Nothing drives engagement like video. That’s just a fact. However, it works best as part of an overall social media strategy. Just posting a video to a social media channel with a proper strategy behind it is a guaranteed way to end up with disappointing results. But where does one start? Below we list a few pointers to get you going on the road to video mastery.
1. Have a plan
Before the cameras start rolling, ask yourself what you want to achieve with your video. Do you want to raise your profile? Do you want potential customers to subscribe to your social media channel? Do you want to sell a product or service? The answer to this question will dictate the approach you take with your video. By starting at the end result and engineering it backwards you have a better shot at making a video that seamlessly integrates into your strategy.
2. Go where your customers are
Not all demographics are represented equally on all social media platforms, so targeting the wrong channel could mean that your message falls on barren soil. Format, methods and style varies across platforms so knowing which platform you are creating your video for will help ensure that you plan to maximise engagement for that channel. For example, the format of a video destined for YouTube, which has no time limit, would be much different than one destined for Instagram, which limits video durations in the feed to 60sec. Doing some research to find out where your customer base is most likely to be and then producing your videos for that platform is a good start.
3. Find creative ways to add value for your customers
Once you have eyes on your video, you need to keep them there. That is why creative, engaging content that is more than a sales pitch is so important. You can grow your audience with interesting and educational content that your customer will feel have added value to their lives.
4. Distribution: Paid, owned and earned media
Implementing the right distribution strategy is as important as any other part of the video production process. If you know you don’t have a large pot of money to spend on buying ads and boosting your posts you can gear your video towards earned media from the outset by aiming to create a buzz in the media and finding creative ways to encourage others to like and share your video. The inverse also applies. If you know your campaign will struggle to create a stir organically you can put some ad spend towards it to get it in front of as many eyes as possible. As with most things, finding the right balance is very important to give you a shot at success.
5. Track and analyse
Once you have published your video make sure to track the performance. Most platforms provide at least a basic form of analytics which you should use to measure how your video is doing. You can get a good sense of retention rates and demographic info to help inform decisions for future videos.
These basic steps are a good starting point for integrating video into your social media strategy. If you are interested in exploring this further, please feel free to get in touch with us at hello@foxfifth.com