The Ultimate Guide to Using Video on Social Media
Video is truly dominating all social media platforms and trends right now. But, it can be overwhelming not knowing how (or even where) to start. Here’s where this ultimate guide to video content on social media comes in – this list will provide you with the information you need to get started on successfully creating video content that is created with your target audience and platform in mind!
If you haven’t yet started incorporating video into your Instagram strategy, it’s time to start now! Here’s a full breakdown of each type of video on this platform.
- Reels: This is your best chance of “going viral” and growing your audience. If you’re going to spend time creating video content, I would highly suggest starting here! It’s 30 seconds max, but you can make a big impact with a short video.
- In-Feed: These videos are great for content that may be over 30 seconds (too long for a reel), but not long enough for an IGTV. They remain
- IGTV: Use IGTV for longer form video – you can post a maximum of 15 minutes from your phone and 60 minutes if you’re uploading from a computer! Once you publish an IGTV it can live in your feed + on a dedicated IGTV Page.
- Bonus tip: this is one of the only ways that you can get a “swipe up” without having 10,000 followers. If you add your IGTV to your story you can have your followers swipe up to watch the full video.
- IG Live: IG live is a great way to engage with your audience in real-time. Live is great because your followers will receive a notification when you go live and you will be at the very front of the story section. You can save your IG live to your stories, too so they can live on if the content is more evergreen.
TikTok
Videos are the only type of content that can be posted on the TikTok app. You may think that this app isn’t “for you” or your audience isn’t active there, but I would really challenge you to rethink your perspective.
As the app and it’s popularity grows, so will the range of audiences that are active on it. Plus, who doesn’t love the possibility of “going viral”?! TikTok’s algorithm is your absolute best chance for your content to be seen by a much wider audience than just your existing followers. Did you know TikTok has the highest social media engagement rates per post and was the most popular app downloaded globally in 2020?
Want a simple way to test the waters with the app? Start with implementing your own take on a popular trend!
YouTube
The OG video platform, YouTube, has always had a strong community of loyal users…but now they’re trying to keep up with other social platforms with their recent introduction of YouTube “shorts,” videos 15 seconds or less similar to TikTok or Reels.
One of my favorite things about YouTube is also their in-depth analytics reporting. It’s certainly worth while to see the growth of your account. Here’s everything you need to know about the different content:
- Standard: Everything you came to love about YouTube – these are just standard videos that can be published and live on your channel + put into different series if you want to categorize certain videos together.
- YouTube Live: Similar to other channels that use live platforms, YouTube live is a great tool for an event or virtual event that have become increasingly popular over the last year. A great thing about YouTube Lives is that all your subscribers will.
- YouTube Premieres: If you have a video that you want to ramp up and premier (like a music video, big announcement, etc.) you can schedule it to premier at a specific time. This has many benefits of a live stream (like the comments), but you can better control the content!
- YouTube Shorts: This is a brand new type of YouTube Video content! It’s also short-form (15 seconds or less) and the only type of YouTube content that is vertical versus horizontal.
While you may not consider this the “go-to” for video content, there are 8 billion average daily video views on the platform. Depending on your business, try repurposing content from your Instagram or LinkedIn and publishing it to Facebook.
- Standard: Use standard videos to post content like interviews, branding videos, etc. Be sure to include closed captions, as many viewers will be watching without audio.
- Live: Facebook live is no longer as popular as it once was, but it still serves a great purpose! One of my favorite ways to experience Facebook lives is within a private group. If you have a Facebook group, you can speak and interact directly with your audience and you’ll likely see a higher view rate (than just going live on your page). Here’s a tip for going live: create an event to let people know when you’re going live so they can plan to watch accordingly. Also make sure you save the video after so your followers can watch!
- Stories: Similar to Instagram stories, Facebook stories are less popular, but still useful to share information or content that only lasts for 24 hours. Use this for “behind the scenes” type content and to show your personality!
- Video Pins: Video pins are a newer addition to the Pinterest platform, and they’re especially great for fashion, food, and fitness to tell a more comprehensive story about your pin. Make sure your video does not need audio, as the viewer likely will not have it on while scrolling.
Video on LinkedIn is a great way to get noticed and position yourself as an industry leader because it’s really not frequently used. Publishing a video on LinkedIn is a great way to gain attention from your online colleagues.
- Embedded Videos: Use embedded videos to link to content that has been created in another platform, like YouTube! To post, all you have to do is drop the link into a normal post and it will embed into your feed!
- Native Videos: Use these for longer videos (up to 10 minutes) that you create on your own and upload natively to the app. Native videos are great for education, training, and providing valuable insight to your audience!
- LinkedIn Live: This is not available to all LinkedIn users, but I have a feeling it will be soon! If you have a large following and you (or your team) enjoys being on video I would highly suggest looking into this. The content will be much more polished than other platforms, so make sure you’re prepared with the equipment you need to film.
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Ready to dive into your video content strategy? Get in contact with 4M Marketing today!
