It should come as no surprise that many social media platforms report video as being the most consumed type of content. We’ve all found ourselves watching how-to videos or watching Reels on a loop at some point recently, but with the online world offering so many opportunities to share videos, what are your options for integrating this medium into your content marketing strategy?

Customer success stories on LinkedIn can drive interest from potential new customers, animated explainer clips on Facebook can help educate your audience, and live-action Stories can offer a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at what your team gets up to. There’s a right time and place for each of these video formats though, so before jumping straight in, it’s important to set a strategic plan with clear goals.

Consider the audience you are targeting and your desired outcomes to form the most ROI-worthy marketing strategy. Most social media platforms offer some useful analytics, and these can be treated as KPIs to help measure results once your videos go live.

Platform-tailored video content

To help with your strategy, it’s important to know exactly what kind of video you can share in each channel, whether it’s part of a large social media campaign or as more general, scheduled content. Generally speaking, most of our clients’ social video projects are tailored for LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so let’s focus on these platforms in particular.

• On Facebook, you can post regular square and landscape in-feed videos of up to 120 minutes and share portrait-style videos to then push them on Meta’s integrated ‘Reels’.
• When it comes to Twitter, you can post video clips up to 140 seconds long, so teaser-style content is ideal here. For Q&A sessions or events, Twitter’s live video feature or Twitter Spaces – live audio conversations allowing you to decide who can participate – can be a great way to help customers get to know your brand on a more personal level.
• For Instagram. You can share feed videos (landscape or square) individually or as a carousel, go live and post Story videos that will last 24 hours – or can be pinned to your page more permanently. Instagram Reels allow you to share short multi-clip videos occupying a separate tab on your profile page, and post them in the main feed for maximum exposure. Instagram Reels is a vertical-led section within Meta that rivals TikTok’s short-form format.
• As for LinkedIn, native videos over 15 seconds, will autoplay in the feed – a great way to catch attention. Its most recent addition to streamed content is LinkedIn Live and this is proving to be a great engagement driver.

There is of course TikTok too, but that requires a whole post of it’s own! One of the most important things to keep in mind when you begin creating video content are the guidelines and dimensions specific to each social platform. Sprout Social keeps a great up-to-date spec list.

Tips for social success with online video

We’d suggest that you don’t put all your video eggs into one basket. It’s not guaranteed that any platform will stick around forever (RIP Vine!) and content spread natively across multiple platforms will ensure wider reach with more touchpoints for your customers.

Keep in mind that you have just a couple of seconds to capture and hold a scroller’s attention, so get creative with those first few frames. It’s also worth knowing that 85 percent of online videos are viewed with the volume off, so your video must get your message across without sound – subtitles or screen text will be your best friend.

One final tip is to finish up your videos with a call-to-action for the audience. Let them know whether they should click a link, head to your profile or leave a comment. What is in it for the viewer?

It may sound like a lot to consider, but it helps to think of video content as an investment. Well-planned, evergreen videos will stand the test of time and resurface whenever new likes, comments or shares take place. And with their ability to encourage a more authentic image for your brand, spontaneous live videos are certainly worth exploring too.

Are you ready to introduce new video capabilities to your social media marketing? Get in touch with our team today.