More and more, businesses large and small are finding value in cross-platform video marketing programs.
There’s no secret why – audience demand is on the rise. People are watching an average of 19 hours of online video per week in 2022 compared to 10.5 hours in 2018 (Source: WyzOwl).
The trend is especially true on video-rich social media platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and others, where brands are finding all kinds of ways to connect with their audiences.
How can you do the same? Here’s a three-pronged approach to help get you thinking about video in your social media marketing strategy.
Step 1: Define your Purpose
As with any marketing strategy, defining your objectives up front is important.
In the case of social media video marketing, narrowing in on your purpose will help you identify the video formats best suited to help you achieve your goal(s).
Do you want to drive awareness of your brand with unknown customers (e.g., a brand video)? Offer your perspective on a hot topic in your industry (an advocacy clip)? Provide social proof (e.g., testimonials) to help push a prospective customer across the buying line? Maybe you want to do all three!
Alternatively, a video doesn’t need to be promotional to be useful on social media. For example, you can use it to educate about your brand by addressing common customer questions (e.g., how-to videos).
The point: Nail down your purpose first. It will help you focus your efforts and save you time.
Step 2: Know your Audience (and their platforms)
Chances are you already have established profiles on the social platforms important to you. You likely also have a pretty good feel for your audience’s likes and dislikes on those channels.
Armed with those insights, think about how you can best deliver your message(s) through video within the context of your target platform(s) and your audience’s expectations.
For example, TikTok allows you to post videos up to 10 minutes long. But the ideal length for a high-performing TikTok video is much shorter – between 9-16 seconds.
Conversely, a report from Visme shows that the ideal length for a high-performing YouTube video is 10 minutes.
In other words, a short, aspirational brand clip probably isn’t a good fit for YouTube (though it may be suitable for a pre-roll ad). Likewise, a lengthy Q&A video probably won’t perform well on TikTok.
The point: Get hyperfocused on your audience and the platform where you’re trying to reach them. It’ll help you further refine your ideas.
Step 3: Get Creative
With a strong sense of purpose, along with understanding who you’re trying to reach and where, you’ll have developed guardrails for your creative process.
Now it’s time to get creative by finding unique ways to tell your story through video.
Questions you can ask to get your creative juices flowing:
- What do I want my audience to know?
- How can I present that message with the unique elements video has to offer (motion, light, and sound)?
- Which formats should I consider based on the platform I’m targeting?
The point: Video is an excellent way to connect with your audience where they are already spending time online while providing rich, valuable content that is meaningful, helpful or just plain entertaining.
Need some help getting started? Drop Dennison Creative a line or call us at (440) 283-5004.
We have in-house videography services that can take your message from conception to completion.