Like it or hate it, social media is a powerful way to reach your audience and using video on social media can extend your reach.
The role of video in social media
As with every video, defining your audience is the most important thing and this is even more crucial in social media. Who will view, like and share your video? Facebook, which is at the forefront of sharable information, recently commissioned The Centre for Neuroeconomic Studies to research how individuals process information delivered to them in different formats.
The findings showed people react differently to the same information depending on whether it was delivered on a mobile phone or on the television.
The research showed a more positive reaction to information viewed on a mobile. People appear to be more distracted and take less from the same information when watching on TV. If businesses are confident of the audience they want to reach, this knowledge can help them to decide the most effective delivery method to get maximum impact.
There’s a growing popularity in video online. Buzzfeed alone generated just under 2 billion views for its videos in July 2015. Social media allows interaction with videos in a fast and sharable way resulting in videos being picked up by multiple channels such as Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.
By creating a professional business video, the ideal scenario is that others use it to create a Vine or share your message on Facebook. They benefit from an association with you and you are able to reach into their networks and become known to people who would have been hard to reach through traditional marketing methods.
How do you use video to achieve social media success?
- Vine – Quality video means presenting a professional business persona in a very short space of time. A six second Vine Video loop showing the quality of your work or the busy nature of your office is eminently shareable and conveys the message at an affordable cost.
- Instagram – with twice the length but not looping, Instagram videos are fantastic for sharing on Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare as well as Facebook and Twitter. Again, professional production quality means you’re more likely to get shared.
- Facebook video – up to 20 minutes of high definition video can be uploaded, which is a brilliant tool for in-depth reporting on your business and sharing insider information that builds customer loyalty.
- Google+ Hangouts – this system permits live video. This can be daunting for business managers but if you have a confident presenter this can be a fantastic tool. A professional production team is essential as they are experienced in managing the demands of live video.
- YouTube – always, always, always upload your video to your own dedicated YouTube channel. It is still the best way to make video available to others. Then, your key personnel can embed the YouTube videos in their LinkedIn profiles. That gives a diversified approach so you can target every possible audience.
Social media and video are a great team and when they work together, they can really help you achieve your goals. However smart your social media targeting is, or great your product or message, the heart of any video campaign is a great video that inspires people to like, share or buy.