Video Content Within Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is an internet tool used to allow users to share content and opinions with each other, to create communities, and to encourage engagement and participation. Social media is continually changing in the way we consume and communicate information, meaning that an integral technique to keep engaged with your audience is to keep educated and in tune with the current approach from users. It is important to engage with your audience through a range of different social channels in order to have the most successful experience and reach a larger consumer/user base.

"Visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared than all-text content. Video is no exception." imagen

Video content particularly within social media marketing is a crucial technique in order to fully take advantage of the social media platform which you are using, and to hold the attention of your target audience. To prove this, below is a list, diving into why video content within social media marketing should be a vital strategy and how to do it right:

1) Grabbing attention, particularly with Gen Z

Video content is a great way to hold the attention of your target audience, because it does not require much effort to consume. If the viewer saw a post which involved lots of text, they would most likely scroll down their feed, in attempt to find content which is much more easier to consume and does not involve much effort.

This is particularly specific to Gen Z, which are the generation of people born between 1997 & 2012, due to to the introduction of TikTok and the impact which the short video content has made. TikTok has made their audience, particularly Gen Z, become so used to the quick, easy to watch, video content. All they simply have to do is scroll and, averagely, every 15 seconds, a new video will appear on their For You Page. Due to the introduction of short video content being introduced through TikTok, peoples attention span has heavily decreased.

"On average, creative videos shorter than 15 seconds drove +38% higher sales lift than longer ads." TikTok for Business

Gen Z are also proven to be much more connected to the internet, compared to any other generation. Gen Z tend to have grown up with YouTube as their primary source of entertainment and education, whereas older generations tend to use television as their primary source, in turn changing the way they approach, view and prefer their video content. This insight explains why TikTok has been such a successful app in the recent years, particularly with Gen Z. According to Later, 35% of TikTok's 800M+ users fall into the Gen Z demographic, with most of the viral stars aging between 18-24.

"1 in 2 Gen Zers and millennials say they "don't know how they'd get through life" without video" Later, YouTube Survey

In order to succeed with video content within social media marketing, the length of the video content should most definitely be a high priority, in order to capture the audiences attention. The start of the video (first 5 seconds) should be highly engaging, to ensure the viewer doesn't scroll past and miss the end of the video. Within the first 5 seconds, there should be clear indicators of the videos intention, before they have a chance to scroll away. The ability to condense down information in order for it to be easily consumed by the viewer, whilst still making it engaging and worthwhile of their time, is crucial when it comes to creating successful video content on social media. It should be long enough to maintain the viewers attention but short enough to leave them wanting more.

2) Video content gains more exposure and engagement

It is not a coincidence that if you have logged onto any social media platform recently, you may have noticed that you are often met with video content within the first 10 seconds. Instagram is currently heavily promoting Instagram Reels, making it one of the best growth techniques on their platform currently. I can only assume that this is most likely because they want to create competition against one of the most leading and successful video platforms in recent years, TikTok.

“Since introducing Reels to our Instagram channel last year, we’ve seen our engagement grow by 280%” Later - Social Media Manager, Christine Colling

People use Instagram Reels with a similar approach in how they use TikTok. The target audience for TikTok is mainly Gen Z, so this is a great platform when specifically trying to target a younger audience. Instagram Reels are a great source for connecting with millennials as they are their main demographic. Gen Z are also heavy users of Instagram, particularly Instagram Reels, so video content within Instagram would be a great technique at reaching a larger demographic.

"If a picture speaks 1000 words, imagine what a video is worth." imagen

The content in the video is very important at keeping the audiences engaged, however if the quality of the video is bad, such as the amount of pixels and the audio quality, it can easily tarnish the success of the video, no matter how engaging and relevant the content is. It tarnishes the credibility of the message and can generate brand negative brand associations.

3) Personifying your brand

In my opinion, the biggest benefit to video content within social media marketing is being able to personify your content in a much easier way, when compared to image posts. It is a great way to allow your user base to see the people and processes behind the brand, helping contribute towards brand transparency and building a closer connection. In order to create the strongest connection between brand and consumer, the strategy of communication is key. Communicating with your audience in a way that they communicate with their friends, such as same humour, sentence structure and using current trends, helps build a stronger connection. I have noticed that brands such as Ryanair and Duolingo have a perfect approach at personifying their brand and connecting with their audience.

Commenting on viral videos is another great way to grow your audience, particularly on videos which are targeting/attracting the same desired demographic as your brand. Brand's which have a much more humorous or shocking tone to their comments often get a larger reaction and larger like rating on these comments, in turn bringing more eyes to the brand. Commenting on brand's posts which are competitors to you is a great technique in bringing relevant eyes to your brand. This technique is often seen online with supermarket brands such as Tesco, Sainsbury's and Aldi, as well as fast food brands, such as McDonalds, Burger King and KFC.

Above shows an example of two different brands, which are both fast food chains in America, interacting through Twitter. The tone of voice and choice of language, such as "y'all" and "lol", is them using the same language as what the consumer would use, when communicating with their own friends. This savage feud between Popeyes and Wendy's was most definitely beneficial for both brands, and it would have started a conversation with a vast amount of people, and bringing new eyes to their social channels.

Behind the scenes content shows how the people who run the brand work and create a sense of familiarity with the people behind the brand, demonstrating why people would want to engage more with the brand. This is a crucial part of video content because if you persist in only posting business-related content, people who do engage with the brand will most likely end up losing interest because it is not diverse, personal, or entertaining enough.

According to JW Creative, there are three principles of personification which needs to be perfected, otherwise it could be detrimental to the brand. The first principle is tone of voice, as if you sound corporate, disengaged, or sterile, your customers won’t be able to connect with you. As mentioned previously, it is important to talk to your consumer like a brand, and to make it easy for them to like your products, brand, and services.

The second principle is perfecting community management. It is typical for many brands to like others posts, randomly chuck lots of emojis into their captions, and leave it there. That is not enough to earn a strong community and consumer loyalty. It is important to really engage with users, reply to their comments, ask them questions, and create a back-and-forth conversation with your audience, in order to make your followers more engaged with your brand. If they are taking the time to comment on your brands post, take time to comment back.

"66% of all customers want human interaction in their experiences." Veriday

The third principle is keeping your conversation going post-purchase. Once a customer has made a purchase, it is important to keep this conversation going with them in order to create a strong loyal consumer base. If consumers are posting about your brand on their own social media and talking publicly about your service, then that is amazing! It is free exposure for your brand! Keeping the conversation going is super beneficial because it increases the chances of this.

4) Track your videos engagement and progression

In order to create successful video content within social marketing, it is important to track the video's progression and see what is working well, and most importantly, what needs to be improved. Whilst views and shares are a good indicator of your videos popularity, it is important to pay close attention to click throughs and that your desired call to action is delivering. It is also important to see at what point people are clicking off of the video, if they are doing so. If lots of people are clicking off at a specific part of the video, it means that the video may need to be restructured so it is better targeted towards your target audience.

5) Search Optimisation

All content that is posted on your brands social channels should be optimised for search engines, and video content should be no different. Due to the vast user base within a range of social media platforms, they are quickly becoming search engines themselves, so it is important to keep your content relevant to current trends and conversations. This helps increase the chance of your post going viral within your desired community, and creating a larger conversation. It is important to create engaging headlines, and study multiple competitors strategy, in order to notice patterns in what works well at engaging your audience.