Useful tips when using video in your social media marketing strategy
Videos are an ever increasing popular way of advertising products and services on social media platforms. In these media rich times it is becoming difficult to grab potential customers with just a catchy headline and some beautiful imagery alone.
You only have a brief moment to stop someone from scrolling past your ad as it appears on their screen. You need to understand how to stop your advert blending into the background of their social media feeds and grab their attention, encourage them to watch the video and finally close with a call to action.
Use the thumbnail to grab their attention
With the speed consumers scroll through their social media feeds, you have to do something that grabs their attention to get them to stop on your video. Using thumbnails that have a question on them or a banner a statement work well as well as an out of the ordinary picture can get people’s thumbs to stop scrolling.
Understand why people are watching
When someone clicks to watch your video content, you don’t have long, as little as 10 seconds to not only grab their attention but show them that the video is of interest for them specifically. That’s pretty difficult, considering the number of distractions and competition on social media platforms nowadays. When creating a video, it’s important that you understand your audience’s goal. Why are they watching your video in the first place?
Deliver value
Grabbing and holding an audience’s attention long enough to state your value in how your product or service can help ‘them’ is paramount. This is especially so in video. Videos already have the benefit of being highly engaging as we are very visual creatures to begin with. So, how can you hold their attention once you have it?
Deliver value and always use subtitles. If you can give actionable advice that can be implemented themselves and it works, then they will trust you. Always deliver as much value as possible to gain credibility and trust.
Close with a Call To Action
Always include next steps in your video. Don’t just leave the consumer hanging. If there is a button or link in the ad, have them click it to learn more. If your content is engaging enough and delivered enough value, they will take action.
Don’t be afraid to try off the wall the tactics to grab attention or go to town with the value you provide. Make it memorable and remember you need consumers to trust you before you can ask them to do anything.
