Consider scrolling through your social media feed and coming across a video that instantly grabs your attention. You stop, watch it through, and even share it with your friends. Video content has that kind of potential, and it's only growing.
It's projected that video will account for 82 percent of all online traffic by 2022. Video is a must for any marketing strategy. But how do you create videos that grab attention and drive results? That’s where this guide comes in. Along with general video marketing strategies, we’ll also share YouTube marketing tips to help you optimize your content, increase engagement, and grow your audience on the platform.
We’ll explore the benefits of social media video marketing and provide actionable tips for leveraging video on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to achieve your business goals.
14 Incredible Benefits of Social Media Video Marketing Strategy
1. Expand Your Audience
YouTube is the second most visited website globally, hosting over 2.5 billion monthly active users. This immense user base accounts for approximately half of all social media traffic worldwide. Major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn leverage their algorithms to favor video content, enhancing its visibility compared to other formats.
These algorithms are designed to promote what users find engaging, and the data shows that they engage with video far more than static images or text. For instance, Instagram has introduced exclusive video placements like Reels, and LinkedIn has integrated short-form video features, both aimed at capitalizing on video’s rising popularity.
By incorporating video into your social media strategy, you’re likely to increase the reach of your posts significantly. This expanded exposure helps you connect with more potential customers and boosts brand recognition, which can ultimately lead to higher sales.
2. Video Boosts Sales
Given the enormous volume of photos and videos circulating on social media daily, capturing a potential customer’s attention is a considerable challenge, especially when trying to convey your brand’s value proposition. Research indicates that most social media users prefer brief text captions, as they are often unwilling to read lengthy paragraphs outlining a product’s benefits. Meanwhile, images are limited in how much information they can convey.
In contrast, a well-crafted video can effectively communicate your brand’s message, educate viewers on your offerings, and inspire them to take action, all within a minute or less. This is particularly critical for driving leads and conversions. According to HubSpot, 64% of users are more likely to purchase a product after viewing a video about it.
3. Videos Increase Time on Page
Another significant benefit of video content is its ability to engage users and extend their time on your web pages. Research indicates that the presence of video can boost the average time spent on a page by as much as 88%. This is crucial for enhancing the user experience, as more time spent on a page often leads to a deeper connection with your brand. For instance, about 65% of viewers will watch a video to at least 75%, and over half will view it almost in its entirety.
This contrasts sharply with written content, which most users will skim or quickly exit if they don’t find the information immediately helpful. Video length also plays a role in viewer engagement, as shorter videos (under two minutes) tend to hold audience attention more effectively than longer ones. This increased time on page can also boost your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) performance, as Google uses time on page as a ranking factor. If users spend more time on your site, Google may interpret that as a sign of quality content, improving your chances of ranking higher in search results.
4. Video Enhances SEO
Videos can improve your website’s SEO performance and boost your visibility in search engine results. Research shows that adding a video to your site can increase your chances of ranking on Google’s first page by 53 times. Videos can also help you earn valuable backlinks from reputable sources, further enhancing your SEO efforts. These benefits stem, in part, from the fact that video content keeps users engaged.
If visitors spend more time on your site, Google will view that as a sign of quality and relevance, potentially boosting your SEO ranking. Videos also give you more opportunities to optimize your content for search. You can use keywords in your video title, description, and tags, improving your chances of ranking in both Google and YouTube searches. Additionally, videos can lead to increased shares on social media, driving additional traffic to your site and further enhancing your SEO performance.
5. Videos Drive Engagement
You must provide valuable and engaging information if you want potential customers to learn about your brand and convert. Videos help viewers better understand your products and services, generating excitement about your offerings.
Research shows that consumers are 10 times more likely to engage with video content than traditional text. Users prefer video because it saves them time. A two-minute video can convey the same amount of information as a 10-minute article, making it more appealing to busy viewers. Engagement is critical to converting users into customers, and videos are practical tools for generating interest and nurturing leads along the buyer’s journey.
6. Video Increases Conversions
A compelling video is excellent, but its true strength lies in transforming that engagement into actionable results. Video is a powerful tool for boosting conversion rates, helping to turn prospects into customers. For example, Intercom wanted to improve the response rates for its cold sales emails. The company hypothesized that adding personalized videos would help.
Sales representatives could create and share customized video messages in about two minutes using Loom. The results were impressive, with response rates increasing by 19% and generating $120,000 in revenue from cold outreach. Video can also help enhance the effectiveness of landing pages, product pages, and social media posts by including clear calls to action encouraging viewers to take the next step. This could involve signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource, or purchasing.
7. Videos Build Brand Awareness
Video can help increase your brand recognition. Visitors may not immediately convert upon watching a video. They will, however, remember your video and the content you shared. Video has been proven to affect people's recognition of your business positively. Brand recognition increases 139% after visitors watch your videos. This increase is indicative of future conversions. When people are ready to purchase, they will remember your business and your video. This will ultimately lead people to convert further because they remember your brand.
8. Video Establishes Trust
In addition to influencing customer purchase decisions, video can help build strong connections with your audience by appealing to them emotionally. Providing valuable and entertaining information that “strikes a chord” with your audience will make your company or brand appear more trustworthy and credible.
When a potential customer becomes one of your followers, they are likely to buy your products, and many will also become your advocates. Establishing your business as an authoritative resource gets people invested in your mission or message, and video content is a powerful tool to create a dedicated, engaged audience.
9. Video Marketing Delivers Strong ROI
Businesses love videos because they have a good ROI. Investing in video production services will cost you some money to get started. However, your return profit is much greater than the cost. Many companies are already experiencing the benefits of video, and 76% of business owners say that videos have a good ROI.
Knowing the potential ROI is essential when creating your marketing plan. You want to choose strategies that will have a good ROI. Video marketing is an essential and effective method of advertising that should be included in any marketing plan.
10. Video Creates Variety
The best video marketers know that they need different tools to reach their marketing goals. A well-tailored product walkthrough might help garner users' interest in their product, while an explainer video might help customers dive deeper into their product.
An announcement video showing off new features might help those users upgrade. Although these videos have different goals and success criteria, they all form part of an effective marketing strategy.
11. Video Is Affordable
Producing high-quality video content can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. The key is having a well-thought-out strategy and plan before you start filming. This will help you maximize your budget and resources. High-quality video content is versatile and can be used across multiple channels and for various purposes, including social media, websites, email marketing, and paid ads.
Investing in professional video production services will help ensure you get the best quality content possible. However, plenty of ways exist to create compelling videos on a budget. For example, user-generated content, behind-the-scenes footage, and simple tutorials can all be filmed with a smartphone and edited using free or low-cost software. The most important thing is to create engaging and valuable content for your audience.
12. Video Is Simple to Share
When you create compelling video content, you want it seen by as many people as possible. Video is highly shareable, making it easy for your audience to spread the word about your brand. Social media platforms have built-in features that allow users to share videos with their followers quickly.
This can help your content go viral, dramatically increasing your reach. Research shows that people are 10 times more likely to share, comment, or engage with video content than traditional text or image posts. This makes video an excellent tool for boosting brand awareness and driving new audiences to your website or social media channels.
13. Video Educates Your Audience
Video is a powerful educational tool that can help inform your audience about your brand. Research shows that 70% of consumers would rather watch a video than read an article or blog post. Incorporating video into your content strategy will help you reach more people and make a more significant impact.
Educational videos can take many forms, including tutorials, how-tos, webinars, and product demos. These videos provide valuable information that can help your audience understand your offerings and make informed purchasing decisions. For example, a product demonstration video can showcase your product’s features and benefits, while a how-to video can provide helpful tips on using it effectively.
14. Video Sparks Creativity
Video opens the door for creative storytelling and unique approaches to brand messaging. This can help you stand out from the competition and connect with your audience in new and innovative ways.
For example, you might use humor, emotion, or unexpected twists in your video content to engage viewers and encourage them to share your posts with their networks. Creative video campaigns can go viral, dramatically increasing your reach and boosting brand awareness. 51% of marketers say that video is the type of content with the best ROI.
12 Expert Tips for Social Media Video Marketing
1. Use Crayo AI for High-Quality Videos
Crayo AI is the fastest way to create short videos. Create unlimited short videos at once. Crayo even auto-generates captions, effects, background, and music for you. Take advantage of an opportunity of a lifetime and make easy money with the Tiktok creator fund program. Go from ideas to short videos in seconds:
- Write an outline/prompt,
- Customize the style (select a background video, voice narrator, and music from Crayo’s free templates),
- Finish and export! Go viral, make money, and make clips in seconds with Crayo.
Try Crayo’s free clip creator tool today — just click the ‘Try Now’ button on our homepage to get started. No account required! Go from prompt to viral shorts videos in minutes with Crayo.
2. Establish the Goals for Your Video Marketing Strategy
Before creating a video marketing plan for social media, you need to set up your social media metrics and goals. Video marketing is a powerful tool for achieving multiple goals. It can boost brand awareness and conversions and encourage social shares and engagement.
However, setting clear and measurable objectives is crucial to maximize its impact. Your video marketing strategy's social media goals should align with your business objectives, support your overall social strategy, and ultimately help you sell more products and services. Establishing SMART goals ensures that your objectives are clear, measurable, and achievable, which helps guide your strategy effectively and track progress.
3. Launch a Video Teaser Campaign
Nothing piques interest like a good teaser video. Teasers are short clips often including curiosity-building hints at a new product, service, event, or feature. When posting teaser videos, keep each clip’s duration at a maximum of 20 seconds long.
Shoot and prepare a collection of such clips, each revealing more information about the featured product or event. When ready, launch your video teaser campaign across your Instagram accounts and promote it on external platforms and partner channels.
4. Describe the Target Audience for Your Videos
According to Wyzowl, 88% of people are convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. This isn't limited to physical products. A slightly smaller, but still significant, 78% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy or download software or an app after watching a video. Nearly 39% of Gen Z in the US are more likely to buy a product after seeing it on TikTok, according to an IRI study.
This highlights Gen Z's strong video influence, with their purchase decisions more swayed by video content than older generations. As heavy consumers of short-form video content on TikTok and YouTube, tailor your video marketing plan to resonate with their relatable and short video needs and drive sales.
In contrast, while Millennials and Gen X also respond well to video content, they may prefer slightly longer and more informative video types. This highlights the importance of segmenting your audience and customizing your video marketing campaign accordingly. Creating buyer personas for a brand is generally done during the product development phase. Presumably, the potential customers you're targeting are also the people you want to reach through your marketing videos for social media.
5. Invite Expert Guests to Join Your Live Stream
Leveraging expert opinions and discussions is a staple in marketing campaigns. Brands and businesses often invite expert guests to collaborate on a podcast or livestream to grab viewers' attention and reach a wider audience. This increases public interest in the post and content and establishes your brand as a reputed leader with industry-backed credentials.
Moreover, you can always make the most of affiliate marketing to find partners interested in getting more exposure with your live sessions. If you use live streaming platforms for business promotion, you can either go live on Instagram or upload your live stream.
6. Determine Your Video Content Types and Create Storyboards
The next step is choosing the content you want to create. Start by understanding your target audience's preferences and the goals of your campaign. Consider what type of content, whether educational, entertaining, or informative, will best convey your message and engage your audience. You can also use competitor analysis tools to examine what your competitors are doing and what’s working for them.
Once you’ve decided on the content types, create detailed storyboards to outline the structure and flow of each video. Storyboarding helps visualize the sequence of scenes, plan camera angles, and ensure all necessary elements are included. It also guides your production team, keeping everyone aligned and focused on the same vision. A well-crafted storyboard can make the production process smoother and more efficient, resulting in higher-quality and more engaging video content.
7. Repurpose Old Video Content for Instagram
The magic mantra of “reduce, reuse, recycle” also applies to Instagram video marketing. By repurposing old videos and posts, you can save time and effort on creating fresh content each time.
However, don’t use your old videos repeatedly. This strategy should be used intentionally and mindfully. Choose snippets of older videos matching current trends. Or do a “then-and-now” style video, with the “then” part taken from an older post.
8. Plan the pre-production
The pre-production stage covers your video content creation planning. It's the first step towards the production process. At this stage, you need to define the content of your video, collaborate with all the stakeholders to get feedback, and start planning the shoot. There are three significant steps in the video pre-production phase.
Brainstorming
Whether you hire an agency or create video content in-house, a brainstorming session can be incredibly beneficial. This session will help you finalize the story, plot, characters, and messaging. The best part is that after the session, you'll have a wealth of ideas and options, allowing you to select the type of video that works best for your brand based on what is best suited to your needs.
Script
A strong script is the foundation of any successful video. It includes dialogues, voice-over, music, sound cues, visuals, and other details to create a compelling storyline. Remember that the average reading pace is two words per second, so a one-minute video should be about 120 words. However, you don't always need constant dialogue. Sometimes, silence or movement can convey your message more powerfully than narration. Consider what will best communicate your message—striking visuals, poignant music, or a powerful voice-over.
Booking and Preparation.
The final steps come from booking talent, scheduling timelines, hiring staff, purchasing equipment and props, and more. Handling this alone can get hectic; consider hiring an agency to manage the details. Documents are essential at this stage. Create shared calendars, contact sheets, script notes, and more, ensuring everyone involved has access. Be mindful of deadlines and set reminders so everything runs smoothly.
9. Organize a Q&A Series About Your Products
Brands and companies have used Q&A sessions for decades to promote awareness about their products and services and ease the worried minds of interested consumers. When potential prospects know your product inside out, they are likelier to become leads and paying customers. When working on a Q&A series, you cover frequently asked questions, answer audience questions they put in real-time, or conduct interviews that reveal information about your products, thus generating more interest in them.
10. Create Videos in Batches
Creating videos can be difficult and time-consuming. Creating simple text-based posts and adding visuals is much easier than shooting a video, editing it, and doing the necessary groundwork before posting. The key is to generate various ideas, create videos in batches, and distribute them as widely as possible. You can also tailor videos to a specific platform and share them with others.
11. Share Your Videos on Social Media or Embed Them on Websites
You've done all the hard work; now it's time to let the world see your craft. Start posting your videos on social media and embed them on your website. You can add videos to your blog posts, products, and landing pages. According to research, adding videos to websites helps improve SEO and conversion rates. Remember, the more you distribute, the more people your videos reach.
12. Deliver Results With Instagram Video Ads
If you’re looking for Instagram ad best practices that can deliver better results, keep in mind that Instagram video ads account for over half the ads on the platform. Instagram video ads can help you better connect with audiences who increasingly prefer video-based content and find more clients on the platform. Since users are constantly scrolling, your video ad should quickly grab and retain their attention. So, the first 3 seconds are crucial.
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Types of Social Media Video Marketing
1. Brand Videos: The Core of Social Media Advertising
Brand videos are integral to social media marketing campaigns. They articulate a brand’s mission, vision, and values while showcasing its products or services. The main goal of these videos is to enhance brand recognition and engage potential customers.
2. Educational or How-to Videos: Establishing Authority and Trust
Consumers prefer brands that demonstrate expertise in their field. Educational or how-to videos serve this purpose by providing valuable information while subtly promoting the brand’s offerings. Engaging and entertaining educational videos are more likely to achieve their objectives.
3. Customer Testimonial Videos: Leveraging Social Proof for Conversions
Customer testimonial videos are potent tools for showcasing social proof. Featuring satisfied customers discussing their favorable experiences with a brand helps build trust and encourages prospective buyers to consider the brand’s products or services. These videos are especially valuable in competitive markets.
4. Demo Videos: Showcasing Products and Services in Action
Demo videos allow brands to visually highlight the benefits of their products or services. These videos can effectively engage potential customers and communicate a brand’s value proposition by showing how they work in real-life scenarios. Including a clear call to action further enhances their effectiveness.
5. Live Videos: Real-Time Engagement and Authenticity
Live videos allow brands to connect with their audiences in real time. Whether it’s a Q&A session or behind-the-scenes access, these broadcasts create opportunities for interaction and foster a sense of community. Additionally, they can boost a brand’s visibility on social platforms.
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7 Best Tools for Social Media Video Marketing
1. Crayo AI: Effortless Creation of Engaging Shorts
Crayo AI transforms the production of short videos, streamlining the process for creators. Generate an unlimited number of short clips simultaneously. Crayo automates essential elements such as captions, effects, backgrounds, and music. Its user-friendly interface allows for quick transitions from concept to finished product.
Simply outline your idea, customize it with Crayo’s free templates, and export it in moments. The tool also helps capitalize on trends, increasing the potential for virality and monetization through programs like TikTok’s creator fund.
Experience Crayo’s free clip creation tool today—no account needed. Click ‘Try Now’ on the homepage to make shorts in minutes.
2. Miro: Visual Collaboration for Brainstorming
Miro enhances the idea-generation stage of video production. This visual collaboration platform is a digital whiteboard, allowing teams to brainstorm remotely and develop creative concepts. Miro’s features include customizable templates and sticky notes, which facilitate the organization of thoughts and the creation of detailed storyboards. A free version is available, while premium plans start at $8 per monthly user.
3. Adobe Premiere Pro: Professional-Grade Video Editing
Adobe Premiere Pro is a leading video editing software known for its advanced capabilities and versatility. The program supports various file types and streamlines workflows with other Adobe products. Premiere Pro’s features include multi-camera editing, 360-degree video support, and robust color correction tools. While it has a steeper learning curve than some alternatives, its extensive resources help users of all levels. Subscription plans start at $22.99 per month.
4. Tubular: Comprehensive Video Performance Insights
Tubular provides in-depth analytics for video marketers, measuring performance across multiple platforms. Its dashboard tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) such as views, engagement, and audience demographics, helping users understand how their content resonates. Tubular also offers competitive analysis tools, monitoring rival brands and influencers to identify trends and opportunities. A 14-day free trial is available, with pricing starting at $9 per user per month thereafter.
5. Buffer: Streamlined Social Media Management
Buffer is an all-in-one tool for scheduling and analyzing social media posts across platforms. Its user-friendly interface allows for easy content planning and collaboration within teams. Buffer’s analytics features track engagement metrics, providing insights to optimize future posts. The platform offers a free plan for individuals, while paid options start at $6 per month for one channel and increase to $120 per month for agencies managing multiple accounts.
6. Sprout Social: Advanced Social Media Analytics
Sprout Social is a robust social media management tool with comprehensive analytics capabilities. Its reporting features provide insights into audience engagement and platform content performance, helping inform strategies. Sprout Social also offers scheduling, monitoring, and collaboration tools for streamlined social media workflows. Pricing starts at $199 per user per month, with annual billing.
7. Rev: Efficient Transcription and Captioning Services
Rev is a valuable resource for video marketers, providing quick and accurate transcription and captioning services. Its user-friendly platform allows for easy file uploads, with options for AI-generated or human-created transcripts. Rev’s services enhance video accessibility and SEO and support multilingual audiences with foreign language subtitles. Transcription costs $0.25 per minute for AI options and $1.50 per minute for human services.
Create Viral Shorts In Seconds With Crayo
Crayo AI is a game-changer for anyone looking to make Shorts. This tool lets you create unlimited Shorts in one go. Write your prompt, customize your style with backgrounds, music, and voices, and finish your video in seconds. You can even use Crayo to monetize your TikTok content. Try Crayo for free today and see how it transforms your Shorts workflow.
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