Social media video is an awesome way to drive traffic to your website.

70% of social media users would rather watch a video than look at a picture or read a paragraph of writing.
Facebook have admitted that by 2021 85% of their content in feeds will be video.

But making one video and expecting it to work across different platforms is not a good strategy.  Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, Insta and You Tube all have their own audiences, aesthetics, frame sizes, durations and expectations.

There are similarities, but the most successful video marketers have a big idea campaign and create custom content for every channel to engage with different personas across different stages of their journey with their brand.

So here’s our recommendations for best practice for each platform when it comes to video:

Facebook Videos

What content works?

  • Audiences bored of the hard sell.  Give them a reason to stop scrolling and get value from your content.  It can be a laugh, an insight or something they didn’t’ know, reward them for their time.
  • Be short and punchy – grab attention immediately and reward up front;

85% of users watch with sound off 

  • Use motion text, captions and creative text;
  • Facebook favours video posts that are part of on going series.
  • Tell audience what you want them to do;
  • Live still works well and can be re-purposed for later;
  • Talking to a young audience here is a waste of time: think parents and empty nesters;

What to do?

  • Upload direct into the platform (native video) rather thank linking to an external site such as You Tube.  Facebook don’t want anyone to leave the platform and will penalise you and your video will fall off the feed;
  • Under 30 seconds is best;
  • Test and revise;
  • Build targeted lists and re-market;
  • Don’t include an external link in the description, use a text URL on the final frame of the video or within the comments;
  • Titles, tags and descriptions are not (yet) searchable discoverable on Facebook but talk is they will be soon. Get into the habit now;
  • Use positive trigger words and events – birthdays, marriages and big news, anniversaries – that Facebook view as worthy of reaching more viewers;
  • Embed a video as your cover image on Facebook – if nothing else it will be another reason to appear in a news feed.

Beware

  • Directly asking for share or comments will mean your video falls off the feed;
  • Avoid blacklisted words such as free, join, comment tag etc. It is basically content that FB sees as blatantly promotional stuff that they would rather you pay for

Linked In Videos

LinkedIn is a great opportunity for businesses who sell to other businesses to use video to reach an audience of 500 million engaged and motivated users.

LinkedIn members spend almost 3x more time watching video ads compared to time spent with static posts. P

What content works?

  • Upload direct for news feed prominence;
  • Build your brand story and share successes or quietly talk about your ethical and CSR story;
  • Video in groups works well;
  • Linked In is about relationships, so use video to pique the interest of your connections and deepen engagement with customers;
  • Use corporate video or customer testimonials;
  • Offer an insider look at an industry event you’re attending or showing off a new product your start-up just launched;

What to do?

  • Use paid for increased reach;
  • The platform has sophisticated insight and tracking tools;
  • You can even target an audience for sponsored content by traits like job title, seniority, company name, industry, skills and Company Page video;
  • Some accounts have the ability to send video messages for outreach.

Beware

  • Don’t indulge yourself by delivering content up to the full ten minutes.  Optimum length is 2-3 minutes.

You Tube Videos

No longer the sole domain of millennial You Tubers doing silly things, You Tube is a must-do for businesses wanting to use video to promote themselves. As the second largest search engine to Google the reach is huge.

65% of You Tube visitors need help fixing stuff and 70% use it to solve a problem 

You Tube rewards creators for showing content that gets people to watch for longer and encourages them to return again and again.   Longer page time, more repeat views means You Tube will make more money from ads and will therefore love you more.

Building a strong video strategy on the channel can build huge reach for your business and make you money (the more popular the content the more likely ads will be played, netting your cash too)

What content works?

  • Audience are actively seeking information, so match what they want & use keyword search if possible;
  • This is not about your or selling what you do.  You need to offer value to audience
  • Aim to publish informative content, consistent and regularly.
  • Create a YT channel & create bespoke long form content that helps or answers questions;
  • A channel trailer should explain why people should subscribe in a clear yet engaging way;
  • Own your niche and offer value;
  • Ongoing series builds subscriptions and subscriptions give you enhanced features and linking opportunities;
  • A broad age range of audiences who are prepared to watch longer video if there is something to be gained.

What to do?

  • Create thumbnails with faces and text for maximum attention & don’t repeat text in title;
  • If you click bait deliver on your promise;
  • Design for mobile (eg small screen);
  • You Tube looks for keywords in title, description & tags (the metadata) so make them SEO friendly;
  • Embed You Tube video elsewhere (websites, third party sites) for SEO and discoverability;
  • Use Video IQ to search for keywords and optimise meta for the opportunities;
  • Getting your videos in the suggested sidebar is the nirvana;

Beware

  • Creating a small amount of content on lots of topics:  You Tube prefer niche creators
  • Ask for support (likes, shares, subs at the end of videos not upfront.  Get into content quick.
You might want to read Why your business should be on You Tube (and still retain a good reputation)

 Instagram Videos

Instagram is a highly visual and engaged platform.  Successful businesses using video here create fun campaigns around stories and curated content for their feeds.

The greatest opportunity is with Stories and IGTV

Content

  • Short, punchy & emotional;
  • Put your brand name up front in logo;
  • Colourful, animated video is a great way to grab attention / short, how-to videos), to draw attention to your product / service or offering;
  • Grab attention up front
  • Succinct, eye-catching and meaningful (yet focused) content;

What to do?

  • Consider the relevancy of your hashtags to what followers have watched before;
  • Monitor and research accounts and hashtags a searcher searches often;
  • Remember web links in bio.
  • Video in posts limited to 60″.  Chose your own cover image for maximum impact;
  • Stories limited to 15′ bursts  and will split up longer video;

Want more content about video?
We wrote this article about getting more bang for your buck from a video shoot.
Video marketing is our jam: read about how I went from television newsreader to running a video production business.