13 Tips to Create Videos for Your Business to Share on Social Media
by Rudy on October 20, 2021 in Online Marketing
Businesses of every size should include social media marketing as part of their overall marketing plan, and video needs to be central to that strategy. Video is highly engaging for viewers, and is now the media format that is most consumed and shared on social media. In fact, by 2022 online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017!
Now that you’re sold on the importance of video, keep the following tips in mind to get the most from your social media videos strategy.
1. Research and Develop a Strategy First
Before you start filming videos, take the time to do some basic research and plan your videos based on what you find. Your research should include what your audience is interested in, which platforms they are on, the type of content they prefer, and what your competitors are doing.
In terms of planning, you want to have clear goals from your video campaign. Whether it is getting new followers, boosting sales, or getting more website visits, you want something measurable. This will let you confirm that your video marketing efforts are successful.
2. Know What Works on Each Social Media Platform
You need to research the requirements for videos on each platform. Essentially, you want to make sure that your videos will meet all the technical requirements.
3. Get Video Ideas From Blog Posts
Your website hopefully already has a blog. Assuming you do, use your analytics tools to see which posts are the most popular. These are likely to be great choices for videos. You can see if you can convert the blog post into a short video or come up with another related topic.
4. Be Open to Different Types of Videos
When it comes to planning your videos, consider various types of videos. You may want some behind-the-scenes videos, some product demos, and some interviews. The following are some types of videos to consider:
- Behind the scenes
- Entertainment
- Event videos
- Live videos
- Meet the team
- Interviews
- Product introduction
- Q&As
- Testimonials
- Tips relevant to your industry
- Tutorials
5. Keep Videos Short
While you can post longer videos on YouTube, you should not typically do so on other social media pages. The best videos will be short, within a few minutes or even less. The absolute best ones will be less than a minute.
When on social media, people want to scroll and just take brief pauses to watch interesting videos. They don’t want to spend 10 minutes on a single video.
To keep your videos short, cut out excess information. If you just can’t keep it short, break it up into several videos.
6. Grab Attention in the First Few Seconds
Not only should your social media videos be short, but they should engage viewers within the first few seconds. If you don’t get their attention right away, they will keep on scrolling. You want your introduction to generate curiosity for the rest of the video. Consider incorporating thought-provoking questions or popular music. Don’t forget to include your brand as well.
7. Don’t Forget Branding
No matter the type of video that you make, be sure to include your business name or logo somewhere. This is obvious to include if you are giving a tour of your building, but you may not think of it at first in a video about general tips.
8. Incorporate Calls to Action
You should incorporate a call to action in your marketing materials, including videos. To figure out what call to action you want to include, think back to the goals you’ve set for the video.
9. Show Your Face
As you plan your content, do your best to show your face in the video. This will help make your video seem more personal and encourage engagement. As a bonus, this can help you become recognizable in the local community. That is especially true with small businesses having local audiences. People may spot you at the supermarket or local parks, helping you grow your brand.
10. Include Subtitles
There are several important reasons to include subtitles on any video that includes speaking lines. To start, you want to make sure that anyone in your audience with hearing problems can still view and enjoy the video.
On top of that, many people browse social media in public or at work without headphones handy. In these situations, they will watch videos without sound. If you don’t include subtitles, you miss out on that entire segment of the audience.
Additionally, adding subtitles can make it easier for non-native English speakers to understand your video. This is important if your business caters to a diverse area.
11. Get the Right Equipment
With technological advances, you don’t have to get a fancy camera to shoot videos for social media. A good smartphone camera is typically enough. However, you will get the best results if you get some extra equipment.
Consider a tripod, so the video doesn’t seem wobbly. Invest in a microphone to ensure you have good sound quality. You should also get some additional lighting. Even if you buy additional lighting, which you should, you still want to take advantage of natural lighting whenever possible.
12. Get Permission for Music
If your video will include music, take the time to ensure that you have the rights to use it. The easiest way to do this is to choose music with a Creative Commons License or in the Public Domain Music. Otherwise, you will need to get a Master License from the label and a Synchronization from a License. This can take time and money, so most small businesses will stick to stock music or other free options.
13. Analyze Past Videos
As with every other part of your marketing strategy, you should constantly evaluate how your video marketing is doing and make changes when necessary. This means that before you create a new video for social media, you should look at the analytics for the past videos. If you notice a type of video that tends to not perform well, avoid those. If you had a great response to a video, figure out why and create new videos with similar features or related topics.
Author: Rudy Labordus
Rudy Labordus is an Internationally acclaimed author, marketing strategist and speaker. He has been instrumental in helping launch and develop several multi million dollar businesses around Australia and excels in developing innovative, strategic and creative solutions that produce exceptional results for his clients.
