If you haven’t yet begun using videos on social media as part of your digital marketing endeavors, you’re late to the party! Your competitors have probably already beat you to it. Today, it is more apparent than ever that videos have become an integral part of the majority of successful marketing campaigns. A recent rise in new video marketing trends is a firm testament to that fact.
Not only that, but compelling visual content was also proven to drive sales and boost ROI. Did you know that 73% of people who check out a product review video tend to purchase one of the items on it? That’s a pretty high number indeed!
You can probably already see why social media video marketing would be so effective nowadays, and you’d be correct! And some numbers prove it — here is some data collected by Wyzowl:
- 88% of marketers said they planned to use YouTube in 2022.
- 68% of brands stated they planned to use Instagram video in 2022.
- 29% of businesses noted they would use Twitter video in 2022.
- 65% of marketers were adamant about utilizing Facebook video in 2022.
Sounds reassuring, doesn’t it?
Of course, it does! You’d be remiss not to make use of this opportunity to grow your customer base and brand awareness. However, if you’re new to social media marketing, you might need a helping hand.
Well, that’s what we’re here for. We’ve prepared a crash course in social media video marketing for you, where we’ll point out everything you need to focus on. So buckle up!
Social Media Video Types
Before you set off on your social media video marketing journey, it’s only logical you first get acquainted with the kinds of videos you can use and their purposes. So here are some of the most common social media video types you can use:
About Us Videos
These types of videos are an excellent opportunity to give your viewers insight into your company’s culture, values, goals, backstory, and motivation. This type of content is best used to showcase what your brand has that your competitors don’t and what makes it unique. And if you are unsure which direction to take, why not make a series of these videos and cover them all?
Promotional Videos
Promotional videos are pretty straightforward — they are what they sound like. You use these to reach out to your customers about an ongoing sale or special offer or showcase a brand-new product. Just don’t forget to include all the necessary info, such as contact or purchase details for the promo.
Product Demonstration Videos
Product demos (explainer videos) play a much different role from our previous entry since they are not aimed at driving conversions but informing. Namely, you vouch to enhance your customers’ experience with these by making their lives a lot easier. In product demos, you demonstrate how people can use your product, offer tips and tricks on it, and overall inform your customers about it.
However, just because you won’t be focusing on driving conversions doesn’t mean these videos can’t help you do that! After all, 64% of business owners claim that they saw an increase in sales by using product demos.
How-To Videos
Do not confuse these with our previous entry; they are indeed quite similar, but with one jarring difference — how-to videos do not mention any product or brand. Now, while product demos can help drive sales indirectly, the purpose of how-to videos is purely to build brand awareness and market authority. Essentially, in these, you (as an industry professional) help laypeople learn about niche-related topics.
How-to videos are especially popular on platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Customer Testimonials
Video testimonials are likely some of the most effective video types for expanding your audience. We all know just how powerful word of mouth can be, so just imagine its potential when combining it with the power of quality video and the internet!
Event Videos
By sharing event recaps or summaries, you can make your audience feel included whether or not they were able to attend them. Alternatively, you could even head to Facebook live or some other live streaming platform and showcase the entire event in real time! After all, virtual event videos offer an even better experience for your viewers since they’ll feel as if they were there in the first place.
Now that we’ve given you some ideas on the types of video content you could make, let’s see what social networks are best for your social media video marketing endeavors.
Social Media Platforms to Focus on in 2022
With over 400 million monthly users under its wing, this social network has seen a surge in user base over the past few years due to its accessibility and intrinsic visual nature. And to make things even better, since 2013, its users can also upload video content on the platform! That gave birth to an entirely new world of opportunities for visual content marketers.
But what social media video marketing opportunities does Instagram hold for digital marketers? Well, considering that the platform’s audience is predominantly females under 35 years of age and that it is best suited for personal promotion and influencer campaigns through partner marketing, Instagram is an optimal advertising medium for brands that cater to that particular demographic. So if your target persona fits this description, you’ll probably want to focus most on Instagram promotion.
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However, due to the visual nature of the platform, your video content must be original and creative. Otherwise, people are likely just going to scroll by.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Instagram might not be the most suitable platform for all types of videos we’ve mentioned above. Namely, this social media platform only supports video content up to 60 seconds long. That leaves you with limited possibilities.
All in all, many businesses have already found success on Instagram, and even more are soon going to jump on the bandwagon! According to Wyzowl, 58% of content marketers plan to use this platform in 2022, so why shouldn’t you?
Snapchat
This popular visual social network quickly rose to fame, particularly in America. People interact with over 1 billion stories and 400 billion snaps daily! These astonishing numbers are precisely the reason this social network is a gold mine for all brands targeting young people. “But how young?” you may ask. Well, Snapchat’s demographics primarily consist of millennials. More notably, 90% of Snapchat users are aged between 13 and 24. That is what makes this platform ideal for brands targeting these young age groups!
However, video advertising on Snapchat has a few challenges to it. Firstly, it only supports short videos — they can’t be longer than ten seconds. Secondly, millennials have short attention spans and will only consume highly engaging and humoristic content. These two facts might make it tricky to find success on Snapchat, but not impossible. But do keep in mind that you’ll have to adjust your social media video marketing strategy accordingly.
Now, although Snapchat is predominantly a casual social network, that doesn’t mean you can’t use Snapchat video for business! For example, Washington Post uses it for short and informational snaps of behind-the-scenes sneak peeks, so why shouldn’t you?
YouTube
YouTube might not be your run-of-the-mill social media network, but as a video-sharing platform with over one billion hours watched daily, it has earned its mention on this list. The platform has undoubtedly revolutionized online marketing since it services 95% of internet users, according to HubSpot. And how could one not take advantage of such a wide-reaching network?
When it comes to user demographics, mostly males between the ages of 18 and 34 watch YouTube. However, despite that fact, this video platform is suitable for most businesses out there. Over 80% of brands were satisfied with the results of their video content marketing campaign on YouTube! But why is that?
Here are a few reasons:
- YouTube covers a wide variety of niches.
- It has a substantial existing audience.
- YouTube offers a lot of flexibility regarding video length.
- By optimizing your content, you can make it rank organically.
- You can even monetize your videos if you so wish.
- Supports live streaming.
And do you remember when we talked about all the video types you could use in your social media video marketing strategy? Well, you can utilize all of them on YouTube. So, in a way, you can kill multiple birds with one stone if you decide to focus on this platform as a part of your marketing strategy. You can:
- Build your brand awareness.
- Find PR opportunities.
- Showcase customer testimonials.
- Feature your products.
- Build market authority.
If all of that isn’t enough for you in terms of the value this platform could bring, we don’t know what else to say.
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Facebook is, by far, the largest social network in the world, sporting over 2.07 billion active users. That means it also has the most diverse audience — from millennials to baby boomers. That is what makes Facebook video marketing so lucrative. And ever since it introduced its auto-playback feature and streaming services, it has even trumped YouTube in daily playbacks.
When it comes to video limitations, Facebook is quite lenient with video length, though you shouldn’t make yours longer than 15–30 seconds. Aside from that, you will have to grab your viewers’ attention in the first few seconds if you want your videos to get noticed in the first place. After all, due to the auto-playback feature we mentioned above, most people will only get to see a second or two of a video before moving it out of sight while scrolling down their feed. So if you’re not that skilled at creating eye-catching hooks, you might have trouble finding much success on Facebook.
But does that mean you shouldn’t try? Definitely not. After all, Facebook is the number-one social channel with the highest ROI, according to marketers.
What would a social media article be without everyone’s favorite bluebird? Now, we know Twitter is not commonly associated with video, but after it introduced video posts in 2015, the marketing potential of the platform grew exponentially! So who can make the most of this platform? Well, the answer is brands that cater to the American audience. Namely, this social media platform is particularly popular in the U.S. According to Hootsuite, 20% (30 million) of Twitter users are American. So if you’re a business looking to get into the U.S. market, trying your hand at Twitter video advertising would be a solid choice.
When it comes to length limitations, Twitter is one of the more lenient platforms — they let you upload clips up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds long. However, a similar trend to Facebook applies — you will have limited time to get your viewers’ attention if you want to have any success. So what we can suggest is to focus on the first few seconds of the clip (create an effective hook), keep your content topical, and include people in them! As long as you keep these things in mind, you should have no problem reaching your audience on Twitter.
TikTok
This social platform might be new on the market, but it would be foolish not to recognize its potential! TikTok has seen a massive popularity growth over the last few years, having reached 500 million monthly users. Similar to Snapchat, this platform’s audience predominantly consists of people younger than 30 (66%), according to Neoreach. But what is this platform about? Well, it’s all about video, of course! Namely, TikTok allows users to upload and share short videos (up to 60 seconds long), usually of entertaining content.
But how can brands utilize this app to promote themselves? Well, just like with some of the platforms we’ve already mentioned, businesses that target younger audiences can put their video content out there. However, the challenges they might face will be similar to those on Snapchat. Due to the nature of TikTok’s content and the demographics, not all advertising content will be effective. On top of that, it will have to be alluring enough to grab people’s attention.
As challenging as that may sound, it’s undeniable that many brands will adapt their TikTok marketing strategies and content to reap the rewards of this new, fast-growing video market. In the end, one thing is for sure — the 52% engagement rate that TikTok has is too appealing for marketers to disregard.
5 Social Media Video Marketing Tips to Keep in Mind
Before we wrap up, we wanted to share five social media video marketing tips with you. We hope that they’ll help you get started.
1. Make Short, Shareable Videos
The shorter your videos are, the more likely are they to earn views (just don’t overdo it). Here are general video length recommendations for all of the platforms we mentioned:
- YouTube: On average, videos up to 2 minutes long perform best.
- Instagram: Up to 26 seconds.
- Facebook: No longer than 1 minute.
- Twitter: Around 45 seconds.
- Snapchat: Anything up to the platform’s 10-second maximum is suitable.
2. Create an Eye-Catching Hook
We’ve already mentioned this a few times, but since it’s so essential that we should repeat it — the first few seconds can make or break your video. So don’t rush when coming up with a compelling hook. If it’s anything less than stellar, so will be your social media campaign results.
3. Include a Call to Action
This tip is crucial whether you’re looking to sell a product or drive traffic to your website. If your goal is for your viewers to interact with your brand in any way, ask them to. Having an actionable video CTA is almost as imperative as having a hook.
4. Make Use of Search Engine Algorithms
This tip is mostly aimed at marketers utilizing YouTube, but it’s still worth mentioning. Search engine algorithms can be your best friend or your worst nemesis. So what would you prefer?
Yeah, that’s what we thought. So don’t neglect the SEO aspects of your videos! It could come back to bite you later.
5. Be a Storyteller
Last but not least, plan out and order your content so that it tells a compelling story. That way, people will want to find out more and will be more likely to return to watch your videos again. In other words, make the most of video storytelling!
Are You Ready to Start Your Campaign?
Yes, you definitely are! We hope that you found our overview of the best social media platforms to focus on in 2022 and the social media video marketing hacks we gave you helpful. Now you hopefully have everything you need to get the ball rolling. So get out there and start creating content!
Did we forget to mention something? Are you interested in hearing more about this or some other topic? Let us know!
Until next time, good luck!
