In 2017, video content will represented 74 percent of all internet traffic. Video has proven to be more than a fad that is here today and will be gone tomorrow. It’s here to stay. Content in video format continues to populate the internet sphere and moreover has been increasing in volume in social media sites.
This fact posts both an opportunity and a challenge for businesses. Opportunity because consumer behavior has confirmed that people want to consume video content. Challenge because it seems a whole lot of people are doing video already and we need to make our mark.
Making videos for social media is all about getting engagement. Unless we engage with people, our brand doesn’t connect. So how do we get our brand to connect to our target audience and our message into their systems? Here are five considerations to making videos for social media that engages your audience.
Know your audience
It’s hard to speak to people when you don’t know them. It’s just a law of relationships. People come to social media to be social and they are looking for people who understand and know them. Do you know your target audience? Do you know what they like, what they don’t like, where they are, why they do what they do, how they get to work, who they like to associate with and so on?
Have a simple and short storyline
Studies show that videos under five minutes in length make up 55 percent of total video consumption time on smartphones. People aren’t just looking for videos period. They are looking for short videos that won’t cut into their lunch break or meeting. In a fast-paced age, we need to be able to give videos that are short, sweet and simple.
Place subtitles on your video
Because of the autoplay feature on the Facebook newsfeed, 85 percent of videos on Facebook are watched without sound. So that means your video needs to have subtitles or any form of relaying your message without audio.
Have a consistent and distinguishable personality
Again, people who come to social media are not looking for impersonal companies to sell them chocolates or toothpaste. They come to social media to interact with people and brands. Thus personality is something that they want to see in your video content. Does your content breathe a certain character? Moreover, people don’t want to see a bipolar brand that’s dark one day and happy the next. Consistency is key to building a personality people want to engage with on social media.
Have a call to action
At the end of the day engagement calls for action. You aren’t engaging unless people are responding to your message. Many times people don’t know how and in what way they are to engage with you so it’s important to make it easy for them and give one easy and clear call to action for them to make.
