Social media video marketing tips
Video is now the most effective way to communicate with your audience on social media and so should be a key component of any small business social media marketing strategy. As a small home business, social media is likely one of your key marketing channels, so here’s how to make the most of video content on these platforms.
Keep videos short
Social media videos all have one thing in common – they’re short and snappy. This is because social media is a very fast-moving channel and so content needs to be able to be absorbed quickly. On Instagram, 30 seconds is generally considered the best length for a video and generates the most likes and interactions, on Twitter, this increases to 45 seconds and on Facebook to 60 seconds.
Use enticing cover images
A cover image is the static image that sits on a video before it plays and is designed to prompt a viewer to click. Cover images need to be informative and captivating, so it’s worth spending a bit of money on them by having them created professionally by graphic designers such as R6 Digital. Learn more about R6 Digital graphic design and how they can help you to create captivating graphics.
Make the first few seconds count
We see so much content every day that our attention span is now roughly 8 seconds. This means that you have a very small window of time in which to captivate your audience and to make them watch your video. Make sure that the first five seconds of your video really pack a punch and hook people in to watch the rest of your content. One tactic to try is to include a quick five-second overview of the content that is coming in the rest of your video.
Include captions
More than 85% of all videos consumed on Facebook are viewed with the sound off. Whenever you create videos for social media, always assume that they could be viewed without any sound, so include captions for dialogue and clear graphics that illustrate your point. That being said, don’t neglect the sound of your videos altogether, as some other channels will auto play with the sound on – you need to prepare for both eventualities.
Include a call to action
A call to action is a key component of any marketing communication, even video. Whatever it is you are trying to achieve from your video, include a call to action to that effect at the end of your video to make sure that you get the response from your viewers that you are looking for. If you are trying to build brand awareness, then ask viewers to like and follow you on social media or if you are promoting a product or service then lead viewers to your website. If you have comments on the video then interact with your viewers, build a relationship and rapport.
So there you have – a quick introduction to using video as a part of your business marketing. Video is definitely something all businesses should consider as part of a marketing strategy.
