It’s happened to all of us.
You’re scrolling through your Facebook feed when an autoplay video catches your attention.
You stop - and focus in on the narrative playing on your screen. And suddenly you’re totally engaged in the video.
When it comes to developing engaging content that truly connects with social media users, video is king.
And it’s only growing in prominence.
With Snapchat gaining influence, Facebook creating live feeds and video ads, and Twitter hosting live streams of major events – from sports to politics and more - the power of social media video marketing is undeniable.
“No matter what you’re selling, no matter what your company does, if you don’t have a video marketing strategy for the biggest video platforms, you are going to lose,” says social media mogul and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk.
The reason? Video can be more engaging – and easier to follow – than reading. A well-crafted video with a clear, concise message and compelling narrative can give you an edge in a market overcrowded with content.
So: how can you capitalize on this medium? There are plenty of social media video best practices to follow - I’ve documented some of the best ones below.
Using these tips, you can tap into the unlimited potential of video for social media, helping you maintain relevancy and develop an internet-savvy persona. And that’s crucial today.
1) Grab attention early
Attention spans are constantly shrinking. The sheer volume of content online just keeps getting bigger. So, how do you stand out? According to Social Media Examiner offering your viewers a hook within the first few seconds is critical.
Explain what the video is about and how it offers a solution to a problem (otherwise, they’ll quickly scroll past and to content that’s better optimized for them)
2) Take Advantage of analytics
Perhaps the single most important tool you can use for social media video marketing is analytics. Sites like Facebook and YouTube feature helpful analytic tools for video – get to know them. These are designed to help you understand your audience, which will in turn help you create more effective video and better connect with your viewers. According to Tubular Insights, here are a few things you should be aware of:
· Your demographic
· Average view duration
· 10 second views
· Sound on
· Sound off
· Clicked YouTube Cards
· Clicked annotations
3) Use, use, use tags!
You can publish all the video content you’d like – but if it doesn’t get traction from SEO, you won’t be maximizing its potential. The Digital Marketing Institute offers a few tips for optimizing your video for searches:
Host video on your own domain before you upload to sharing sites
Enable embedding on your video – this will help with getting inbound links, which will generate views
Focus on the descriptions – this is a crucial step for helping search engines make sense of your video. One simple rule to follow – fill in all the boxes. They all have a purpose – to help you rank.
4) Visuals will help you establish credibility
Many of your viewers are visual learners - in fact, 65% of them are, according to the Digital Marketing Institute. Focusing on using social media video marketing to create informative, useful graphics can help establish you as a thought leader in your market.
5) Backlinks are key!
It’s a simple step – but something that’s easy to overlook, and important for enhancing SEO and, ultimately, views. So, make sure to include links to your videos in blog posts and articles. But always prioritize quality over quantity, according to Creative Guerrilla Marketing – this will help your video establish credibility.
Have any tips or questions on social media video marketing? Let me know in the comments!
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