Just like almost every digital tool or gadget, video has evolved through time.
It started off as a montage of still images that only a few would experience, and now you can gain millions of views by capturing content from the palm of your hand.
Over recent years it feels like the evolution of technology has increased in speed. The way we consume media has changed and video is spearheading the charge. Being able to stream movies and TV shows, capture and upload imagery straight to your social channels within seconds, and produce high-quality content using cost-effective tools is making video production accessible to the masses.
But how do you tap into this ever-changing and growing medium?
Find our what works for you
There are lots of different video formats to choose from and they all suit different needs. You need to figure out the message you are trying to get across and how you’d like it to be seen.
There’s always a place for big-budget long-form content, but probably not on social media – this works best for places where people are happy to spend more time viewing content, such as events, websites and YouTube. For social video, you only have seconds to grab your consumers’ attention. According to Facebook’s latest marketing stats, people spend 1.7 seconds on average on a piece of content on mobile compared to 2.5 seconds on desktop. So, the first few seconds are the most important.
With this in mind, it’s important to think about what will keep a person watching your video. Is it the music? Is it the production quality? Or is it the person on screen?
Create great content
Most videos are viewed without sound until you click on them to activate the audio, and still, 83% of mobile viewers will choose to watch without the sound. This means the visuals are imperative to get and keep people’s attention.
When thinking about your content this is just one consideration but there are many more, which cover all areas of the production process. These can include scripting, actors, locations, subtitles, and animation.
This doesn’t mean you need to produce a big-budget masterpiece. Think YouTube, not Hollywood.
Nowadays, it’s all about being authentic and forming that trusted connection between a supplier and consumer. A quote that may resonate with many is: “Prospects want to be educated, not sold to. And, apparently, the higher the production value, the more the prospect feels sold to.”
This doesn’t mean to stop the big-budget productions but do give some thought to whether it’s needed or not.
Post right
It feels like there is a new popular social media platform coming out every year, so it’s key to understand what works best with the ones that are currently available.
In the first point, we mentioned the different formats to choose from, but there is also another consideration that depends on the platform you post on. Video content has previously been viewed horizontally, through the likes of cinemas, TVs, and laptops. The progression of the mobile phone and the fast-paced nature of the world has changed this. We now see a lot more vertical videos being produced, and this means as a consumer we don’t need to rotate our devices to experience the true format of the content.
Apps such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram have all adapted to the portrait format of video content, giving users another way of distributing content.
But horizontal is here to stay, with 75% of viewers preferring to watch video content that way. This means platforms such as YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook are in no rush to adapt to the new ways of distribution.
As the popularity of video content for social media platforms grows and evolves, it’s important to remember to find what works best for you and your company. It may take a little trial and error, but once you’ve found your content sweet spot you will reap the rewards of having a video social strategy.
