When surfing any type of social media what do you see the most? Of course, there are pictures of food and unwarranted political rants, but most assuredly your feed is littered with videos. The visual aspect of social media is what lead to the success of platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, Snapchat, etc. With the rise of the Instagram story and Facebook Live, video is king in the content world.
Whether the video is funny, promotional, persuasive, or informational, the content being easily digestible is what drives the analytics. If you’re a small business and you wish to promote a new product, sale, or say hey to followers try a simple, short video that personally connects to the viewers of your page.
As a musician, I make use of Instagram stories when in the studio to document what it is like to be a musician and record music. Social media essentially is a conversation.
The more you can connect and converse with the people who follow you in interesting ways the better.
Each social media platform has code written to shift the visibility of your feed based on what you respond to. Instagram, for example, lists the accounts you watch most on Instagram stories first on your feed. When first premiering Facebook Live, Facebook was algorithmically putting Live videos ahead of other content to promote the practice and the content using the feature.
Easy ways to promote your brand with video:
Go behind the scenes
Whether you’re a candle maker, restaurant, whatever; take people into your business and show them the life. The people following you don’t know what it is like to live the life your brand does so show them!
Incentivize them to use video
Challenge your followers to take video of them unwrapping the product you sell to win giveaways. If you have a catchy hashtag, have them video them engaging in that call to action hashtag.
Create high-def AND DIY content
Of course, high-quality video is great to look at, but don’t be afraid of the DIY approach. It is not the lens through which video is watched that people connect with, it is what they are watching. Don’t be too precious with the content you are creating.
Don’t be afraid to try something new
Create a video series, interview other businesses, show people other talents, etc. Video is a tool and you don’t know what will work until you try it.
The greatest part about video is how it can entertain, inform, and enthuse people all at the same time. Be bold with the way you create video content and learn your audience through the analytics you create. All socials have data that can tell you what people respond to more. Make sure there is more brand culture content than sales pitches, but be sure to sell whatever you sell as well. After all, video is one of the best ways to promote to people because video has their attention.
