Each month, Firebelly Marketing presents an executive briefing presentation, to keep our clients and community up to date on social media happenings and industry trends.

So, what exactly is the case for video?

Video platforms are synonymous with high performance. Existing across platforms – such as TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram – is very focused on visual content. As per LinkedIn, social media posts with video are 5X more appealing than those with pictures.

The fast-growing video type is vertical short-form content. This specific type of video content accounts for 66% of the most engaging types of in-feed social content.

As our Chief Storytelling Officer Michael Husain said, “Social media storytelling isn’t linear. It’s a mosaic.” Video perfectly encapsulates these sentiments, providing viewers with a visual story centered around a brand’s offerings.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

“Over 78% of people watch online videos every week.”

Simply put, video just makes sense. Over 78% of people watch online videos every week. It’s a lot to navigate through; there are more than a billion videos viewed on TikTok everyday.

The audience also usually leans younger. Half of viewers aged 18-34 will stop what they are doing and watch a video from their favorite creator.

More than half of internet users view online videos every day. For those keeping track at home, there are 5.16 billion internet users worldwide, so half that number.

Video isn’t easy

According to Hubspot, lack of time to create an effective video or content strategy is the #1 video challenge for brands. In other words, brands are dealing with real challenges when attempting to incorporate their video strategy into their social media marketing strategy. Brands struggle with inadequate funds and resources, as well as a lack of an overall goal.

Video marketing strategy is similar to any other strategy. The prerequisites include identifying the right target audience, pinpointing purpose, creating timelines and budgets, choosing distribution channels, developing message, and deciding on how success will be tracked. Following these considerations, a brand must then most figure out how to effectively promote the content, create engaging visuals to attract attention in seconds, and how to keep the video short-form. It’s a tall task, but with a little brainstorming, it's achievable.

Which Platform To Use?

With so many social media platforms, it may be tricky to select which one to publish video. Regardless, video-sharing platforms are collectively in high demand.

YouTube

Front runner with two billion active monthly plays. It also has an impressive network and ad engine.

TikTok

Features imagination, innovation, discoverability, and social commerce testing. It’s forward-thinking.

Facebook

Leads the pack with the most active monthly users (2.9 billion).

Authentic Content Matters

“84% of online consumers find that marketing videos are responsible for convincing them to buy a product or service.”

— Amazon Report

Authenticity captures people’s attention and retains it. Viewers want to watch videos that feel genuine, not pushy sales pitches encouraging a purchase. Brand videos on social media should focus on people and mission, not the company as an entity. Because we are all human, these videos should be afraid to showcase a wart & all approach.

Authentic video stories can capture a consumer’s attention and trigger an emotional response. According to a report by Amazon, 84% of online consumers find that marketing videos are responsible for convincing them to buy a product or service.

Video content made easy

When producing a video for your brand, you can rely on a trio of different creators to make your content. They include content creators, influencers, and user-generated content.

Content Creators

Creators for hire. They are fully focused on creating high-quality visual content, rather than focusing on follower count. They are usually pro or semi-pro videographers. This guarantees that your brand video will look exceptional.

Influencers

Includes micro and macro options. These influencers are paid to create content and share to their own channel. Over 37% of people trust social media influencers.

UGC

The consumers that genuinely use the product. They aren’t affiliated with the brand and are unpaid. Around 80% of people trust the authentic nature of UGC when making purchasing decisions.

TikTok Video Continues To Rise

TikTok may have the most potential out of all the platforms. Last year, it was the first non-Facebook app to reach three billion global downloads. It’s also highly addicting; users open the app 38-55 times per day.

Because brands are focusing on short-form videos to increase brand awareness, they are putting more of an emphasis in sharing their content to TikTok. Both relatability and connectivity aided the video apps’ abrupt popularity. Brands and consumers are sharing a connection through less overtly edited videos across the platform.

The common mistake brands make

Most companies get social media video wrong, sticking to the traditional approach. Which means: stale and boring content that inexplicably requires a large budget. Unfortunately, millions of dollars don’t equate to millions of views.

Brands creating videos need to set clear, measurable, and attainable goals. Video content must be established to grab a client’s attention within the first five seconds or at first glance.

Here are further ideas to overcome difficulties in a brand video:

Engage in storytelling by brainstorming unique ideas
Tell your customers you acknowledge their problems and have the solution.
Vertical video is winning.
Use content creators to help you with content.

Watch the original Executive Briefing presentation here and receive the presentation completely free of cost. Watch now!

Executive Briefing Re-Cap: Dominate Video On Social