How To Make Video Work For Your Business

One thing I am always working with my clients on is trying to get them to implement more video into their strategy. Why? Well, first, the numbers don’t lie:

Social media success comes down to engagement, right? It doesn’t matter how many followers you have if they aren’t engaging with your content. And people love video. While I can encourage and speak to clients about the benefits of using video, I sometimes struggle to get them over the hurdle of just doing it. I can create 95% of a client’s content from blogs, social posts, etc. But when it comes to video, they have to the ones taking center stage.

I am sure my clients aren’t the only ones who are hesitant to be on camera or unsure of how to best use video on social media. So I am going to share the why and the how to get you started on using video on social media for your business.

Why Video

• Video gets more engagement (likes, comments, shares) than any other type of content
• 90% of people say videos are helpful in making purchasing decisions
• Video in email increases clickthrough rates by over 200%

A Few Things To Keep In Mind

First and foremost, I want to give you a little pep talk and remind you of a few things:

1. We are our own worst critic—we stress over how we look, how our voice sounds, etc. You know who doesn’t care about that? Everyone watching your videos!
2. Own that you have something to offer—you are an authority in your space. Your followers have told you (by choosing to follow you) that they want to hear from you. Give them what they want.
3. You have influence—you may not have thousands of followers, but if you have even one follower, you have influence.
4. You have to start somewhere. JUST GET STARTED. It’s going to be messy to start. It is going to take longer than you wish to get it right. But the more you do this, the easier and ore natural it will feel.
5. It won’t last forever—you may watch your video roughly 1 million times after you post it, but no one else is doing that. Your followers are bombarded with content. While you want to stand out and be seen, remember that your presence in their feed is going to be short lived before they move on to the next thing.

How To Use Video For Your Business On Social Media

• Upload native content. That means posting the actual MP4 file to Facebook or Instagram, not the link to the Youtube video. Why? Native videos begin to play automatically as you scroll down your feed, while YouTube videos need to be manually played.
• Keep them short and value-driven. 60% of people stop watching after 2 minutes. The good news here? You don’t have to worry about filming super long videos.According to research done by Hubspot, here are the most recommended time frames for social media video to get the best results:
• • Instagram videos: 26 seconds
  • Facebook videos: 1 minute
  • YouTube videos: 2 minutes
• Use Stories. Stories can take some of the pressure off. All you have to commit to is 15 seconds. It only lives for 24 hours (unless you add it to a highlight), and users don’t expect (or want) a perfectly produced video.
• Be real, not perfect. Your followers want you and your content, they don’t need perfection. You don’t need fancy equipment or lighting. While lighting and sound quality is important, you don’t need to go crazy. Find a north facing window in a quiet spot, grab your phone, set it at a flattering angle, and hit record. As you build your video strategy, you can always add a ring light to your set up. But it isn’t needed to get started.
• Show your team and behind the scenes glimpses at your business. Let’s be honest, we are all voyeurs at heart. We want to see behind the curtain and what other peoples’ days are like. Show your team and your company culture. This type of content always gets the most engagement.
• Add calls to action. Ultimately, what do you want people to do? Buy something? Go to your website? Read your blog post? Sign up for your email list? Comment or share? Be sure to include that in your video.

What Should You Post?

Sounds good, but not sure what to post? Here are some video ideas to get you started:

• FAQs: what questions do you get all the time? Note them, and create videos answering each of these common questions. You can sit down and film all of these at once, but make them separate videos. That way your followers can watch the ones that resonate with them, plus it gives you more content to post.
• Employee bios: Film your staff answering a few questions. Mix in some lighthearted fun questions along with those relevant to your industry and business.
• Tips and tricks: Position yourself as a thought leader in your industry by sharing your knowledge.
• Repurpose content you’ve already created: Work smarter, not harder. If you wrote a blog post, leverage that content to create a video (or two or three). Your blog post content doesn’t have to only live on your blog. Highlight a few key takeaways in a video and encourage viewer to go to your blog for more.
• Go live: At an event? Hosting an event? Having a sale? Go live on Instagram or Facebook (LinkedIn has also started rolling out live video as well) to let people join you. You can also schedule live video Q&A sessions to engage live with your audience.
• Product how-to: If you have a product, show it in action.

Are you currently using video as part of your social media strategy? If not, what’s holding you back? 

Want to start or up your video game? Let’s strategize together.