8 Ways To Use Social Media Video Marketing

Lights, camera, action! Are you ready for your close-up?Videos are no longer the hottest trend on social media. They are the norm. Your audience expects and might even prefer video to other forms of social media content.The facts speak for themselves. Consider this:

• Social media posts with video have 48% more views
• Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users
• 82% of users watch video content on Twitter
• When compared to a photo tweet, a video tweet has a 6x higher chance of getting retweeted.
• Video generates 1,200x more shares than text and images combined
• After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online

The secret is out: videos work and everyone can see benefits from them.After seeing these stats, it shouldn’t really come as any surprise that more brands and entrepreneurs are stepping up their social media video marketing game. After all, everyone wants more shares, engagement, and revenue!Videos are engaging and memorable content that build a stronger sense of loyalty among your audience. If you’re not using video yet or you are only starting to dip your toes into the video pool, we want to give you a few ideas to kickstart your social media video marketing endeavors.

1. Use video to respond to questions or ask your own

This tactic works really well on Instagram and Twitter and it can be an easy way to get started with video if you’re nervous or uncertain about it. If your audience is asking you questions already and you’re going to answer them anyway, why not answer them with a video?On Twitter, you can answer questions people ask you in the feed by recording quick video answers on and sending them in your reply tweet. You can even do this with your phone! If you prefer the Insta-world on Instagram, you can send videos through direct messages answering questions you may receive in your inbox.Our friend Dan does this over on Twitter very well and he’s grown his audience quickly using this tactic!

With this route, you are building a stronger connection to your audience, sharing a little more of your personality and providing value. And, your audience will appreciate the personal approach!

2. Offer product explainer videos

If you sell any type of physical product, whether that it’s jewelry, t-shirts or handmade octopus costumes - a video can go a long way in securing that sale. 71% of consumers think video explain the product better than images.Let’s say that you’re selling handmade octopus costumes. If you share an image, your audience will have a good idea of what the costume looks like. But if I’m shopping for an octopus costume for our next company retreat, I may have questions that a photo won’t answer. Like, what’s the range of motion like while wearing the octopus costume? How do the tentacles move when one walks inside of the octopus costume? Can you fit through doorways while wearing your octopus costume?All of these are valid consumer questions that can be answered in a video.(Just to clear up any curiosity, we don’t wear octopus costumes at our company retreats. We all know Edgar is the only octopus at this company!)

3. Hold a Q&A session

There are times, like, when you’re launching a new product, offering a new service or making changes in your business, you’ll find that your audience has lots of questions. Instead of answering them one by one or sharing them in a FAQ page, answer them with a video!Facebook Live is a great tool for this type of video content. Facebook Live videos generate 10x more comments than regular videos. If you do want to use Facebook Live, we recommend planning in advance and promoting your Facebook Live so that your audience knows when to watch and they are prepared with questions!Another fun way to host Q&A is to use the questions sticker in your Instagram story. Collect questions from your followers in advance and then record videos of your answers. You can either share your answers on your story or on your Instagram feed.

4. Tutorials or how to’s

If you run a service-based business, tutorial videos can act like product explainer videos for your service.For example, if you’re a health coach then you can create tutorial videos of quick workouts, recipes or stretching tips. If you’re a business coach, then you may want to create tutorial videos of crafting your elevator pitch or creating a business plan.Tutorial videos are especially beneficial if you sell services that require you to interact with your customer (like consulting or coaching) because there’s no better way to show off how you do your work than giving your fans a little taste of how you consult and coach with a video.Fitness & Health Coach, Yaz, does this frequently on her Instagram channel!

If you do offer tutorials, turn to YouTube! 65% of people use YouTube to help them solve a problem so go where people are searching!

5. Create videos of your written or audio content

Not all videos require you to be sitting in front of a camera recording yourself. You can repurpose your existing written and audio content into a video format to encourage more social shares. It’s also a good way to breathe new life into older posts or episodes.More content with less effort: it’s a win-win!

Identify your top performing blog posts or podcasts using Google Analytics and then pull out key quotes or stats that you can use in your video. You can use then use a video tool like Express Video or Typito. These tools allow you to drag and drop images and text, add music and create a share-worthy video in just minutes.These videos are wildly popular on Facebook and you can use them as paid ads to reach even more people.

6. Share your brand culture

Brand videos can give an inside look at your team and the culture of your company. If you want to attract top talent or give potential clients a look at the inner-workings of your company, consider creating a brand culture video.Heads up, though, these types of videos usually require a little more work than the other ones on our list but they are also long-lasting and can be used as recruiting and branding tools for years!Have you seen our culture video?

7. Announce sales and special offers

If you want people to notice and pay attention to your sale, then a video is the best way to announce it! Videos are engaging and eye-catching in the feed, which is exactly what you want when you’re announcing a big sale or a special offer.

8. Customer reviews

Got a customer who loves you and loves the camera?! What better way to showcase how fantastic your biz is than with a customer testimonial video? You can also combine this idea with #5 on the list and create text-based videos of your customer’s reviews and testimonials.

Social Media Video Beginner Tips

If you’re still feeling nervous about which social media video to create and how to create it, then we have some tips to help.

1. It doesn’t need to be perfect

In the beginning, you’re probably going to want to re-record yourself 10 times for one video because your voice doesn’t sound right or you skipped a word or your hair was doing something weird. That’s perfectly normal.Your customers want to relate to you. They want to know, like and trust you, which means, they are more likely to forgive a few mistakes and imperfections. Nobody’s perfect and without a Hollywood film crew on your side, no video will be perfect either!

2. Add captions

Captions make it easier for your audience to consume your content and you can increase the possibility that someone will stop scrolling and actually watch your video.When you use captions, you’re able to reach the millions of people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Not to mention, you’ll have a better chance of reaching individuals who may be hearing-abled but not able to listen at the moment. Over half of video content is viewed on mobile, which means your audience might be watching videos on the bus, while they’re standing in line at a store or while they are at the office and they might not be able to turn the sound on.Captions will get your message across even without sound! There are a few easy-to-use tools for adding captions to your video including Youtube automatic subtitles, Amara and Dotsub.

3. You don’t need fancy equipment.

Your videos do not have to look professionally edited and you don’t have to spend a small fortune on a production crew to make your videos work. That might make some of you overachievers nervous! But remember, the more you create videos, the more you’ll improve at creating them. If you do want a few things that can enhance your video but won’t blow your budget, then we recommend starting with a tripod, lavalier mic, and some lights.

4. Understand how each platform works and how people consume videos on each platform.

Each platform has its own unique set of rules and behaviors and if you want your videos to succeed on them, you’ve got to know how users interact with content on every platform.For example, 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound but 60% of Instagram stories are watched with sound. Also, 90% of Twitter video views happen on mobile devices.When you know the behaviors of each platform, you’ll be able to perfectly optimize your videos so your audience will want to watch and share them!

via GIPHYVideo will be a crucial part of your social media marketing strategy so don't be afraid to experiment with different ways of using video in your social media marketing.