Using video marketing on social media platforms

Marketing via social media

It all started with Snapchat. Now Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all using video. It’s clear that video marketing is not just for YouTube anymore. It’s on all social media platforms.

Video marketing has quickly become the number one way to connect with your audience and drive sales. The amount of video being consumed daily is massive. Both Facebook and Snapchat have not only reached but surpassed 8 billion daily video views and YouTube’s more than 1 billion users are watching hundreds of millions of hours of video daily.

Any brand that’s not creating video marketing content and promoting it on social media is missing out

The good news is you don’t necessarily need a huge budget or a videography team. There are ways you can make this work with just your smartphone.

Top marketer Gary Vaynerchuk calls video the “single most important strategy” in your arsenal of content marketing tools. He made a massive impact many years ago when he started creating video content for his family’s wine business. And Vaynerchuk doesn't let a day go by now without releasing some form of video content via social media platforms. Wherever you might look for him, he’s very likely there.

“No matter what you’re selling, no matter what your company does, if you don’t have a video marketing strategy for the biggest video platforms, you are going to lose. And in case you haven’t noticed, the platforms of distribution for video content online have shifted drastically over the last 18 months.

“Facebook is getting more daily minutes watched than YouTube, Snapchat’s daily views are now in the billions, and video on Twitter has taken listening and one to one branding to a whole new level.”

Find the platform that works best for your brand

All social media platforms use video differently, Vaynerchuk cautions, so you need to find the platform that works best for your brand. Your audience needs to be there and they need to be receptive to seeing your content there. Small budgets are more appropriate for Snapchat’s relaxed vibe while more high-quality videos belong on Facebook and YouTube. But, of course, rules are made to be broken. Produce good content and your audience will find it.

Not convinced yet? Here are some video marketing stats you need to know about:

• 72 percent of businesses which use video say it’s increased website conversion rates

• 74 percent of all internet traffic in 2017 is projected to come from video

So, what are some of the best examples of video marketing? And what tips could marketers learn from these?

Firstly, it’s important to know what your objectives are. Get the idea of “going viral” out of your mind. That almost never happens. Your objectives should be to build brand awareness and to tell the story of your brand. It’s really just about reaching your audience where they are and with what interests them. An example of this, which often works and is often cited, is that of real estate agents sharing videos of homes available for sale or rent. These may not break the internet but they allow for easy browsing and sharing with loved ones.

Another example of getting it right is when brands, especially those in typically boring fields, share footage of their office culture. That type of social sharing lifts the veils on what’s happening behind the scenes and can help every brand seem cooler. Even financial institutions. And when potential customers think a brand is cool, video viewing turns into lead conversions.

Some tips for creating video marketing for your brand:

• Grab attention within the first 10 seconds.

• Keep your videos short. Two minutes at the most.

• Pay attention to search. YouTube is the world’s second-largest search engine after Google. Your videos’ metadata and descriptions matter.

The number and type of marketing tools you need to keep in your arsenal grow at a furious rate. It’s important that you keep updated on what’s happening in the industry and on various social media platforms. For instance, 50 years ago it’s unlikely you’d have guessed that people would spend all day staring at a small screen in their hands. But that’s the reality today. That’s why it’s essential for you to keep up-to-date with mobile marketing trends. The article talks about a number of different trends including video marketing and why you should be investing in a mobile marketing campaign.