Creating a social video strategy

We all know that social media is important within the marketing mix but have you ever thought about what content works best on which platforms? Have you devised a strategy to utilise video across your channels? Here at CUBE, we have spent many years crafting content to perform on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. As these platforms have evolved and added video-sharing or posting to their offering, video content has become native to the platforms, therefore opening up the opportunity to stand out through creative content. In this guide on social media video strategy, we look at top tips, best practices and technical optimisation.

We will cover:

• Thinking differently

• YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

• How to succeed on these platforms

• Tactics and top tips

• Technical specifications

With the growth of social media, it is now more important than ever to start thinking about creating social specific content. Syndicating content across platforms from a video you have made for your website is a starting point but now is the time to start thinking differently. Gone are the days of simply repurposing a video, social audiences expect so much more now.

Now is the time to start prioritising creating content that is optimised and specific to the network.

• Remember to take into consideration:

• your aim with the video and what's popular on the platform

• what the restrictions are around length

• what ratios work best and how the call to actions work.

Your video is a starting point to connect with your target audience and by tailoring the message and content this can really empower your campaign. Let’s jump in and find out more about the key platforms you should consider for your business.

LinkedIn is the number 1 channel for B2B marketers. It has just over 660 million users, contributes to over 46% of website traffic from social and has a conversion rate 3x higher than any other platform. If you are looking to engage with a professional audience, build brand awareness and connect with more people, then it should be a key part to your strategy.

Since LinkedIn launched video on the platform, it has been a popular tool to engage with your network. The right types of content on LinkedIn can engage with your target audience.

The key here is to create content that speaks directly to them, provide them with useful information and show how your service can solve their problems. To get you started here are a few examples of videos that work well on LinkedIn. (examples to be shown)

1. Thought Leadership content is a great way to share your expertise and provide valuable insights

2. Share company updates and milestones as your audience like to hear about things that are new and the achievements that you have reached

3. Product videos that showcase the product in detail and outlines its benefits

4. Explainer animations can get across information to decision-makers in a clear and effective way

5. Case studies from your clients perspective, they can be great brand advocates for your business

6. Culture videos that showcase the behind the scenes of your business, this is great to show the personality behind your business and these types of videos are effective for recruitment

The power of Instagram can never be understated, with its dramatic rise to becoming a go-to platform for visual content, it should be a part of your marketing mix. Instagram is perfectly suited for video, animation and photography and has billions of users worldwide.

• Instagram feed videos autoplay silently by default and you have 60 seconds to work with

• Stories are 15 second long and last 24 hours

• IGTV has a maximum length of 60 minutes

• Reels are 15 seconds long and aimed at entertaining content

A great place to start is with feed video, the ones that appear on your profile in the grid. Our advice here is to create visually appealing content that showcases your business, features people such as your team, behind the scenes and the latest projects. Creating a mixture of these and committing to a posting schedule will be a strong foundation to build upon.

We also advise utilising the Instagram Story feature that allows you to upload and capture portrait (16:9) video, 15 seconds long and it will appear for 24 hours. This is a great way to stay connected to your audience more regularly and is well suited to showcase what's going on in the day to day of your business.

For longer-form content, IGTV is the destination and this allows you to upload much longer content of up to 60 minutes ideal for storytelling behind your brand, case studies and series.

Find out more about Instagram’s features here.

YouTube has been around for some time now and leads the way when it comes to hosting video content for information and entertainment. It is the go-to place to watch a video, it's a place to engage with your audience through content like how-to videos, vlogs, binge-worthy content and live streams. Being owned by Google, it has become a go-to place to search for help, advice and solutions, so think about what content you can create within your business which people might be searching for. With this in mind, you can provide insight and ideas that the viewer will trust and be exposed to your brand and as a result, hopefully, they will subscribe.

If you are looking to grow your subscribers, it is important to consider whether this is suitable for your business, if your audience is on YouTube and what your goal is for your channel. If it is brand awareness and growing your audience then YouTube is a great place to start but make sure you create a solid schedule with regular video uploads that can keep your audience engaged.

For more information check out the Creators Playbook for Brands from YouTube.

Twitter is another audience to consider when sharing your videos. If your target audience uses Twitter then it is a good place to share content that can drive traffic back to your website. It is ideal for sharing teaser videos and updates that can click through to a landing page where they can watch the full length video and find more information. Twitter is also a platform used for real-time events and news, and as video is a visual tool, you can stand out and tap into trending hashtags and events.

We hope you have found this guide helpful and now have an insight into how you can get your social video strategy started and what platforms to use. If you would like to discuss how your business can maximise its social media with video then reach out and we’d be happy to help.