The future has arrived! Remember those predictions that forecasted that video marketing would be the next big thing in the digital marketplace?  Well, they were correct. More and more businesses are starting to incorporate video as part of their digital marketing strategy, and many are reporting a good return on investment. If you’re serious about wanting to grow your own business, video marketing is worth exploring, particularly social video. 

And if you want to take it one step further, go with mobile video. It’s an inevitable evolution in consumer trends. Marketing experts have long estimated that by 2023 over 75% of all mobile data traffic would be from video. We’re already approaching that target and it’s still only 2019. The growth boom of mobile video content has been astronomical and the time to capitalize on this boom is now. 

Video has become a vitally important part of marketing strategies. Not only can live video content bolster media transparency but it also allows for a feeling of direct connection between consumers and brands. 

Due to social media formats, social video marketing allows for targeting of discovered media as opposed to search-based media. When people consume Google or YouTube content, they are usually entering specific search criteria to find what they are looking for. Social media, however, allows for a discovery of content by scrolling through feeds and streams, reposts and shared content promotion. This lends an organic feeling to social video content. This ability to promote through sharing and discovery helps break down barriers with traditional marketing approaches. This method of distribution makes eye catching and engaging content even more important. The content presentation needs to quickly draw the viewer in and convince them to engage with it. 

While many social platforms are capable of doing this, here are the 3 that are particularly beneficial for all businesses to start incorporating into their day-to-day marketing. 

IGTV was launched by Instagram in June of 2018 to be a leader in mobile video. Instagram focuses on the mobile-first experience. They offer a full hour video capability, though businesses with less followers should consider 5-minute videos, as maintaining engagement can be key to data analytics in smaller viewer bases. IGTV videos should always be formatted in vertical orientation. 

The true strength of IGTV is the user-generated content format that Instagram has employed through its entire platform. The reach and scope of business IG pages and influencer pages is quite remarkable. This scope has changed and developed further elements of social integration, entertainment, business-customer interaction, and user-generated promotion. In 2019, IGTV began to link preview clips of their videos to Instagram feeds. Due to the vast reach of Instagram followings, and shared posts, this allowed for effective promotion and engagement with video content posted through IGTV. 

Testimonials, announcements, interviews, how-to, and contests and giveaways, are all examples of business marketing approaches facilitated effectively with IGTV. Because of IGTV’s relative infancy, there are currently no ads on the platform. It is very reasonable to assume however, that advertisement is a very high possibility for a direction that IGTV can go. IGTV ads may be just around the corner.

Instagram understands and embraces the marketing potential in the encouragement of long-form video content in developing influencer-brand connectivity. The right influencer partnership can mean everything for brand promotion. This can require a large top end investment into the marketing potential of the influencer market. This investment can be very worth it however, as the scope and reach of IGTV has skyrocketed since videos began to be linked to Instagram feeds. 

Instagram is banking on the importance of the vertical video format to the rising prevalence of mobile media. Vertically formatted video with full-screen ability, encourages an organic feeling in content creation. This promotes filming content on devices in native video, and thus allows for a more organic, and authentically crafted experience. 

LinkedIn is a professional connection powerhouse, but this platform also has a great scope for business marketing. Businesses can showcase products and build an education of services and products. It’s also a great place for video testimonials. 

LinkedIn is about building business connections and networking. Video makes your page significantly more likely to spur initial contact. Business solutions and education have a specific niche on this platform, as it is built around businesses and professionals making connections. 

The value of customer testimonial can’t be overstated. People don’t hold a lot of faith in promotion directly from companies, and in this age of social media, the walls between company and consumer are growing closer and closer to nonexistent. One of the barriers that are being broken down is the nature of the application and interview process. Companies can use video content on LinkedIn to shed light on these processes and give an inside look into what a company can offer its employees. This is like a version of a testimonial video, only it shows an applicant experiencing part of the interview process and helps connect professionals to the idea of what working for this company could be like for them.

LinkedIn supports a wide range of video file formats, with support for up to 10 minutes of play time and a 5GB file size. 

Twitter is still a powerful presence in social media. Business twitter pages can drive a lot of traffic. Video on Twitter can be key in grabbing attention and can be utilized as part of an effective social media marketing strategy. With a fairly short character allowance on Twitter, a video can allow for a stronger foothold to grab attention on the platform. Twitter pages will also autoplay video content, which helps make the post very hard to miss in the environment of feed scrolling. Being able to embed twitter video on your website also helps in spreading your marketing reach and accessibility. Small tutorials, product videos, testimonials, and humor can all be great content for Twitter video.

Twitter video offers 2:20 of run time, and videos running less than 60 seconds will loop automatically. Hitting that, under 60 second mark, can help in driving home sound bite marketing or connect through catchy concepts or humor. 

How you decide to use a platform can be key. There are many ways to utilize video marketing for business. Knowing your platform and knowing your audience can let you explore and choose suitable formats for your content. These can include:

● Product Videos

● Tutorial Videos

● Customer Testimonials 

● Sales Presentations

● Live Streaming

● Podcasting

● Promotional Videos

● Interviews And Q&A

● Behind the Scenes

● Giveaways and Contests

● User Generated Content

● Trend Highlighting

Give your content value. Think along the lines of education, awareness, entertainment, rewards. These are all of the ways your content can bring value to your target audience. 

With attention spans being so short, your goal will be to engage the viewer immediately. Try to pull people in with a glance. Scrolling is a big deal in modern media marketing. The first 2-5 seconds can mean everything. 

Most social media videos are muted until you fully engage and turn on sound. If your video can engage and inform without sound, you have a higher ability to access potential viewers. If sound is critical to the content, visually encouraging the viewer to enable sound can also go a long way.

Using captions can really help. With video that uses key dialogue, adding captions and enabling the viewer to follow along without sound can help ensure your content lands. 

Short messages and presentation tend to perform better. Whether it’s 2-3 minutes, 60 seconds, or even 15 seconds, all have advantages and approaches for what kind of content works best. There are times that long form video content can offer advantages, but generally speaking, getting your message across quickly is beneficial. 

Looping video is something that can be taken advantage of. Seamless looping can help keep your content continuously consumable.

There are so many options to stand out and offer something that isn’t the same old video. Consulting with a website design company specializing in video creation and marketing can provide ideas that include drone use, 360° filming, diverse formats, time lapse, and stop motion. There’s no reason your content can’t stay fresh. There are also many new and changing creation apps, especially for Instagram. Taking advantage of these trends as they emerge can get you into new viewer streams. 

Video can be an invaluable part of your marketing approach, and critical to success with social media, specifically. Knowing your audience, learning how to engage quickly and effectively, and knowing how to take advantage of each platform can help any business with marketing success. With video the rise, the only decision left for your business to make is whether to get on board or get left behind.