You’ve surely noticed that lately, video content has become increasingly popular on Social Media. We can start from Instagram stories, TikTok or Reels posts to video ads. We believe that this significant growth came with the pandemic, social distancing, and people’s need for consuming interactive content.
Well, if you own a business and want to promote your products or services, then take advantage of this trend. Indeed, creating a video is not as easy as creating a Single Image ad or an organic post with a few images, but if you know the most important tricks, it won’t be too hard.
How to establish a winning strategy for a video?
The real challenge doesn’t just come from the programs or applications you need to edit, but also from the concept. A video optimized for distribution on Social Media is generally a short video, so you need to build a concept that conveys everything in a few seconds.
That’s why the most important step is to think about the subject of the video, who will be the „star,” what its objective will be, and who the target audience is. Maybe you want to present a new product collection, announce the opening of a new store, or educate/inform your audience.
If you don’t know where to start, you can take a look at past posts that have had the highest engagement. This way, you’ll see what your audience prefers to see. Equally important is to analyze popular clips from similar brands. You can do this on Facebook, in the Insights section – Pages to Watch.
Don’t forget to check Audience Insights for more data about your audience, as well as other brands in the same industry online.
Tips for Social Media videos that „capture the audience”
- Respect the recommended duration according to the platform: The recommended duration for videos used in Stories is 15 seconds, while the duration of Feed clips can be up to 60 seconds.
- Adapt the format for the right dimensions. Most video clips are viewed on mobile phones, so the most recommended formats are square and vertical.
- Capture attention from the beginning. Most of the time, a video starts automatically when a user spends time on Facebook or Instagram. That’s why it’s essential to capture their attention from the beginning with key elements, the brand, and attractive copy. This way, you’ll make them stop scrolling.
- Optimized for viewing without sound. Most users watch this type of content when they’re at work, on the subway, or in the company of others. That’s why most prefer to watch without sound. Integrate subtitles when necessary and maintain a narrative thread and sequence logic.
- Keep it simple in text and idea. Because you have a short time available, it’s important to have a simple and easy-to-understand structure. Don’t overcrowd the clip by trying to integrate too much information.
- Use animations. Whether you choose to have the entire video animated or introduce some elements like stickers or emojis, it will make it more attractive.
Include a call-to-action. Last but not least, include a CTA and basic information about your business (website, pages, contact number, or email).
Which video captures best and on which platform?
Facebook:
Interviews or Q&A sessions. Facebook is a more suitable platform for longer duration clips. Moreover, it allows you to interact more with the audience in the comments section.
Announcements or launches of new products. They are a good way to increase engagement and help in terms of SEO.
Instagram:
Product/service presentations. You can focus on a particular feature or provide an overview presentation.
User-generated video clips. Choose those clips that highlight your brand, relieve you from the hassle of creating a concept, and also build a trusted relationship with users.
TikTok:
Although TikTok is a platform that doesn’t fit every business, it’s still worth considering where it finds its place. You can post reviews, unboxings, challenges, and many other interactive videos.
Facebook announces new monetization methods
In addition to the engagement obtained, it seems that Facebook will offer yet another reason in the future for advertisers to focus on creating video content. Thus, content creators will be able to earn money from videos up to one minute long. These can be interrupted by at least one ad every 30 seconds. Additionally, for videos lasting at least 3 minutes, ads can now be integrated every 45 seconds.
This new option could lead to attracting more TikTok users to Facebook. However, the date from which monetization of short clips will be available is not certain, but Facebook announces changes regarding the eligibility criteria.
Creators or pages must have a minimum of 600,000 minutes watched in the last 60 days and at least 10,000 followers.
They must have at least 5 active uploaded and published videos or previous live streams.