The projection that 80% of all internet traffic will be generated by video in 2021 is hardly surprising when you consider the volume of video content we are consuming on a daily basis.

Business and industry leaders are ensuring that they are continuing to captivate their audiences with fresh content on all platforms. All you have to do is check out the Instagram profiles of leading brands to see this for yourself.

The use of video marketing on social media has now become the main focus of every digital campaign. It can be fun, engaging and informative. Let’s face it, consumers love video. So with this in mind, here are some tips for building your next video campaign on social media:

Platform Unique

It is important to remember from the outset that each social media platform treats its video content very differently. For instance, Facebook can accept the traditional 16:9 aspect ratio as well as the 1:1 format adopted by Instagram. Depending on the subject matter and style of video you can create versions in each format. 1:1 will work on all social networks so we recommend that the majority of your video content be built this way.

Now, an up-and-coming social network to get onboard with is TikTok. Yes, TikTok. This is fast-becoming a leader in social media video content. It’s not just for silly dance crazes, many leading brands are developing ad campaigns around this platform. The age and social demographic is also getting wider so you will get a far greater reach. These videos are always 9:16 vertical format and can be very effective when combining the use of graphics and video.

We will be covering the use of TikTok in a future blog post in more detail.

Strong Opening

With the very short attention spans of consumers, it is important that the first few seconds of your video are impactful. The majority of social media users will scroll through hundreds of videos a day to see what they are about. This is why the first 10 seconds of your video need to grab their attention. If the opening is boring you will lose the viewer and a possible sale. SO you have to cram as much ‘good stuff’ in the first few seconds as possible.

Quality and Value

Nobody wants to see dozens of sub-standard videos each day from the same source. That’s why you need to focus on quality over quantity. You might have caught the attention of the viewer so they want to stick around and see what happens so you have to be able to maintain that quality for the remainder of the video. Fun, simple and engaging videos are the most successful on social media. They get the most ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ and provide value.

Tell a Story

Viewers love a good story, and what better way to keep the attention of your audience than to tell them a good story. You can do this by recounting how your organization came to be, or a story about how you have made a difference for one of your customers. A profile omg a valued staff member will help to build on your credibility and not only make your employees want to work harder but also attract new ones. If you want to leave an impression and stand out from your competition then it is advisable to stay away from the hard sell approach. Viewers don’t like to be inundated with a plethora of advertising. Create an emotional connection with them by telling a story instead.

Subtitles

The majority of video viewers on social media platforms watch the video with no sound. This is because they are on public transport, in a public space or don’t want to disturb other people around them. The majority of online content is consumed on a mobile device. So the user will scroll through their feed come across a video and will check out the video without any sound before moving on. They may decide to watch the video if it piques their interest. This is where subtitles become important as they make your content much easier to consume. Subtitles are also important for hearing-impaired or even non-English speaking viewers.

Short and Sweet

The length of your video will also determine how successful it will be on social media. As we keep saying, the attention span of your average consumer is incredibly short. Social media channels have helped with this in limiting the length of video content uploaded to their platforms. For instance, Twitter has a 2 minute and 20 second limit, while Instagram has a 60 second limit. Although Facebook allows videos to be up to four hours in length, the general rule of thumb is that videos between 1 and 2 minutes in length perform the best.

Call to Action!

It’s good to remember a strong call to action (CTA) at the end of your video. It can be anything from a simple telephone number or website to a more detailed description of a user call-to-action.