Why Video Wins on Social Media

It’s no exaggeration to say that Social Media defines the way we communicate and how we consume content online. And for many years, static images dominated the social space, keeping users hooked, especially during the era of influencers, which brought new trends in creativity and aesthetics.

But gone are the days when all you needed was a ‘good’ photograph with the angles on point, the fun caption and a few hashtags to make your post and your brand go viral.

With over 4.81 billion active Social Media users, global brands, small businesses, influencers – and hell even your own friends and family – all vye for your attention. The perennial question remains: how to cut through the noise and make an impact?

While there are many tactics you can employ from your social media arsenal to growth-hack your accounts and drive engagement, here we’re looking at video content for social – the whys, the whats and the hows.

We’re Guided By The Science

Most Social Media Marketers are already embracing video as part of their social strategies – but why? Let’s look at the data: 

The stats show that videos generate up to 1,200% more shares than texts and images combined. Last year, the number of digital video viewers worldwide amounted to over 2.6 billion and this is projected to reach over 3.1 billion by 2023.

Branded videos have increased by 99% on YouTube and 258% on Facebook. Twitter has reported that a video Tweet is 6x more likely to be retweeted than a photo or text only tweet.

With the stratospheric rise of TikTok, it’s becoming more evident that social media is moving away from photo-sharing and toward video-based content. In the Summer of 2021, Instagram Product Head Adam Mosseri made headlines by announcing the app will ‘no longer be just a square photo’ platform, having launched Reels in 2020 and IGTV to compete with YouTube and TikTok.

But how can it benefit your brand?

Greater ROI: Figures indicate that video content generates a far greater return on investment, increasing conversions by 80%, leading directly to sales growth for brands with good quality video content.

Social Video is basically TV advertising: Video builds trust – the format lends itself to better brand storytelling, tapping into viewers’ emotions and allowing brands to better connect with their audience.

Videos are great for SEO: Who knew?! You’re 53 times more likely to rank on page 1 of the SERP if you have a video embedded on your website.

Target a younger audience: Whatever you think about the much-mocked Gen Z, it’s their world to change and it’s the fastest growing consumer group. It’s often said that Gen Zers are a difficult audience to reach but video is the perfect format: around 75% of Gen Zers watch videos on their mobile devices and 7 out of 10 Gen Zers watch more than 3 hours of mobile video a day.

It’s not just for Gen Z! Over 70% of adults aged 40+ watch YouTube videos regularly.

The Golden Rules

Looking to improve your video content? Here are our top golden video rules: 

1. Be clear about your goals – behind every successful campaign is a solid strategy. Go beyond “how many likes do I want?” and think about who you’re trying to make do what.
2. Define your audience – remember you’re competing with essentially everyone else on the internet, so define who your target audience is specifically. How old are they? Where do they watch videos? What do they care about? What do they want to learn?
3. Decide on the type of video that best suits your message:
   1. Lives – for immediacy: great for events & product launches
   2. IGTV – ideal for longer, curated content like interviews or testimonials
   3. Reels – shorter snippets, have fun with the editing and music – highly favoured by IG right now
   4. TikTok vids – for challenges, BTS and tutorials
   5. Video adverts – brand building messaging with high production quality
4. Create! Now you’ve got your strategy, time to create your video.
   1. Come up with a great concept
   2. Storyboard or loosely plan your shot list
   3. Organise props and styling beforehand if you’re going for a more editorial style vid
   4. Get the lighting right and invest in a good lense
   5. Don’t forget about audio and music. If your video is educational, ensure the mic is clearly heard and no background noise is captured. Choosing the right song can make or break your video – make sure the sounds you add to your videos suits your target audience.
5. USE SUBTITLES! This ensures your video is inclusive and suitable for all viewers.
6. Finally monitor success using social insights and ensure you’re tracking your video campaigns individually on each platform.

Who’s Nailing The Video Game?

Evian Water is one company that knows how to captivate its target audience and more. By using videos to incite emotions, build connections and simply make you want to stop and share. Take their ‘Baby & Me’ video which went viral with over 68 million total views. 

Red Bull, need we say more? They’ve been dominating video marketing far before it became a pivotal strategic move. With over 10.3 million YouTube subscribers, Red Bull uses videos to showcase ‘real’ life stories, provide comedy and humour and, of course, their iconic cartoons. 

We spoke about Chipotle in our TikTok blog, but we must give credit where its due. Chipotle consistently understands the assignment by providing their audience with humorous and relatable videos. The results? 1.7 million followers and 33.2 million likes.

So there you have it! If you’d like to up your video social media game but are not quite sure where to start, our social and content teams are experts at social content strategy and production. Hit us up at hello@ignitecreates.com

📸 Photo Credit Thomas William