6 Tips for Creating Social Media Videos That People Can't Help But Click On
It’s no secret that online video is a powerful driver of clicks and engagement for brands on social media. Unfortunately, many brands make simple—yet avoidable—video mistakes that keep their content from having a meaningful impact.
To really grow your online audience, it’s not enough to just avoid mistakes. You need to create top-quality content that compels social media users to click.
While this may sound intimidating, following a few basic guidelines and tips for creating social media videos will put you on track for achieving real online growth.
6 tips for creating social media videos that get eyeballs
1. Get to know your audience first
Before you start producing videos for social media, you need to come up with a comprehensive strategy for your campaign. Ultimately, if you want your content to be effective, you need to understand your audience and the type of video content they want to see on social.
Your research should naturally focus on the interests of your target audience Keep in mind how they use different social media platforms to ensure that your videos match the type of content they engage with already.
The better you know your audience, the easier it will be to determine the right tone, imagery, and subject matter for your videos.
2. Streamline production with video creation tools
Social media moves at a rapid pace, meaning you will need to create video content much more quickly than you would with a TV commercial. The right creativity tools will streamline this process so your content still matches your branding and achieves a professional look.
Boosted is a great tool for social media videos thanks to its ready-made templates and easy-to-use video resizing tools. This allows users to quickly optimize their own video content for several social media platforms.
If you want to create an animated video, Animaker is a valuable resource that doesn’t require extensive programming or animation know-how. A custom character builder with auto lip-sync does the heavy lifting of animation to produce attractive clips.
Businesses looking to integrate video with a podcast should look into Anchor. This podcasting tool helps transcribe podcast clips to create a short video that can be shared via social media.
3. Make the first seconds count
Social media users often scroll through their newsfeed until they come across something that catches their interest. Because of this, the first five seconds of each video are by far the most important.
The first few seconds is your video’s chance to establish your tone, present a problem and offer a solution, or even startle the viewer with something completely unexpected. Ultimately, the goal should be to trigger the viewer’s curiosity. Give them a compelling reason to keep watching, rather than continue scrolling.
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4. Make an emotional connection through storytelling
Appealing to social media viewers’ emotions can be a tricky proposition, but it is absolutely essential if you want to generate clicks and repeat views.
While the appropriate emotion can vary based on the subject matter of your video, you are far more likely to get an emotional response when you frame your content as a story. Research from the Harvard Business Review reveals that our brains release oxytocin when we hear great stories, which helps create a bonding experience between the listener and the storyteller—in this case, your brand.
Don’t just present cut-and-dried facts about your brand’s products or services. Use video to put these in the framework of a compelling and appealing story, and your audience will be far more likely to engage.
5. Teach something worthwhile
The video content that gets users to stop and pay attention tends to skew towards educating and informing users. In fact, MediaKix reports that product reviews and tutorials are the second- and third-most popular video categories on YouTube. Q&As, docuseries, and interviews also rank among the top 10.
This is especially valuable for brands, which are unlikely to be producing much content in other popular categories, such as vlogs, “reaction” videos, or challenges.
Content that is educational is seen as providing real value to social media users. When your video content provides useful information, they will come back for more of your content and you’ll establish yourself as a niche authority.
6. Adapt to the platform
Today, there are more avenues for your audience to consume social media video than ever before. While some platforms are similar, they each have their own distinct features and settings that videos need to adhere to.
Simply put, there is a big difference between a video that will be posted to TikTok and one that will go on your Facebook page. Even when you are targeting the same demographic, audiences are expecting different types of videos when they use each platform.
As part of your campaign strategy, consider how you can adapt similar pieces of content to better fit each platform. TikTok may not seem like the go-to place for an educational or informational video, but educational content has racked up billions of views on the platform. It comes down to adapting to fit the preferred format of the platform.
Clicks on your social media videos will boost revenue
While quality video production is an absolute must, what will ultimately make or break your video content is its ability to connect with your target audience. By following these tips for creating social media videos, including tailoring your content to the interests of your audience and adapting based on the different social media platforms that are available, you will drive clicks and revenue.
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