There is no denying the fact that videos these days are the best type of content to grab audience attention online. Not just a trend, it is one of the most prolific ways to enhance brand awareness and get all kinds of benefits (social traffic, leads, etc.) on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter. There are many more facts that testify the popularity of this widely held form of content marketing (few can be seen below)
YouTube: More than 500 billion views each day
Facebook: Around 500 million users watch Facebook videos
Twitter: 82% of users watch video content
Snapchat: 10 billion video views every single day
Knowing that every business is either investing a huge amount or planning to invest soon in social media marketing (specifically videos), we want you to understand few things, like,
what kind of videos work on different social media networks?
what is the ideal video length, aspect ratio, etc.?
and, where all it begins and leads to?
Let’s begin to know how video marketing works on YouTube
YouTube Videos
According to a report by fortune lords, Almost 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day. YouTube is one of the best video marketing platforms for businesses to gain popularity with very little effort. Simply create a YouTube channel via your Google account and you are ready to start. Experiment with DIY videos, Video tutorials, Video Testimonials, Explainer videos, Behind the Scenes, etc., as YouTube is a platform where you can share and experiment with different type of brand-related videos. Watch this business explainer video created by FATbit.
We all are aware of the prominence of YouTube advertising. There are two possible ways to create an advertisement) creating video advertisements that run before a video, or b) creating annotation ads that appear as a sticker on an in-play video.
Keep Mobile Users In Mind
While marketing on YouTube, Remember the fact that more than 60% of videos are watched on mobile devices. Be aware of the tools and techniques at your disposal for better engagement for mobile viewers. Such as, YouTube recently released features for its mobile app that allows viewers to view a video in portrait mode, along with an adjustable aspect ratio.
Ideal Specifications:
Length: Up to 5 minutes
Aspect ratio: 16:9
FATbit recommends:
The best place to add a CTA to a YouTube video is around 0:30 Second.
The most viewed videos on YouTube are 10 times longer than most viewed videos on Facebook.
Try keeping the video ad before the actual video short and engaging to attract maximum clicks.
Facebook Videos
Recollect the last time you logged into Facebook, remember the number of video content that you saw on you news feed? There were numerous of them, right?
Facebook has been making efforts to bring up video content on users’ news feed from quite some time now. This encourages marketers to create more videos so they naturally get more organic reach.
What kind of content to create? Brands can create content according to the product/service they are selling but make sure you keep in mind the audience that you are targeting. Some of the ways to entice viewers are by creating funny videos, DIY tips, Promotional videos, Unboxing video, etc. Video content on Facebook gathers a lot of interaction such as likes, comments, shares, and most importantly, views. Remember, once you upload a video, interact with the viewers on the post to boost engagement.
Live video feature
Live Video is an effort for brands to make real-time video. The main aim of creating a video is to market your brand to a larger audience. Plan your live video with a lot of latest tactics and go live when your maximum audience is online. Live video is a great marketing tactic as it drops the corporate veil between the brand & customers while establishing a human connection at the same time. Some of the ways to let the audience know you is by showing behind the scenes of an event, releasing a product, etc.
Ideal specifications:
Length: 1 min
Aspect ratio: Standard widescreen aspect ratio
FATbit Recommends:
Engage the audience in the first 3 seconds of the video.
Attract the audience by a compelling caption.
Due to the default setting of Facebook, 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. So make sure your video is self-explanatory without sound too.
As of October 2017, Instagram has more than 700 million active users. Many brands have already understood the marketing benefits of the platform which is why they are mostly active on Instagram.
According to a study by Iconosquare in 2015, 70% Instagram users have already searched for their favorite brand on the platform whereas 62% follow a brand on Instagram because they like it. By these stats we have come to the conclusion that most Instagrammers are shoppers.
The best way to market on Instagram is by uploading the right video. An easy trick to make your consumers engage with your brand is by easily letting them know about you instead of the old-fashioned hard sales pitch. Brands should focus their resources on showcasing products in a creative way. Other than sharing videos, brands can create video ads, which are displayed amid Instagram organic feed and have a good engagement rate. For the above-mentioned reasons, Instagram has become an effective social media marketing channels for SMEs.
Instagram Stories
We are all now aware of stories concept, these 10-second pictures/video clips placed at the top of Instagram feeds have proven to be a very effective marketing tool since the past few months. The short life of stories tends to create a sense of urgency among the audience, which if used correctly by brands can gain immense popularity. Stories can be used by offering something exclusive to the audience, showing the audience behind the scene, product in action, a countdown to an event, or influence marketing.
Ideal Specifications:
Length: 30 seconds to 1 minute (10 seconds for stories)
Aspect ratio: Widescreen/ 1:1 (Portrait mode for stories)
FATbit Recommends:
Add hashtags in the caption. Adding at least one hashtag to the caption leads to 12% more engagement. You can also use hashtags in comments section.
Think Creative. Use Third-party tools such as Boomerang, Layout, etc. for Instagram capture and don’t shy away from using filters.
Want your business to be stand out among competitors on Social media
Since its release, Snapchat has brought many features that have given rise to innovative social media trends that are changing the digital marketing trends. Snapchat is a real-time social media marketing platform, Snapchat provides users direct access to live events.
Most of Snapchat users like to engage due to the FOMO effect (Fear of Missing Out), which is the reason why 173 million users use Snapchat on daily basis. Brands and marketers are using this platform to its full potential.
There are a lot of ways to use Snapchat for marketing. All of its innovative features such as filters, text, emojis, bitmojis, geofilters, etc. bring a twist in marketing and help create better engagement.
Brands can easily use Snapchat to record videos of launches, events, trade shows and concerts. Brands can easily leverage Snapchat to showcase some private or behind the scene content which will provide something unique to Snapchat followers.
Ideal Specifications:
Length: 10 Seconds (though you can now record and post back to back videos upto 60 seconds)
Aspect Ratio: 18:9 (preferably vertical)
FATbit Recommends:
The First snap video should be very engaging. It has been revealed 22% of viewers bounce after losing interest from the first snap.
It is advised to record videos in vertical format, as users do not prefer to tilt their device to enjoy the content.
Twitter Videos
Twitter is known as a news-based social networking platform, which is why it is very good platform for sharing videos.
A recent report of Twitter depicted, native videos drive more engagement than third-party videos shared on Twitter. Figuratively, 2.5X replies, 2.8 X retweets and 1.9X favorites. Most people visit twitter to stay updated with latest trends & events and prefer video format for it.
Twitter videos can be best used to release teasers, announcements of upcoming events, release a news, advertisement, respond to review, promote a product/service, educate, sharing user-generated content, and a lot more. As twitter-feed is scrolled fast, it is important for brands to create eye-catching and highly engaging video content.
Missing Spot on Twitter App: An Embedded Camera
Given the extent of twitter being used for sharing videos, it is high time that its mobile app starts offering an in-app camera to enhance the user experience & to further accelerate the growth of video content.
Ideal Specifications:
Length: 30 seconds to 1 minute
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
FATbit Recommends
Adopt mobile-first approach as 90% of videos are watched on mobile devices.
Focus you video content on branding and information and not promotion as primarily users visit twitter for information.
The above-mentioned points clearly prove that video marketing is the best way to engage your audience on social media. Social media videos will evolve, with marketers playing an important role in shaping its future. The call of the hour is that marketers go creative with social media video with the help of various video marketing tools.
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After earning her master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, she knew that writing was the only thing that may never perish her zeal so she began her career as a content writer. She enjoys spending time with friends and "Friends" also happen to be her favorite television series.
