Have you noticed a lack of engagement on your business’s social posts lately? Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are notorious for regularly changing their algorithms. This often puts business pages lower on the social feed (or cuts them out entirely). The news isn’t all bad, however. The goal of these social sites’ changing algorithms is always to provide more value to their users by showing them content they’re interested in. How do they figure out what people are interested in? By measuring engagement. Which means increasing your engagement is the best way to get back on the newsfeed. Have you ever noticed that your social media feed now mainly consists of video content? If you don’t believe me, I dare you to open a social media site and scroll down. Now that I’ve proven my point, let’s expound on the importance of videos when it comes to engagement. The current trend is to create video content that’s original and actually has an impact. This is a result of the millions of videos uploaded every day, which makes it tougher to put out content that stands out. Everyone’s goal is to become viral online. If your post gets enough attention quickly, the social site will show it to more people because the algorithm has detected that it’s interesting content. It will keep showing up in more people’s feeds the more comments, likes, and shares it gets. Facebook and Instagram will even take into account how long you’ve lingered on that particular post, so if you’re not scrolling right past it, it’s engagement. Which is where videos come in. Over and over studies have shown that videos are more likely to hold people’s attention and get significantly better engagement than other types of posts. Convinced that you should start recording? First we’ll walk through the different types of videos you can use for effective social media marketing. Obviously not every video is a winner, so it’s a good idea to have a strategy before you hit that red button. Let’s break it down. Tutorial videos are a staple on any social media platform, but especially for Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. They have mass appeal and are frequently shared online. You can incorporate your products or services through these types of videos to help guide your audience. Tutorial videos should entertain and educate. Make it concise and clear, but don’t drone on and on. https://youtu.be/xO7u76WTv6g The video above is a makeup tutorial from the cosmetic brand Colourpop. Notice how they give their consumers makeup looks they can copy if they have their products. The video is concise but long enough to elaborate on each step. Social media is the best place to announce new products. The video should be short – just enough to hype people up about the product. Showcase your product, but don’t show everything. Build up excitement by still keeping a little bit of mystery. Even if the video is short, you need to be able to display what makes your product different from the rest. Highlight its best features. One of the best brands that does this type of video is Apple. Upon starting the video, you’d immediately know it’s an Apple product. Their video embodies their sleek, minimal, and premium brand. This announcement reveals a MacBook Air update. Watch the video and you’ll immediately understand why the brand gets so much hype. When it comes to consumer engagement, almost nothing beats going live. This new way to connect with one’s audience actually allows a dialogue with them, which gives your brand a great personal touch. Social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube Live, and Instagram allow users to go live. Some of the things you can do while going live are giving behind-the-scenes looks, having Q&A sessions, showing your process, or simply talking about something you care about. Livestreams can be very casual and help you connect emotionally with your audience. If you’re going to give it a go, make sure to announce it beforehand. That way you’re giving your viewers a heads up. BuzzFeed is great at hosting live videos, you can watch a few to get a better idea of how to do it. It’s ok to be like Oprah once in a while. I’m not saying you should give everyone a car, but product giveaways are a great way to get your brand online attention. Let’s be honest, everyone likes free stuff. So much so that a bunch of people who are and aren’t aware of your brand will enter such contests. It’s a proven way to increase consumer engagement. It can even become a sort of free marketing venture for you. You can choose a giveaway winner through a contest that requires those who join to like and share the video. That way your brand gets more organic reach than a regular post ever would. Release videos on social media that promote your giveaway. Once you’ve got a winner, release another video announcement or go live. There are a lot of examples of these videos on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. It’s especially popular for influencers to do giveaways through brand sponsorships. Another way you can engage with your audience is by reposting videos they’ve uploaded using your product. Check posts that have tagged your brand or hashtags with your brand name to find these videos. Sharing these kinds of videos will encourage your audience to post more to get noticed. You can also know your audience better and get ideas for how you can better your product or services. Give your audience credit and always interact with them – you can easily gain a following by being engaging. Give them a shout out so they have something to gain as well. Check out how Kylie Cosmetics reposts user-generated videos. You’re under no obligation to post monotonous video content. It doesn’t always have to be the same thing. Have fun with it and try out different video campaigns. Not only are you constantly uploading content, but you’re also narrowing in on what engages your audience best. Try some of these video styles out and help your brand grow through social media marketing.
The Virality of Videos
1. Tutorial Videos
2. Announcements/Reveals
3. Go Live!
4. Giveaways
5. Repost User-Generated Videos
Video Diversity
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