By Tristen Johns
Short-form video content has taken the digital landscape by storm — and it’s not exclusive to teenagers doing complicated dances on TikTok. But despite its effectiveness, video posts remain an underutilized format on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — accounting for only 14%, 11%, and 5% of each network's content, respectively. Consistently outperforming static media in impressions and engagement, short-form videos are considered a vital piece of strategy to 93% of social media marketers.
So how exactly can organizations integrate more video into their social content mix to improve the stats — and relationships — that matter most?
1. Repurpose still images to create dynamic videos
Slow down, Spielberg — you don't need a lot of fancy equipment or editing software to create engaging video content. In fact, one simple way to incorporate more video into your strategy is to use still images that your brand already has to create dynamic videos. You’ll find plenty of tools available online that allow you to add music, text, and animation to your still images, creating a visually compelling video that will grab your audience's attention — we recommend Canva, as its UI is ideal for beginners and provides helpful templates to use as a starting point.
2. Create behind-the-scenes videos
Ignore the old idiom: People actually love to see how the sausage is made at their favorite brands and organizations! Creating behind-the-scenes videos can be a perfect way to humanize your company and build a stronger connection with your audience. This could include videos of your team working on a project, a tour of your office or remote workspace, or even a day-in-the-life video of your team members. Start recurring series to keep the momentum going!
3. Share customer testimonials and user-generated content
What if you enlisted the people who best understand your audience — your audience itself — to create content for you? Reposting testimonials and other user-generated content (UGC) is a powerful way to build community and allow potential new customers to see and hear firsthand how your product or service has helped others. It is generally considered best practice to personally reach out to the user and ask for permission to repost — most of your community members will be all in, as it gives their platforms exposure when you tag and showcase their content.
4. Create educational or how-to videos
Did you know that watching a video enables users to retain 95% of the message, while reading the same message in text only allows for 10% retention? You can chalk it up to short modern attention spans, but facts are facts. Whether you create a tutorial on how to use your product or a more general video on a topic related to your industry, educational content can be incredibly effective in driving engagement and building brand awareness. Keep your videos under a minute each — any longer and audiences are likely to skip right past once they see the run time before it even starts to get good.
As social media users (and platforms) embrace video, algorithms will only continue to prioritize this type of content. We know that videos are more time-consuming to create and difficult to keep up with the trends — so if your marketing team needs assistance when it comes to getting the biggest ROI from social media, contact us for a free discovery session. Let’s chat about how we can support your organization’s goals with a custom-tailored strategy that truly understands your brand and audience!
Tristen Johns is a community manager at WideFoc.us. They are passionate about the ever-changing dynamics of social media platforms and have an extensive background in visual content creation. When they aren’t content strategizing, they are generally reading, hanging out at a coffee shop, or both.
