7 Tips for Generating Cracking Video Content
By Jess Begg (Social Media Marketing Manager)
We all know video is hot, hot, hot right now in the world of social media. In fact, 86% of online advertisers are using video content in their marketing programs. Why I hear you ask? Videos are a powerful way to improve engagement, build connection with your audience, develop brand loyalty, improve lead generation, and drive traffic. So, let’s start the cameras rolling, right?
But wait, before you hit record, are you confident you know what makes the best social media video content? To make sure you’re on track we’ve put together our top tips to make sure your video content ticks all the right boxes.
1. Always Start with a Strategy
Make sure you start by mapping out a proper video content plan. Be sure to include:
- Research on your audience
- See hat video content competitors are currently sharing
- Brainstorm your video ideation
- Video calendar schedule
- Set a realistic budget,
Think about your goals and exactly what you are trying to achieve; whether brand awareness, sales, increasing followers, website and page visits. It is important to make sure that your video content strategy aligns with your business goals.
By including these elements, you can be sure the resulting video content will meet the objectives of your marketing strategy and increase your success.
2. Short and Sweet!
Make sure that your videos are adding value in a bite-sized, easy-to-consume way. Research shows that the optimal video length is 15 seconds – 3 minutes (with most viewers losing attention after 8 seconds!) Facebook says that the perfect video length is under one minute.
Your videos should capture the attention of your audience, share a message and have a clear call to action. You can be sure that short video content is forerunning social media content in 2022.
Understanding how short your audience’s attention span is, within the first few seconds of the video, make sure to get your key message across, or alternatively have a clever “hook” to keep viewers watching until the end.
Check out how Hinge and AirBnB have created short and sweet video promos, while still managing to get their key message across:
Hinge Launch Video – The Dating Apocalypse (Hinge App)
AirBnB Video – Holiday in the Spotlight | Live There With Your Family | Airbnb
3. Entertain. Educate. Inspire. Action.
It’s important to have a wide range of content, and posts that will keep your audience engaged and interested. We recommend building your video content around the following 4 pillars as different post types can achieve different business goals.
Entertain
Make sure your video content is intriguing, punchy, short and fun. Some examples might be behind the scenes, before/after videos, story-telling, etc.
Educate
Video content is a great way to help your viewers gain knowledge about your brand/product and should spark curiosity. Some examples might be: top tips, FAQs, did you know? etc.
Inspire
Ensure your videos are positive and memorable. It is ideal to have an emotional impact, that encourages viewers to act or change their perspective. Consider having a people-focus, community involvement and/or social responsibility content.
Action
4. Include Subtitles
If your video includes speaking, make sure to also have subtitles. In our fast-paced and on-the-go society, many people are watching videos while doing other activities at the same time so may have their device muted or turned right down.
It is also an important consideration when it comes to potential hearing or language barriers. It’s good to test your content works without sound for this reason. Watch with the sound off to check if it’s still entertaining, you want your video to capture the viewers’ attention and make sure they do not miss out on the content, regardless of the audio.
5. Timing. Timing. Timing.
Another important consideration with video content is knowing when the best time to post is. Unfortunately, there isn’t a one size fits all answer, as the audiences and algorithms vary among social networks and industries.
The best idea is to review your post insights, which will give you a clearer idea of when most of your audience is online. If you use a scheduling program, these can also indicate the best days and times to post. Keep reviewing this regularly, each time you post a video you’ll be able to harvest the data to know what to do and what not to do the next time around!
6. Call to Action
At the end of your video, it’s wise to direct your viewers on the next steps you want them to take. These might be: shop now, enter a competition, click on a bio link , make a comment, share etc.
Make sure that it aligns to your business goals and objectives.
Tip: Don’t make the call to action too sales-focused, as this has the potential to turn viewers away or quickly lose interest.
7. Insights
It’s important to check in and see how your video content is performing both during and after your campaign. Keep track of important metrics such as who and how many people are viewing/engaging/ sharing your content. This can then help you to tailor your content accordingly and test, test, test to learn ways that you can improve!
Putting some ad spend behind your post can also be a clever way to gain more insight into your content’s performance.
And be sure to check out some of the great video content that we have created for our clients in the photography and video section of our website!
Key Takeaways
Putting some ad spend behind your post can also be a clever way to gain more insight into your content’s performance.
And be sure to check out some of the great video content that we have created for our clients in the photography and video section of our website!