The trend right now in social media is videos. I don’t know about you, but it’s so easy to get caught up in watching video after video on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Vine, etc.
As a company working on building your social media following, videos are a great way to captivate your audience. I’ve summarized Social Media Week’s tips for making the best videos for social media.
- Pick a Platform: There are so many different social media outlets that are popular video platforms: YouTube being number one, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, the list goes on. You can pick more than one, but certain styles of videos will be more successful on certain platforms. For instance, short funny 6 second clips would work best on Vine, YouTube would be better for longer videos (3-10 minutes for use on mobile devices), Facebook for funnies, information, and how-to’s with a suggested 2 minute max.
- Do Your Research: Videos are uploaded in the thousands, daily, just on YouTube. You want your video to stand out in the midst of all the other uploads. Know what kind of videos your followers are watching and sharing. If you do your research, you’ll be able to format your video closer to something your viewers will enjoy and share.
- Gather Ideas: When you get to the point of creating a draft for a video, gather peoples’ insight and remember to keep the video short enough to make viewers want more, but long enough to convey the message you were wanting to send. People like to see videos they connect with so be entertaining, witty, inspiring, emotional, or give useful insight. Step out of the box a little and see where it will take you. Do what the people love and have a focal point of the video that is consistent.
- It doesn’t have to break the bank: There are a lot of free video editing sites online to help reduce cost. Most up to date mobile phones have adequate cameras. Just be sure to have good lighting and you are able to hear what you are recording well enough.
CNN does a great job of using videos on social media. Their twitter capitalizes on short, 6-30 second clips of speeches, news stories, reports with links to the longer story. The short clips have a good focal point and are relevant to what their audience is wanting. They share videos that are informative, as well as some that are silly like this post from funny GIFS:
To serious State of the Union clips:
CNN caters to their audience and knows what kinds of videos are appropriate when.
What kind of videos capture your attention? What kinds of videos do you watch the most? Know your target audience and you’ll do just fine!
Always be learning!
-Sarah