers of the platform claim that close to a third of its audience can’t be found on Instagram or Facebook. Marketers trying to sell products or services will find Snapchat to be a good fit.
Snapchat videos disappear by design. However, not all of them do. The organization’s popular feature is Story Ads which allows users to watch content after watching a short ad. New sites like Daily Mail or Buzzfeed use this feature a lot.
Snapchat encourages users to upload vertical videos. Therefore, always keep your camera pointed upright. Snapchat is different compared to other social media sites thanks to its intuitive interface to streetwear design that’s popular there. In the marketing world, Snapchat is not for the faint-hearted.
Social media video best practices
Creating videos can be harder than writing blog posts or crafting an image. However, it’s not as difficult as you might think if you follow these best practices:
1. Experiment with stories
As we’ve said before, there are stories everywhere – Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. Stories are used close to a billion accounts every single day. If you want to connect with your audience on social media platforms, you cannot ignore stories. Organic stories are filmed on phone and don’t have to be edited to be successful. Although you can shorten them, stories last for ten seconds only. And this improves their engagement levels. You can also create story sequences to tell longer and engaging stories.
2. Grab attention fast
People’s attention spans are short. A study conducted back in 2015 found that the average attention span is eight seconds only. If you want people to watch your videos on social media, they need to hook them immediately. If you can grab the attention of your audience instantly, they’ll likely stick around. If you lose their attention, they’ll have no reason to keep watching. The first few seconds are key when it comes to grabbing attention.
3. Feature your brand immediately
Viewers want to connect with your content and brand. It doesn’t help to create a long video only to show your logo in the end. If you fail to get your brand across on time, you’ll be wasting your resources.
Conclusion
The best way to be a master in the world of social video is to start creating them. Pick a few platforms that will help you achieve your top goals easily and see the reactions that you’ll get. Finally, always keep in touch with your viewers to figure out the best ways to improve.
Charlie Svensson is fast, engaging freelance writer. Skilled in content writing and blogging. The favorite topics of his posts are education, social media, marketing, SEO, motivation blogging and self-growth. Excellent adaptability of skills to reach diverse audiences.