Within the realm of PR and marketing, brands encounter a new trend almost every day. As the norm and influence of the internet and social media continue to be all powerful in the industry, new ways and new tools to market content have also emerged. Advancing technology offers increased opportunities for brands but also new hurdles to clear.
Triumphing over fresh trends and competition is video, which sits comfortably on the throne – as the most effective platform to connect and engage with the audience. Through seamless integration of animation, moving images and audio, this powerful medium enables brands to appeal, narrate and convey their story. According to MarketingSherpa, the short videos on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram generate a whopping 300% more traffic than any other content marketing platform. It’s no wonder that companies are turning to video marketing to enhance brand visibility.
Conquering the game with video
Video marketing help brands to construct a persona and, if done correctly, quickly builds a social media following. Video advertising is tops for consumers checking out products before making a purchase, Animoto reports. With 86% of consumers currently tuning in to video content, this trend isn’t slowing down any time soon.
While brands are aware of the effectiveness of using videos, for the most part, this has remained just a strategy. Perhaps because the production process, even for a 15-second clip, used to be quite tedious and time-consuming. But these days, with all the technology and tools available at your fingertips, video production can be a breeze!
We’ve put together some tips to prod you along!
1. Get your digital tools ready
A basic tool you’ll need is a video editing software. It might take time to find one you’re most comfortable with, so start with those pre-installed software on your computer or free online versions. Eventually as you get better, you may want to invest in the paid versions offering a whole new tier of customized, editing features to turn your footage and photos into impressive productions.
Pro Tip #1: Stock video editors are limited in terms of adding captions to your video. For fancier, customized and colorful captions, check out Canva, an online graphic creator platform. All you have to do is design, save the captions in a PNG format and upload into the video editor where you can adjust the size, positioning, transitions and much more!
2. Plan your content
You can make your video production process easier by planning ahead! From breaking news, and product features, to announcements and tutorials, the different types of video content you can share on social media are endless. Once you’ve decided on a topic, list key points you would like to cover, and mark out the content sequence for the video – this will easily convert into captions and moving images. You can always create your own content of course. Or you can turn to online archives for free stock media to support your video. Narrow down your search for images, video snippets and audio by picking out keywords and phrases from the list.
3. Simple, accurate and bite-size
As most social media platforms default video to auto-play without sound, captions and subtitles are critical to engage viewers on social media. Up to 80% of Facebook videos are viewed without sound. Captions convey salient points of your video and can increase engagement levels by 15%. In contrast, subtitles help your audience to discern when the audio is unclear. Decide which is best for the content you have on hand and match as appropriate. Keep the text simple, relevant and bite-sized so as not to disrupt and distract your audience from the visuals of the clip.
4. Mind your platforms
Keep in mind that each social media platform works differently and is geared towards a specific target group or segment of the population. Depending on the platform you choose, your content will have to vary to optimize your reach. Pay heed to guidelines for the different platforms, especially the duration. Facebook recommends a video to be at least two minutes long, while 43 to 45-second clips gain the highest engagement rates and are more likely to feature on Twitter’s video of the day. Clocking in at 30 seconds, Instagram records the shortest video length to date. If being on too many platforms is overwhelming, focus on two that best fit your content and audience.
5. Never go out of style
More often than not, the reason people click and watch a brand’s video on their personalized feed is because they recognize the style and format. While the content may impress and interest, the style is what the audience first notices. Experiment and pick a style that represents your brand and message, stand out with a specific color palette, caption style, storytelling format, or even a catchphrase. If your videos are featured on other social media platforms, a unique style will be embedded into the audience’s memory, potentially bringing more attention and clout your way.
Pro Tip #2: Try Coolors – an online color scheme generator that will help select the perfect color palette. You can also get inspiration from the explore page featuring top and trending color palettes.
What goes around, comes around
In a content-cluttered world, it becomes especially difficult for brands and PR companies – as social media users are often put off by posts that are so obviously sponsored or part of product promotion. Laying out the groundwork is the first step for brands to fully exploit visual and aural cues in order to reach out to the emotions and attention of the audience. In addition to a great content and video, interest and trigger your audience into exploring your social media pages by actively interacting and engaging with them.
As video becomes a part of your brand’s story, it naturally needs a conclusion. Similarly, with video marketing, brands need to make the effort to connect, engage and provide closure to their video campaigns. As you gain views and traffic, reward your audience with updates on your brand’s campaign by quoting, responding, commenting, etc. on your video posts. Pre-planning and action go a long way!
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