A Social Media Marketers Guide to Creating Video Content

Would you prefer to read this article or watching it? With online videos becoming an indispensable ingredient in social media marketing, it is an interesting question to ponder. The online space is tricky, with every company spending their efforts on creating content for their user’s consumption and attention, the competition is too much to handle. We are on the verge of discerning to the fact that video is the future of social media marketing and a video campaign can simply take the market by storm.

Videos build enthusiasm and are absolutely contagious. The rise of online videos on all social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram  serves as an evidence for it.

Why video content? - Because videos are everywhere

Our brains love visual content. Videos can inspire audience in a unique way that a text cannot. If we see the virality of content on the web, videos always score more with no close competition from pictures and text. The catchy nature of the content makes it shareable. To connect with your audience and give them the best information in the simplest way possible, there is no other better option than a video content.

With the surge in the usage of mobile phones and tablets to consume content on the go, video content has gained a lot of audience. A video can explain your business in 1 minute or demonstrate a product’s features in  1 hour. Videos are multipurpose - A video can take many forms like an explainer video, a pitch for the venture capitalists, a presentation tool or a series of videos for your social media campaign.

Cook a story and add that magical ingredient- Creating videos

Cook a small story for your brand and add a magic ingredient that would simply narrate the key information in a minute or two. Nail a killer script with relevant content that can grab your audience attention. Create scenes which are imaginative and narrative in nature. Spin a tale to lock the audience attention and make them travel along the tale. And remember, conclude the video with a right call-to-action which acts as a magic key for the users to easily access your product. Looking at the multipurpose nature of the videos, having just one video does not seem to be a right solution. You need to have a treasure trove of videos to get noticed.

A video production house or Do-It-Yourself tools?

We are not talking about creating a few videos and leaving it at that. When you are thinking about running video campaigns on social media, you probably need a series of videos. In which case, shelling out thousands of dollars for that one great video made by a production house does not make any sense. Moreover, It is easier for you to visualize a content than explaining your requirement to a video production house. Here are a few tips to make videos all by yourself and nail it like a pro. You can choose between a live action video or an animated video.

A studio quality live action video requires a good equipment (A good camera, which is again expensive) and is time consuming (attention to detail) whereas, for an animated video, you just need to choose the best Do-It-Yourself tool which can create studio quality videos. Animated videos like " target="_blank">Dumb ways to die and " target="_blank">The scarecrow had become viral because of their quirky nature, interesting script and the captivating visuals. There are tools like Animaker, Goanimate and Powtoons which provide you with a wide variety of characters and properties to choose from. They are easy to use and friendly to the pocket. Create scenes with ease and add music or voice overs. Your video is ready in no time.

The Secret Sauce to make a video go viral

The success stories of videos that have gone viral are legend. Build videos creatively and spice it up with a fun element, people will stay longer on your website and more time interacting with your brand. If you want to fully realize your video's potential, you must make it easier for users to find and share it. The biggest challenge that still exists though, is on making the videos “go viral”.

Ever wondered why certain videos spread like wildfire and some fizzle out without getting enough attention on social media?

There are some time-tested tips which you could follow to make sure your video campaign gets the best chance to go viral on Social Media. The following are the key pieces to flawlessly execute your video campaign and gain maximum impact in minimal time.

1. Choose the right platform

The good news is, there are too many social media sites where you can upload your video. But you should be careful in choosing the ones which have millions of visitors and be focused on your efforts. And yes, the visitors must have a large proportion of people who fall under your target demographic like male, female, Asians, young, old etc.

2. Post it right

Once you have chosen the sites to place the video, the trick is to choose the right thumbnail and a suitable title. Choose a thumbnail that is captivating and a title which is short and intriguing. The design and text elements must be fresh and aesthetically appealing.

3. Stick to a time frame

Your video loses its importance when you release it on the wrong day of the week or wrong time of the day. Once released, the first 48 hours are crucial and requires close monitoring for the shares and views. The best time of the day is before and after the usual working hours when everyone is fidgeting with their smartphones.

4. Distribute to key influencers

Once posted, share your video with your immediate contacts. Next step is to contact key influencers with many followers. Their views and reviews about your brand will have a powerful impact among their followers. Allow people to embrace your video and extend it by creating their own versions of the video.

5. Focus on shares than views

Instead of focusing on the likes, look at the bigger picture and follow the number of shares to get the metrics right. After all, people always don’t go and check the video from its original source; they get to know about it through their own connections on the social media.

      6.  Respond immediately

Immediately attend to any comments, tweets or answer questions on forums like Quora about anything related to your video. When the media turns their heads towards you, feed the media and keep your audience informed. If there are any controversies stemming up about your content, don’t worry, controversies are good because it lets people do the talking.

Apart from all the above action points, there is “content” which takes the front seat. Please do remember, No amount of promotional effort will help as long as we do not have a captivating and enriching video. In an ever growing world of information overload, we must find a way to get through the clutter and differentiate our content from the rest.