It’s hardly a groundbreaking statement to assert that social media marketing specialists value video immensely as part of their content strategy. In fact, Wyzowl found in 2021 that 92% of them valued video as an important part of their entire marketing strategy.

No content can compare to video when it comes to demonstrating product USPs or introducing customer experiences to your target audience, and those using video in their marketing will often outperform their competition.

Why Businesses Need A Video Marketing Strategy For Social Media

Social media platforms are now the number one place for potential customers, clients or suppliers to now perceive and engage with your company’s brand. 

For marketers and business owners alike, it’s unsurprising given the rise of TikTok and video focused approaches from other social media platforms, capturing a user’s attention and eliciting an emotional and memorable connection with commercial content has become incredibly competitive and now requires a strong video marketing strategy for social media.

With 96% of consumers choosing to use video content when they want to learn more about particular products or services, businesses without a strategy in place are at a real disadvantage irrespective of their niche or industry. 

However, as with any marketing strategy, using video marketing on social media needs to be done correctly and there isn’t just a one size fits all approach. 

Different social media platforms require different approaches when it comes to the kind of video content that is going to work well. There is also the product or service which is being promoted that comes into play, and what the goal of the content is. All of these factors need to be considered before creating and releasing commercial video content to your following.

Pros Of Video Marketing On Social Media

We’ve explained above as to why businesses should be concentrating a considerable amount of their business’ marketing strategy on video content. But, what are the individual benefits for both users and the businesses themselves?

Attention Grabbing &  Engaging Content

Video posts get the most organic engagements across social media – which, when we consider our own user traits and behaviours, is not exactly a shock to most people.

Capturing a user’s attention with imagery is becoming increasingly more difficult with the sheer number of video content creators operating across social media, and as such it’s vital that businesses look to hook someone’s attention with a catchy intro to a video and then keep them engaged. The reason? Well, viewers have been found to retain a brand’s message on 95% of occasions when it’s presented through video. Compared with just 10% message retention via image or text! Having a potential customer watch up to two minutes of your video on social media will have a profound effect on their purchasing decision.

A Personable Experience For Your Audience

There are of course many different kinds of video content that businesses can create for social media use – and we’ll examine some of these a little later in this article. But, many video formats are able to really provide a much more personal experience to your target audience, one of the multiple factors that lead to the eliciting of an emotional and memorable experience from a user.

Live videos, streams and stories are 3 of the key ways in which social media platforms currently want to present content to their users, and using these concepts helps offer a real sense of involvement for the user,  building that personal connection to your business.

Sharing brand updates, offering a behind the scenes snippet of your workplace or office, or running live FAQ sessions are brilliant ways to encourage that sense of communal belonging in your core following, leading to a better brand perception and an increase in brand loyalty overall.

Increased Sharing Results In Organic Growth & Improved Reach

Video content on social media garners, on average, 12 times the amount of shares than other content types. Businesses that are using videos to highlight revolutionary products/USPs, or that are using videos to entertain their audience will perform significantly well as people begin to share these with friends, family members or work colleagues.

Consider it in the same way traditional TV advertising was approached. Advertisers such as Cadbury in the 1980s or GoCompare in the late 2000s used their TV video content to create something so memorable and entertaining, that they became common small talk amongst the general public.

Video content has retained this potential impact for brands, however unlike TV, the advertising platform in the case of social media is free, and the content can be distributed to 1000s more people in less than half the time that old television adverts would have taken. 

The Only Downsides To Video Content For Social Media

This article could hardly be considered as an ultimate guide to video marketing on social media without highlighting the pitfalls which come with this tactic. Whilst video is becoming one of the most important elements to any creative strategy, it can be difficult for businesses to get started with this and to get it right.

Crafting Video Content Is Incredibly Time Consuming

Quickly refining stock imagery or professional product images which you already have as creative assets can result in a 5 minute social media post still looking incredibly well detailed and thought out to your target audience.

However, if you’re trying to present a great brand, then the same cannot be done with video content. Rushed video can quickly make a luxury brand look tacky, or a professional service provider look unqualified. 

Getting video right takes time, planning and a well rounded production process to ensure the finished article can really benefit the business rather than hinder it. 

Video Marketing Can Quickly Become Expensive

Given that creating professional videos is probably not what you and your business do best, ensuring that you get exactly what you need in terms of footage can result in you looking to procure a video production agency for your project.

Now, this will mean you can seriously well put together almost cinema level quality content – but that will inevitably come at a cost. In truth, many start-ups and SMEs simply lack the budget to get the quality they want for their business, and, as such they would sooner wait until they do have the finances, than try and push forward with subpar content in the short-term.

Some Different Video Concepts For Winning At Video Marketing

 

With video marketing, there are an almost endless list of ways in which you can showcase a particular business, product or service. It really is down to industry, brand and culture on how you utilise video content as part of your social media marketing strategy.

However, there are some common themes that can be applied to most organisations, and many businesses find that this kind of content has surpassed their expected results from video marketing.

Educational & Explainer Videos

These kinds of videos are typically not going to be best for those with purely driving more sales in-mind. It can be tricky to create an educational video which sells without being overly self-promotional. 

However, we’ve touched on personal connections with user’s multiple times throughout the earlier sections of this article, and educational videos are often one of the best ways to do this. Explainer videos help to inspire and actually provide clear insights into what the organisation does and the impact its work, service or product can have on wider society. Certainly this carries the potential to be memorable for the viewer when executed correctly.

Product-Demos

The concept of consultative sales was developed greatly in the 1970s, but with the popularity of social media platforms it has really blossomed as a marketing technique in recent years.

Answering questions  assiduously and showcasing the problems which your products look to solve as soon as consumers are introduced to them is a surefire way to capture their interest and begin their journey down the sales funnel.

Product demos are also one of the strongest trust signals that you can present to your target audience. They allow you to demonstrate to people considering purchase that the products do everything you’re claiming they will, and this can often be a final motivator for driving them to convert.

Q&A Sessions

Similar to the explainer or educational videos, Q&A sessions are a great way to help explain certain elements about a business or its products. They offer the chance for people within the organisation to demonstrate their industry experience and knowledge and crucially they once again facilitate the concept of communal involvement in the mind of the consumer. 

Many businesses choose to do these types of videos as a live stream and allow users to ask their own questions in comment sections. Again, this also builds trust with the audience – as whilst you may well have done hours of preparation, to the users you’re eloquently answering their questions on the spot. An element of presentation that can allow anyone to be perceived as an expert in their field.

Behind The Scenes Videos

Is there a more used phrase in marketing and sales than the mantra “People buy from people, not businesses”? Well there might well be, but for the sake of emphasis on the importance of behind-the-scenes videos it’s the cliche that we’re going to go with.

Behind the scenes videos are by far one of the greatest ways a business can demonstrate that human element and showcase the amazing people behind the branding. Utilising this will almost certainly not be a tool for specifically driving new sales – but there is incredible effectiveness in the way using inclusive content such as this can massively impact customer retention and brand loyalty!

Customer Testimonial Videos

A concept that is particularly beneficial for service based businesses, but that could be utilised by a scope of different businesses, video testimonials are a brilliant way to present a ‘soft-sell’ to your audience.

In the case of B2B service providers, over 90% of people see video testimonials as more reliable and believable than other review platforms or written testimonials. Having a selection of your happy clients or customers giving their seal of approval to what your business does is truly invaluable to an overall marketing strategy. 

Approaching Video Marketing On 3 Different Social Media Platforms

There’s certainly no shortage of platforms which businesses can use to push their video content and use it to great effect in building an engaged audience. Many of the techniques of video marketing on social media are interchangeable and for that reason we’ve looked at three of the most popular platforms and how best to utilise video content across them.

Using Video Marketing On Facebook

Facebook as a platform has been increasing their focus on promoting video content creators and encouraging users to spend more time on the ‘watch’ section of their feed.

Of the different video content types we discussed above – literally any of them can be well utilised on Facebook. Whilst in-feed videos have the highest engagement rate (6.01%) of any post kind on the platform, the live stream and stories functions can be just as impactful depending on the presentation to your audience.

Using behind the scenes videos, educational tutorials or promotional product demos work incredibly well for in-feed content. Often, when executed correctly, these formats can be exactly what viewers are looking to be engaged with when on Facebook. 

Live streaming on Facebook can be great to give business updates, showcase customer testimonials or host the live Q&A sessions that can be so effective in building up that customer trust. 

However you approach video marketing on Facebook, with the right amount of time spent in creating quality video content you can have a real impact on the overall reach, engagement and sales that you generate on the platform.

Using Video Marketing On Instagram

Often referred to as the social network for visual storytellers, it’s no surprise that businesses can have great success in using a video centred content strategy to establish a strong brand presence on Instagram. 

Instagram offers one of the best ways for e-commerce businesses to showcase product USPs and demos to users. 

One main factor to consider however, is how you’ll ensure content stands out in the feed? Instagram is a wash with bright and inviting filters on people’s images and videos – so your lighting and shots certainly need to be impressive if you’re going to hook users and entice them into watching your video content in their feed.

Finally, as the Meta rival of TikTok, Instagram Reels offers the perfect place for bitesize content which you can use to introduce new users to your business or products with ease.

Marketing Your Businesses YouTube Channel

Using YouTube as a platform for promoting your business is certainly a big commitment. Whilst the two aforementioned platforms can be employed without extensive planning and professional filming – YouTube will absolutely demand that higher level of dedication from you. 

Here, you’ll need full content plans for (ideally) each quarter of the year, have to write video scripts that tell a story, create covers for each video and ensure your filming/editing/production are top-quality.

Not only that, but given that YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine – you’ll also need to ensure you have a YouTube SEO strategy in place in order to give your content the best chance of showing in front of users that are looking for it. Titles, Descriptions, Keywords, Tags & Analytics will all come into play when you look at building a large and engaged audience for your business on YouTube.

It’s in this area that many larger businesses will quickly turn to marketing agencies and video production agencies to manage the workload and deliver the high quality results on their behalf.

A Summary Of Using Video Marketing On Social Media

As demonstrated throughout the course of this article, the power of video in your social media marketing strategy cannot be understated. 

The key to harnessing the power of video marketing as part of your content strategy on social media depends on how much of your time and resources you can devote to it. There’s no secret that in the eyes of the consumer few other marketing strategies can be that impactful – but you have to get it right. Otherwise you could end up being disappointed when results don’t live up to your expectations.

Through ensuring that content is well thought out, produced well and presented to the right target audience – the possibilities for expanding brand awareness and driving sales are endless. So, if you’ve not already begun using video content more widely as part of your organisation’s social media strategy – perhaps it’s time you did!

Interested in how a professional marketing agency can take your business to the next level through using professional video content and providing your audience with the greatest possible experience?

Well, why not get in touch with our team here at Assured Marketing? We’ll be happy to help work with you and your team in producing the best possible video and social media marketing strategy!