Social video trends and tips

If content is king, then video is its kingdom.

Social video for marketing plays a huge part in the day-to-day lives of online users. Videos, at this moment and for quite a while in the future, is the most popular way to consume content. Unsurprisingly, businesses and organizations see marketing videos as a worthy investment. Even startups and small-sized companies set aside a budget for social video marketing.

To help marketers sort through the growing options for video marketing, here are social video trends and tips that experts project will have significant impact over the next 12 months.

 

Closely watch the big players

No marketer can disregard the giants of social media as these companies continue to influence the course of social networking.

Case in point: in 2014, Mark Zuckerberg fearlessly asserted that video is going to be the future of social networks. Three years after, the Facebook leader’s projection stays undeterred even with issues and setbacks. Today, apart from Facebook Live, Facebook Stories and Facebook Watch are creating significant ripples in social video marketing. For marketers, Facebook Watch presents vast possibilities for product placement and branded long-form video content.

Big players like BuzzFeed are already optimizing Facebook’s marketing gateways. This means smart marketers should keep track of and engage with both established and emerging social media leaders.

 

Cast the social video net wider

While Facebook and YouTube continue fighting for the video platform throne, don’t ignore the ‘smaller’ platforms such as Instagram Stories and Snapchat. After all, the two – and Facebook – are the top channels for watching branded videos.

The value of these smaller platforms is stressed by the projected spending budget of marketers for the next year. Investment in Twitter and Instagram dramatically increased (currently at 50-52%) to position them more in equivalence to marketer’ spending plans on Facebook (62%) and YouTube (63%).

It’s important then for marketers to keep growing their social video marketing efforts. If they stop, they’ll risk being put aside by the competition.

 

Go live

Live video provides one of the best opportunities to draw in consumer interest. Facebook Live’s average captivation time is reported to be 20 minutes. In terms of active daily users, Instagram Stories has more than 200 million, Snapchat has 161 million, and Twitter has over 100 million.

Considering the variety of platforms around, it’s critical that marketers concentrate on the channels where their target market spends most of their time. They should also create content that’s designed for live streaming.

Think about special behind-the-scenes tours, live feeds from special events or product reveals – with an actual countdown.

 

Give viewers sound options.

As reported by Forrester Research, a 60-second video is roughly equivalent to 1.8 million words. That’s why it’s pretty ironic that mobile users don’t generally use sound on their mobile devices to watch videos. Instead, they check out silent auto-plays through their timeline and feed.

Marketers should provide either subtitles or closed-captioning for videos. This is to ensure viewers can still indulge in and enjoy the video’s narrative, even when the sound on their mobile device is muted. Also, the options guarantee that the brand doesn’t alienate viewers.

 

Closely watch the big players

User-generated social video content continues to be vital to content managers and online marketers. This source enables them to develop campaigns that produce fan-sourced content shared just by word of mouth. Clever, advanced thinking is indispensable for these types of campaigns.

Case in point: service providers like Amazon are rewarding consumers who mention their brand with customized short videos or personalized gifts. In return, they are generating possible brand ambassadors.

Other companies give influencers the chance to ‘take over’ their social media accounts, particularly Instagram and Snapchat. They allow them to post content that can engage with the brand’s target market. This is a smart move as 92% of online buyers trust an endorsement from an influencer over regular advertisements or recommendations from celebrities.

With these social video trends, marketers can adjust their marketing strategies for future campaigns.