5 tips for companies creating their first social media video

VIDEO is engaging. There’s no doubt about that. It’s why 86 percent of online marketers use video content and claim that videos bring good and positive results overall.

In fact, new data shows that websites that offer video content are able to increase ‘time on page’ and also result in greater organic traffic.

Studies also show that about 70 percent of marketers believe that videos help to increase the conversion rate for most brands as they are better suited to showcase products and services.

Since the use of mobile phones and the consumption of video content on social media and other platforms is only increasing, here are some helpful tips to help you understand how to get started with creating video content for your social media accounts.

# 1 | The key to success with videos lies in planning

The process of creating videos for social media requires an investment of time and money that you would want to see results on.

Forming a comprehensive plan on what you would like to achieve from the start will aid you in forming content ideas, how to measure success, and how to make the most of your investment in video.

Each and every video you produce should be aligned with a business goal, for instance, creating brand awareness, generating leads, or driving entries to a contest.

# 2 | Creativity trumps everything else and guarantees eyeballs

In order to stand out and capture your audiences attention, create videos which seek or educate, entertain, or inspire.

1. Aim to catch attention quickly: According to data, the first 30 seconds of a social video is what matters most in order to get viewers to stick around. So make it exciting!
2. Keep it short and snappy: Short-format video has consistently proved to be better performing than long clips on social. Social media is all about immediate gratification; users are looking to consume content quickly. So keep your content short but engaging.

# 3 | When you get started, market to your audience first

How to distribute your video on social is just as important as the video content you create. Your video may have the most compelling content, but it wouldn’t go very far if people don’t discover your account/channel.

1. Promote across all platforms: Publishing your video links across all of your social networks will enable people to discover your content and share with their own followers.
2. Stick to a consistent video format or theme: By having consistency in your videos, you will create brand awareness and familiarity. This will give your audience a reason to keep an eye out for your video content. This can be as simple as having the same host, a unique sense of humor, or consistent visuals.
3. Re-purpose popular content into video form: Creating videos based on content that has already experienced success on social is an effective way to capitalize on the hype and keep the momentum going. Popular blog posts, tweets, or photos can be transformed into engaging video content or inspire future content ideas.

# 4 | Your followers are your community, engage with them

While building video views is a crucial signal of success, what’s even more effective is growing your subscribers and followers. This will benefit your social video strategy in the long run. But how can you do this?

1. Engage with your viewers: The engagement of video comments can often be forgotten by social media marketers. Yet, a lot of valuable discussions can take place in these comments. Monitoring and engaging with then should become part of your daily social media routine.
2. Find and share videos from others: Your customers may be creating videos about your content which may be valuable for your audiences, such as tutorials and reviews. By sharing customer-content, this could increase trust in your brand.
3. Collaborate with influencers or publishers: Collaborations with brands or influencers can help increase the reach of your video. Moreover, if you utilize those influencers with a genuine interest in your product, their followers should also share these interests and values.

# 5 | If videos are a business project, expect to track performance and returns

Connecting the performance of your social videos to the bottom line of your business is fundamental in seeing results.

This takes us back to the point of aligning your content to business goals, as this gives you a case to measure the success of your videos against.

For instance, if you include a promo code in your social video, you could directly track the number of times it was used to illustrate the video’s impact on your business sales.

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