Make the Most of Social Media with Video Content
There’s no doubt visual content reigns supreme on social media and websites. High quality images, graphics and animations go a long way in attracting and retaining visitors, followers and fans. But with all the visual options available, nothing drives attention more than the moving image, and it’s important to know when and why to use video to get your message across.
Check out these video tips and integrate them into your social media strategy:
When Facebook was introduced in 2004, it was mostly for posting messages to your old high school friends and sharing images occasionally. But today, it is a multimedia superhighway and the main way we get our world, national and local news. Since the platform introduced video in 2007, it has been working hard to make video a prominent and creative feature of the site.
- Start Immediately. If you haven’t posted a Facebook video, you’re already behind the curve. The News Feed algorithm elevates video content, and Facebook has been working hard with innovations such as 360 video content and live streaming to make video a premiere feature. Before you get lost in the abyss of text or image posts, find a way to integrate video in your Facebook strategy, like now.
- Use Captions. Many people today are watching video content with the sound off. Either they’re on their mobile phones in a sound-sensitive location, or they’re just scrolling through their feed watching auto-play video until something catches their attention. Either way, you must realize that not everyone will hear your video. Facebook provides a free feature to add closed captioning to all of your video posts, so you don’t even have to add them in your video editor.
- Be Innovative. With all the video options on Facebook, you have room to be creative and immersive. Spice up your video game with a 360 video (cameras today are getting much more affordable), or go live. It’s not nearly as difficult as you’d think, and you’ll get way more engagement with your users than a traditional video. For more best practices, click here.
While beautiful photography is still the focus of this photo-sharing platform, Instagram is very much integrating video into its strategy. How can it not? It’s owned by Facebook. But the algorithm behind its feed is not nearly as video-centric as its big social media brother. Instead, Instagram looks at a variety of factors, including timeliness, regularity and comment rates. Nevertheless, video posts are important to thrive on this platform.
- Be Concise. Unlike Facebook, where users can upload virtually unlimited video content, Instagram has some boundaries. At present, users can only upload up to 60 seconds of video content (of course, they can upload as many of those as they would like). That means each video should get right to the point. If you’re a brand announcing a new event, think of Instagram video as a way to create a short promotional trailer or recap video. You don’t have much time, so be sure you’re engaging your viewers the whole time.
- Have Fun. On Instagram, you can be more creative with your visual content. Because over 70% of Americans are on Facebook, your posts should be generally relatable on that platform. But for Instagram, feel free to get silly. Especially with the Stories feature, Instagram videos are more casual and expire, so don’t worry if the video isn’t highly produced. You’ll be surprised at how much interaction you get from a funny, playful post, rather than a serious or boring video.
- Go Live. Right now, Instagram is pushing live video content. When you go live on Instagram, the site automatically sends your friends and followers a notification that you’re streaming. That in itself will give you major engagement through comments and likes. Plus, a large component to how Instagram arranges content in its feed is through timeliness.
“The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post.”
Thus, live posts have a greater likelihood of being seen by people scrolling through their feeds.
With only 140 characters, Twitter users have been getting creative with their text for years. But it wasn’t until recently that the social platform provided video and image uploading options for users to get even more innovative. And now, Twitter doesn’t count your images or video content against you in the character count. Win! With all the video options, there are many reasons to be uploading video to Twitter.
- Upload Native Video. Instead of simply linking to a YouTube or Instagram video, be sure to upload straight to Twitter. If you don’t, your post will come up as a text with a link, instead of an embedded video. See the problem?
This #TravelTuesday is being spent in the only desert oasis in all of South America! 🏖… https://t.co/MFM6Zl4MYn
— PeruHop (@PeruHop) August 8, 2017
That non-visual isn’t very compelling. Instead, take a look at what happens when you upload a video directly to Twitter:
What even ARE cats??? Happy #InternationalCatDay! 🐱 pic.twitter.com/YZRdDJd0Iv
— The Dodo (@dodo) August 8, 2017
- Go Live: Twitter is all about up-to-the-minute updates and doesn’t use an algorithm. So, use this to your advantage with the app Periscope (also created by Twitter). Like Instagram Live, Periscope will send push notifications to your friends and followers to alert them when you’re going live. This is a great way to cover breaking news or live events.
No matter which platform you use, video content can really help you engage with your audience. Think about an overall strategy that integrates videos and works with your followers. Most of all, be creative, and have fun.
If you need any video services, visit Our Services page. Coiski would love to team with you to help build your brand and help you create amazing visual content.
