Video reigns supreme on social media, here’s 3 high-impact recommendations for how to use video to increase your reach and engagement in 2021
We have been beating the drum for video for some time. We’ve seen how popular video has become, as demonstrated by YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. More recently, the meteoric rise of new social media platforms like Snapchat and TikTok has cemented what we have already known: people love video.
Video posts are watched more and generate more engagement than static posts. As a social media marketer, if we see that a client is having a low engagement week, we will turn to video for a boost. It doesn’t even have to be branded content. Any video that is related to the industry, or just a humorous video, will give a Page or Business account a temporary boost, as many followers will predictably stop their scrolling to watch it, comment, and even share it.
Facebook is showing 8 billion videos a day and 550 million people are watching them. Meanwhile, TikTok is sharing short-form videos to 10 million users. Visit Social Media Today’s 2020 Infographic for more statistics that will blow your mind and prove that video is an undeniable force on social media. So, what to do? It’s time to invest in making some videos for your business.
The good news is that with powerful cell phones and lots of easy-to-use features on social media, it is easier than ever to make videos for your social media strategy. Here are 3 big impact ways to add a video to your social media strategy without getting overwhelmed.
Facebook has lots of options for sharing videos. You can share a video post and it will be added to your Page’s video library. It is even possible to update your Page’s cover image to a video. However, the best video strategy for Facebook right now is to add a combination of Facebook video posts and video Stories to your current mix of posts.
Big Impact Recommendation #1 and #2
Video posts can be more traditional, like a product catalog, a customer story, or any story that connects audiences emotionally to your brand. These can be 2-5 minutes long and should be viable for up to a year.
You can also post to your Stories using video. Stories will disappear in 24 hours so they can be quick updates. These videos don’t have to be perfect, but they should be authentic. Post a Facebook Story to update your customers on a parking change, a 1-day sale, the unpacking of a brand new product, or a quick tutorial on a new service. You can use links to drive customers back to your Facebook Page or even to your website from Stories.
A Facebook video receives, on average, 135% more organic reach than a Facebook photo. (Social Media Today, 7/11/2018)
This past August, Instagram added a new post feature called Reels. It is a video-based feature for sharing content, that seems very similar to Stories – however, it is really designed to compete with the very successful TikTok platform.
There are some subtle differences between Instagram Stories and Reels, but the main one is that Stories are delivered to your followers, and Reels can be released to the public, in a space within Instagram called Explore. Anyone in Explore may come across your video. Reels can be used quite effectively to get the attention of new audiences!
Thanks to Reels, some marketers have claimed follower growth for the first time since 2016, and many more marketers and brands pressing record and posting new videos.
Big Impact Recommendation #3
We suggest you give Reels a try! It is similar to Stories, and the option to create a Reel is right next to Stories. Creating content for Instagram has helped thousands of businesses. See our Instagram Guide for more details.
NBA franchises are getting 22% higher engagement with Instagram Reels as compared to Instagram posts or Instagram Stories. (Influencer Marketing Hub, 12/14/20)
Plan, Create and Shoot!
As with anything, you will want to think about your goals and how to connect with your audiences via video. After you have a few good video ideas, then you can plan where and when they will be posted.
We didn’t mention Linkedin and Twitter Fleets above, but you should post videos there, too. Linkedin users are 20x more likely to share a video than any other type of post (SocialMediaToday, “25 Predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2021.”) While these platforms aren’t driving the video conversation, they are still worth posting to if your core audiences are there.
We also didn’t get too deep into TikTok and Snapchat, however, if your business is looking to attract GenZ, this could be an important part of your strategy.
Some creators and marketers will tell you they create unique content for each platform. It is perfectly fine to create one longer video and repurpose it for use across other platforms. Video views on explorer-discovery-type platforms like TikTok and Instagram-Explorer will fade quickly, and then you can crosspost on other platforms and boost. You can also shorten videos to 15-second snippets for use on Stories, Twitter Fleets, and Snapchat.
Video views on a platform like YouTube or Vimeo will accumulate for years. So, one last piece of advice about the video is to know how video works on each platform. Will it be short-lived or long-lived? Should it be short or long? What does the audience on that platform like?
If you don’t know how videos are rated and will perform on each platform, you can get a free consultation with Tomo360! We can also help you to set goals for adding video into your social media, and even recommend types of videos that will delight your audiences! Take a look at some of the videos that we have created for our customers.