Online video viewing time climbed by an average of 32% each year between 2013 and 2018, according to statistics. The average individual will watch videos for 100 minutes per day on average in 2021. That’s 25 whole days, to put it in context. This is something that marketers should keep in mind when they design their social media video marketing strategy.

Fortunately, there are several applications for video in social media marketing. We’re not just confined to polished educational films or TV-style advertisements. It’s simpler than ever to dangle a toe in the realm of video marketing thanks to the emergence of Live broadcasting videos, a focus on brand authenticity, and easily available editing software.

To develop a fruitful social media video marketing plan, adhere to our 5-step process.

1. Set goals for video marketing strategy

Whenever starting a new social media project, goals need to be established. What do you hope your videos will achieve? Where will these films fit within the marketing funnel?

We advise merely setting a few goals when you’re first starting out in your video marketing strategy, so you don’t become overwhelmed. Brand awareness is an illustration of a video marketing objective. This becomes especially related to the kind of video you’ll make and guide your future videos, as we’ll cover later.

Videos are frequently employed in the advertisement for some businesses. They could begin on a website product page before branching out to end up in a social media advertisement. Others solely make videos for social media advertisements. This is particularly helpful for direct-to-consumer firms since they need product videos to help customers visualise themselves using the bag. The product video that follows illustrates a feature on a bag that solves a problem that many travellers encounter. It’s brief and relatable. The video may be marketed as a social advertisement in addition to being utilised on Facebook as just a feed post.

Videos may easily fit into each of the 5 levels of a marketing funnel, so long as you create your video content strategies with these stages in mind. Think about where your video marketing objectives will fit in the funnel as you evaluate them.

Your calls to action in your media content will be a lot more powerful if you have established your goals and know where you are in the funnel.

2. Decide on your platforms

Every significant social media network, as well as others, has its own type of video. While more recent sites such as Snapchat and TikTok mainly favour one format, older ones like Facebook provide a variety of video styles.

Start using video on platforms that you already have established audiences if you have never done so in your video marketing strategy. Audiences on Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat spend over half of their time on the platform viewing videos, according to Statista and data gathered in February 2019.

Understanding what each platform provides and what video sizes may be broadcast is another factor to take into account when deciding on the best platform for you. This is crucial since it’s preferable to pick platforms that work well together if you want to reuse your films.

Social media video formats and features

It can be challenging to maintain track of what kinds of video footage can be shared where or even when you might have to perform some further editing as various social media sites continue to introduce new capabilities. For a fast reference and our complete video specifications guide with all the information you need to publish on each network, see the sections below.

Facebook

• Landscape and portrait feed video
• Livestreaming (Facebook Live)
• Facebook Stories (disappearing content)

Instagram

• Landscape and portrait feed video
• Livestreaming (Instagram Live)
• Instagram Stories (disappearing content)
• Instagram TV (IGTV) long-form content
• Instagram Reels short-form content

Twitter

• Landscape and portrait feed video
• Livestream
• Stories content (Twitter Fleets)

LinkedIn

• Landscape feed video
• Livestream

YouTube

• Landscape video
• Portrait video (may use pillarboxing on some uploads)
• Livestreaming
• Short videos (portrait)

Pinterest

• Portrait feed video

TikTok

• Portrait feed video

Last but not least, consider platforms such as YouTube and Facebook where you may organise recurrent series into playlists, such as product how-to tips. Additionally, Instagram recently gave IGTV a series option.

The social media posts from Bon Appetit feature a lot of video that has been adjusted for multiple platforms including Instagram and YouTube. The themes and series change between platforms in addition to the varied orientations. No matter whatever Bon Appetit social media platform they are on, the public will always find original content due to this variety of content.

3. Select your video types

There are many various sorts of videos, and we don’t only mean in terms of placement on social media, where they may be utilised to complement your entire content strategy. Choosing the right sort of video for your company is a crucial stage in your video marketing strategy. Even while not every video is created equally, it is still crucial that they serve your main objectives.

Here are some distinct video genres and their advantages. You may also experiment with a tonne of different social media video concepts.

• Educational: These can raise brand recognition among potential new clients and are educational. They frequently adopt a less informal and more professional tone and position the brand as an authority. Videos on how to utilise your product effectively may be the main subject if they were made for existing consumers.
• Behind-the-scenes: These provide insight into staff members and business processes. They occasionally serve to amuse the crowd or offer a fictitious glimpse behind the scenes.
• Interviews: When inviting special guests, interviews are an excellent approach to introduce your audiences to a fresh influencer and simultaneously. Giving a visitor control of the virtual microphone may be entertaining and give your business a bit more authenticity.
• Fun things: These include jokes, adorable pets, and even practical jokes. Although they just exist to amuse the audience, they may be a splendid approach to emphasise your company brand and foster a feeling of camaraderie among your viewers.
• Testimonials: These films, which in marketing resemble customer highlights, assist to build social evidence for your business. Videos that highlight how a consumer utilises your good or service and how happy they are with it work on a personal level; ideally, a potential client would recognise themselves in the video and be encouraged to buy.

One survey found that 48% of customers would like the video to accurately represent the exact item or service they use or are particularly interested in. If you’re having trouble deciding which type to concentrate on, start with this one.

After deciding which categories of video to focus on, it’s time to start organising the actual video.

4. Plan the content production

Long-term time and financial savings are possible with a solid content development strategy. You must plan how films will be produced and shot, whether you use a flowchart or the more traditional pen and paper.

Both content creation and post-production options are available. Steps 4 and 5 might be stressful, but employing an organisation or production business can greatly reduce it. They will take care of all planning and permissions; all you need to do is provide direction.

However, if you intend to handle everything internally, you’ll need to consider all the processes for a movie. This encompasses, but is not limited to:

• Choosing the necessary tools and decorations
• Writing a script
• A script’s editing
• Planning the video’s plot
• Organizing the shoot for the best possible filming. There won’t be much linearity in the filming.
• Assembling the appropriate highlighted individuals
• Deciding on the location(s) for your shoot and planning your schedule around natural light.
• Being aware of where to submit the film for editing
• Choosing the person who will approve and sign off on each stage. For instance, you should check that the writing fits your voice and sounds excellent. It could need to be reviewed by two individuals.
• Verifying that the music you’re using has your permission

If this is your first attempt at creating a thorough video content strategy, you may discover areas where you need to alter it or items you overlooked earlier as you go through the plan. After a sound strategy has been carried out, post-production should begin.

5. Know what post-production entails

Post-production should be given plenty of time, especially if your movies will be used for advertisements or require more extensive editing. Post-production is more than simply editing sequences and reassembling them to music. Closed captions, text graphic elements, call-to-action screens, and other additions are also included. You’ll need more time the more you shoot and the smoother you want it.

Videos that are uploaded will go through post-production. You may add tags, closed captions in different languages, comprehensive captions, and more on YouTube, for instance.

Before you begin, be aware of what you’re getting yourself into: formal, polished YouTube videos demand a lot more work than a straightforward livestream. You must optimise your words and images because YouTube is a video-based site if you want to effectively stand out.