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Video Marketing for Social Media: How To

Social media has become a vital part of marketing strategies for most businesses. Now, with over 53% of the world’s population using social media, it’s more important than ever to be visible and engaging on these platforms.

The biggest difficulty in managing small business social media accounts is rolling out new and exciting content. Building a brand identity and posting consistent content is a strong start, but it’s important to diversify media.

Video is becoming a favorite medium for digital advertising and social media marketing. Although YouTube may be the most popular video platform, you can utilize videos on any platform you’re currently using.

Even if you aren’t an editing professional, you can create engaging and effective videos to add a new dimension to your content marketing strategy.

Below are a few tips to get you started.

Where to Post Video Content

Facebook

YouTube might be the first platform you think of when it comes to video marketing, but Facebook is actually your best bet. In 2020 – more than 8 billion video views took place on Facebook every day.

You can use video in both standard posts and advertisements.

If you are creating videos to post natively to Facebook, there are many content options. It’s important to keep in mind the type of audience you are targeting and the culture of the platform.

For example, 85% of videos viewed on Facebook are muted, so graphics and subtitles will be important factors in your editing choices.

Time is also a huge factor, especially when advertising. On average, people will only watch about 10 seconds of a video, meaning you need to catch your viewer’s attention quickly and use your limited time resourcefully.

Targeting the right audience will have a huge impact on your success. Defining your target audience and narrowing down your key demographics will increase the accuracy of your targeted advertising.

You should also consider hosting a live event on Facebook, to engage with customers and leads in real time. Schedule and promote a date & time when your followers can log on to ask questions, participate, and learn more about your brand. Use the live format to provide useful information, host a Q&A, go behind the scenes, or just discuss trending topics in your industry. In the past year Facebook live viewership has doubled, making it an important channel for your business to leverage.

Instagram

As the most popular photo-based social media, Instagram users were excited for the introduction of video to the platform.

As a visual platform, Instagram is ideal for engaging visual content. Unfortunately, you are limited to 15-second video posts and 60-second video “Stories” posts, which might seem like a challenge at first.

Actually, short videos are a better plan. Most social media users do not stay on one post for too long, especially on Instagram, so you are more likely to get more out of a 15-second video that gets right to the point than a 2-minute video that viewers will only watch for a few seconds.

Otherwise, you want your video content to be polished and professional. Because it is such a visual platform, you will need content that is well filmed and edited.

Instagram’s Stories feature is also a great opportunity for more casual, quick posts. These videos and images only last for 24 hours, making it a great way to share behind-the-scenes info or limited-time offers.

Another tool your business can try is Instagram Reels. Added in August of 2020, Reels allow pages to upload 15-30 second videos that show up in a separate tab from the homepage. Some pages, such as the New England Patriots, saw as much as a 67% increase in engagement when posting on Reels, compared to posting traditional videos on their page.

See below for more information on production and editing.

LinkedIn

As the most popular platform for networking with professionals, LinkedIn might not seem like the place to share videos, making it an excellent place to share videos!

If you want to create engaging content, you need to vary what you post and offer something new. The majority of LinkedIn posts are text-based, but 84% of marketers found success with video marketing on LinkedIn.

Like other platforms, you can use video to promote new products or offers, but LinkedIn is unique as an ideal place for B2B marketing. Using this medium as an opportunity to tell your company’s personal story or offer a behind-the-scenes look can create a more unique and authentic brand identity.
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Employee interviews, testimonials, and demonstrations allow you to advertise your company in a way that opens up a conversation with your target audience instead of simply advertising to a crowd.

  • Identify Your Target Audience

Knowing who you are advertising to might seem like a no-brainer, but you cannot underestimate the importance of knowing exactly who your advertisements and content are targeted towards.

You can begin forming your target audience by developing “buyer personas.” By defining the age, gender, location, interests, and preferences of your target audience, you will be able to better target your content.

  • Create Relevant Content

Now that you know who you want to attract, you can decide what content will be most engaging to your ideal audience.

The goal of inbound marketing is to use valuable content as a means to draw in customers. There are many types of video that are popular among social media audiences.

Product demonstrations are most popular among B2C marketers and are a simple way to show customers what you are offering.

Testimonials are great for all businesses, but B2B marketers can benefit from having real customers talk about their experiences working with your company. Social media is an opportunity to show the human side of your brand, so use video to show how your company has connected with people in the real world.

Behind-the-scenes videos are the best way to show the faces behind a brand. These videos can either show the processes behind the production of new products or introduce employees at service companies.

Instructional videos can also be used to show how products can be used or offer DIY options for services.

Regardless of your business, there are videos that can provide valuable information to your viewers.

  • Video Editing

Thanks to powerful digital tools you don’t have to be a professional to produce high-quality video content.

Hiring a professional can take a lot of the pressure off your shoulders, but it will come at a price. If outsourcing is best for your company, then you don’t have to worry about acquiring the right equipment.

Otherwise, filming your own content means you’ll need a few pieces of equipment. How much you spend will depend on your budget, but you can get high-quality videos without breaking the bank.

Check out HubSpot’s guide here to learn more about getting high-quality video content.

If you aren’t filming at all, you might decide instead to animate your content. This can be especially effective for informational and explanation videos. It is again your choice to outsource to a graphic designer or create your digital content in-house.

Once you have your footage, you’ll need to edit. There are many options for editing software available online with options for all budgets.

Movie Maker Online is one of the most popular free video editing options online. Although the site does host ads, editing video is as easy as dragging and dropping clips, images, music, and text.

Adobe Spark is also available for free and offers more than just video editing. Edit photos, flyers, social media posts, videos and more and take advantage of their many free templates.

Final Cut Pro is available for $300 from Apple and offers intuitive, non-linear video editing and includes advanced tools like 360o video editing.

If content creation and social media management play a role in your inbound marketing strategy then you need to understand the value of diversity. You will engage with your customers more effectively if you continue to produce new and interesting content. Using video in fun and creative ways will lead to a more iconic and engaging social media presence.

Thanks for reading,

Christine

Editor’s note: Originally published in 2019, this blog has been edited and updated for content in June 2021.

Shannon Briden

Account Manager
Shannon brings her MBA education and design background to find creative, innovative solutions to everyday marketing problems.

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