Video occupies a dominant position. Nevertheless, it will continue to dominate today’s marketing channels for some time. According to a report from Social Media Today, the revenue of digital marketers who use video grows nearly 50% faster than non-video users. But to have a significant impact on video, you need to keep up with social media video trends. You can increase social media engagement only if you use videos correctly.
1. Video Topic and Relevance
The critical components of any video that directly affects its performance are the topic and subject matter. The topic of the video must arouse interest and provide value. Whether it is giving information, explanation, or entertainment – it must provide value.
2. Length and Structure
The most substantial change (and one of the most straightforward changes) you can make in the video is to adjust the video’s length and structure. These simple adjustments can increase participation overnight. It all depends on the social media platform where you want to post the video. Viewers on YouTube and Facebook watch longer videos, while Twitter and Instagram prefer shorter videos. It is also important to maintain a consistent structure in the video so that the audience can become familiar with it so that they gradually get used to the video and know what to expect when they press play. Thanks to Sprout Social, you can always know the latest video specifications.
3. The Importance of First Impressions
The first few seconds of the video and the thumbnails are essential to get a first impression. Videos with unclear thumbnails will reduce people’s engagement because people will scroll past or leave within the first few seconds. If your audience doesn’t think you’re directly addressing the points suggested by the thumbnail, description, or title, the likelihood of viewing is less. Unfortunately, marketers often overlook this aspect of social media video participation.
Some social platforms use the first frame of the video as a thumbnail or automatically play the video when the user scrolls the video, but the sound is turned off. That is why you should strive to make these elements as noticeable as possible.
4. Optimize Your Videos
Have you been ignoring the content and SEO optimization in the video? Use clear and exciting titles, do not leave the title or description blank, and use the correct hashtags and keywords. Each social media platform has different characteristics and parts that can be used for SEO. Do your research and always optimize your content.
5. Reach Audience on-the-go
When queuing in the bank, watching videos will be faster. This is why people prefer to watch short films on the go. Create videos no longer than five minutes, optimize them for mobile devices, and add captions so people can watch them.
6. Connect Your Consumers to your Brand Story
What is your strongest selling point? What makes you different? And what is unique about the offer you want to bring? Be creative, visualize your brand story, make your brand personality shine, and show your position to the audience. Because of its audio-visual appeal, you can use videos for brand promotion, increase engagement, and truly show your brand.
7. Upload Native Videos
Local hosting of social media platforms has its advantages. Rather than uploading a video on one platform and then sharing the link on another platform, it is better to upload the video separately on all platforms. There are some issues, such as affecting SEO and audience segmentation. But in the end, local videos rank higher on their platforms, and people prefer this type of content.
8. Live Video
When Facebook and Instagram launched their Live options, brands began to use it to increase social media engagement and achieved outstanding results. Live video is very suitable for attracting fans in real-time, so please consider live streaming as an industry event, product launch event, or behind-the-scenes. Host Q & A, or go live weekly to entertain and update your social media followers. According to Neil Patel, live video viewers are more likely to feel instant, excited, and connected. Facebook and Instagram Stories are also very useful for displaying videos in real-time.
9. User-Generated Videos
One of the best ways to increase social media engagement is to feature your fans and customers in the video. User-generated content is an instrumental interactive facilitator because:
- You don’t need to create it-your fans and followers can.
- You turn them all into brand advocates, and they have contributed to increasing your brand awareness.
Followers can prove that your customers like the products you offer, and at the same time, gain the loyalty of the people who share the video (which makes them feel appreciated). Increase engagement on social media, combine user-generated videos with your brand and videos with some popular topic tags. Also, encourage them to share content and include your brand hashtags.
10. Schedule Your Posts to Maximize Engagement
You want to post a video when most of the video is active, and the audience will not always be there. Otherwise, you may lose the opportunity to participate. Research to find out when most followers are online and then schedule your video release accordingly. The purpose is for them to watch, comment, like, and share posts. Check out Hubspot’s guide for the best time to post ads on social media. Don’t follow it blindly, but run some tests first to see if it works best for you on the platform of your choice.
If all these tips make you feel at a loss where to start, you can begin with the most natural feeling for your brand. Starting with you, create a video that takes the least amount of effort and budget, and then begin testing. If feasible, invest more time and money, and then start construction from there.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to us, remember that we are here to help you.