What do you think the recent boom in social media platforms such as TikTok indicates? There is one factor worth noting- video. According to Cisco, 82% of Internet traffic was driven by video in 2022. Even a text-based platform like Twitter garners more engagement with video than any other kind of post.
Today if you are a brand that does not use social media videos to market itself, you are falling leagues behind your competitors. But just making video content and posting them on social networking sites won’t get you anywhere.
This comprehensive, step-by-step guide will help you navigate the exciting but chaotic journey of creating and posting social media videos.
Brainstorm ideas
Everything starts with this. Only after you have some ideas in mind can you proceed to work on your first piece of video content.
Underestimating the role ideas play in making any piece of content successful, is the biggest mistake you can make. And video is no exception. You can achieve anything, be it higher engagement, better visibility, or more conversions, with just a few posts if you have the right ideas.
Start by analyzing your past content that has done well. Take a look at the blogs that have performed in the past. If some of your blogs have managed to grab the audience’s attention, there is a possibility that you would find many lucrative content ideas from there.
Know Where Your Audience Is
Instead of spreading yourself too thin by going full throttle on all social media platforms, you should pick one where your audience is. Hence, any business must figure out who they want to show their video content. To know your audience, you should try to build a viewer persona of them.
Just like a business has its buyer persona, you can create a viewer persona that would represent your ideal audience at large. You can create a viewer persona by figuring out who has shown interest in your content in the past? It will also help to know what kind of content initially hooked them?
You can also get insights by studying your competitors. By looking at what kind of content is doing well for your competitors, you can get an idea about what may work for you. The intent here is not to copy but to get inspiration and create something of your own in the same vein.
Pick the right social media platform
Once you know who your target audience is you should find out where they are on the internet. The social media platform on which your ideal viewer is spending the majority of his time is the right platform for you to post your video content.
As mentioned before, being omnipresent on social media might not be the best strategy. It is largely because audiences on different platforms have different watching and buying behaviors. What works on one network may not work on others. Keeping up with the specific requirements of each social media platform can also get exhausting. Hence, it’s best to start from one social media platform that best suits your business and audiences. You can gradually build a broader audience and social presence as you go along.
Follow best practices to create video content
Once you have collected ideas, got who your audience is, and picked a platform, you are ready to jump headfirst into the content creation process. Below are the best practices you should adhere to while making videos for social media. Following these practices, you will be able to generate engagement for your content, regardless of the social networking platform.
1. Pay attention to the aspect ratio of the videos
Different platforms have different specifications for aspect ratio. For example, Snapchat videos are in a vertical format. So you must find out what the format specifications are for your chosen platform. It will help you avoid silly mistakes such as black bars or stretched videos. The best practice is to make your video mobile-friendly. And unless it is in vertical format, you can go with a widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio.
2. Make the start of your videos captivating
Starting from the moment a viewer clicks on your video, you have 3 to 5 seconds to grab his attention. Hence, you must introduce bait in the first three seconds of your video to keep the audience in suspense. You can even insert the brand logo as bait, as long as it piques the viewer’s interest and curiosity. Because then they will keep watching the video to quench that curiosity.
3. Keep videos short
For any new creator, lengthy videos are a huge no. Keep them short and information-dense. The aim should be to make every second count. If a viewer gets immense value from your brief social media videos, they will check out your long-form content as well. But until you have a small but established audience of your own, you should stick to making a few minutes long videos.
4. Include captions and subtitles in your videos
Many people consume social media videos whenever they have a few minutes to spare. Say a person is watching your video at his office desk or standing in a coffee queue. Then he is probably watching it with sound off. Hence, it is crucial to add captions that sync with the audio. Similarly, having subtitles on your videos will give you a much larger reach in terms of audience. People from other parts of the world would be able to watch your content if you have subtitles accompanying the content.
5. Create quality content that offers value to viewers
Aim to either educate, entertain, or inform your audience. If you are not doing any of these with your content, you need a course correction.
6. Don’t forget to add a CTA(Call To Action)
Add a clear CTA in your video that tells them what action you want them to take after watching your content. Make sure there is only one CTA and not more than that. Insert the CTA either mid-way through or at the end of the video.
7. Analyze what works and what doesn’t
There is no way you can learn video content creation and grow your social media presence as a brand if you do not analyze your results. Whether your content does well or poorly, you should analyze every single piece of content. You will gain meaningful insights from the analytic hub of the social media platform. If you are consistently implementing the insights you get from analytics, it’s a matter of time before you can make informed decisions regarding what you should and should not be making.
Conclusion
Video content creation involves much more than what is covered above. However, by following the above steps, you can start your journey of creating engaging and entertaining social media videos.
