With more than 3.6 billion users worldwide, social media platforms have now become ideal channels for marketers to follow their consumers’ activities or potential buyers and promote their businesses. From creating text posts, polls, even adding GIFs, they leave no stone unturned when it comes to attracting more customers.
Now that social media are chock-a-block with online content, it’s only getting harder for marketers out there to stand out from the crowd. This is where they need a type of content that can help them set their brand apart from anyone else.
That’s where social videos come in handy.
Video is the new black when we talk about social sharing and the promotion of products or services online. From Facebook to Instagram, people love watching videos with decent image quality that allow them to consume information better.
Not convinced yet? Here are some reasons why you need to add videos to your social media marketing mix:
Reason #1— Internet Users Love Online Videos
The first reason why you need social media videos is that today’s users are so fond of them!. They jump into YouTube or other social media platforms just to enjoy different online video content, whether it’s educational explainer videos or chucklesome meme compilations.
It should come as no surprise that video posts on social media get 48% more views, compared to plain text posts. When you provide social media users with the type of content they like, it would be much easier for you to engage them and make them stick around your brand. That’s how you can increase online awareness and improve brand recall.
Reason #2— Videos Convey Messages Better
When you have such a complicated message to get across to your social media followers, nothing can help you better than videos. By combining both audio and visual elements, this engaging type of content will break down your messages into snackable chunks– so that users can digest them hassle-free.
According to the stats, viewers tend to absorb only 10% of the messages when they absorb them through text. But, when they watch videos, they can retain 95% of the information effortlessly.
Reason #3— Social Videos are Shareable
Social videos generate 1200% more shares than text and image content combined as they only take a few clicks for a social video to spread all over digital platforms. Let’s say you upload a video on YouTube, you can easily embed them on other social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
Not to mention that when a user thinks that your videos are worth sharing, they’ll share them with their friends or followers too. This is highly beneficial if you aim to build a solid social media presence and expand your reach.
You can also add social videos to your email newsletter to help you nurture and engage your qualified leads. But, of course, in order to make your social videos shareable for social media users, you need to pay closer attention to the value you provide, the types of messages you deliver, etc.
Reason #4— Drive More Website Traffics
More than 87% of marketers say a benefit of social media is to increase web traffic. And through social videos, they can achieve that goal easier.
Social videos like customer testimonials and product demo videos can be used as social proof– showcasing all the reviews, comments, feedback from your customers all in one medium to convert your social media followers or audiences into your website visitors, improving the traffic.
The key here is to make sure that you add a call to action to your videos that direct users or viewers to your website. This way, they know that the purpose of your video is to visit your website.
Reason #5— Increase Your Chances of Going Viral
Do you know that video posts on social media get a higher chance to go viral compared to any other posts? The reason why is because it’s easier for people to create a story out of the video and relate it.
Of course, not all social videos can go viral. Only those ones that tell an intriguing story and evoke viewers’ emotions with it. Take a look at the iconic Dollar Shave Club YouTube marketing video, for example. It used funny yet relatable scripts as well as well-delivered dry-wit humor. The video was released in 2012 and is still making the rounds on social media.
Final Thoughts: Create Your Social Videos Today
In the social media marketing field, marketers live in a highly competitive world where every business out there is vying for social media users’ attention. If you have no video marketing strategy on social media marketing mix, then you are losing ground to your competitors because they will stand out with their videos.
That said, every social media platform has its own guidelines and best practices for social videos. The infographic below will help you craft an ideal social video for each social media platform:
