The world of video marketing can seem scary and many of us just don’t know where to start. The best place to start is with simple, short, low budget videos that can be shot and edited on a phone and shared on social media. Social media videos are a great way to dip your toe in the water of video marketing and test and refine your video strategy. Here are 12 ideas for social media video you could make.
1. Event specific gifs and videos
Twitter even has a handy calendar of upcoming events, both national holidays and more informal social media events such as ‘talk like a pirate day’. If you can create a quick GIF or video that ties in with these themes it’s a great way to create sharable content. Even creating videos that tie in with current trends or TV shows such as Stranger Things or GBBO is an easy way to get your content seen via the Twitter Trends section and encourage sharing and audience interaction.
The always hilarious and topical Buzzfeed made light of the Hilary Clinton health scare news with this quick Charlie and the Chocolate Factory edit….
Hillary walking back to the campaign trail like pic.twitter.com/yxAYjdd4z6
— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) September 15, 2016
2. Sneak peek videos
If you’re preparing for the launch of a new product or service why not create a short video with a sneak peek. This could be an extreme close up to give viewers a clue or even a ‘coming soon’ style trailer for the product. Even showing the packaging if it’s pretty can intrigue viewers and encourage clicks to find out more. This is a strategy employed by many of the ‘monthly subscription box’ providers, by showing a sneak peek of that month’s theme or designs viewers are encouraged to subscribe.
Beauty subscription box supplier Birchbox use lots of videos on their Instagram to give viewers a peek at the products they will receive in the next box. Not only does this get existing subscribers excited about the upcoming box but it encourages new subscribers to jump on the bandwagon too!
3. Behind the scenes videos
People love knowing who they’re buying from and companies that are good at showing their human side often use video as the medium to do so. Show office scenes, backstage at a conference or event you’ve been at, the office party, or fun staff challenges.
Virgin is a brand known for showing their fun side. This light-hearted Instagram video shows the Virgin team members doing a keepie-uppie challenge to celebrate Euro 2016, tying in nicely with idea 1.
4. Office tour videos
In a similar vein to above, why not show off your office? Perhaps you have had a redesign or have a great feature that your audience may find interesting. It’s a great way to tell your potential customers more about you without making them read a blog post or scroll through your website.
Facebook is known for often having cool offices so when they moved into their new Seattle office they just had to show viewers around with a video hosted on, where else, Facebook. They also used the post as a recruitment drive encouraging people to look for opportunities at their Seattle office (see idea 11).
5. The making of videos
Why not show the production line of your latest product or even a whiteboard animation demonstrating a problem and how your product or service solves it?
Ben and Jerry’s are known for their light-hearted, colourful social media channels and clever puns. In an Instagram video they took viewers behind the scenes to show how one of their new flavours was created.
6. Product descriptions / demonstration videos
People’s attention spans are at an all-time low, so instead of expecting them to read about how your product works and how amazing it is why not show them? With a short video explaining the key features, benefits or just how your product or service works you can be sure to grab your audiences attention as soon as they click.
Dollar Shave Club is one of the greats when it comes to hilarious video content that gets their brand messaging across, their viral first advert has inspired many other brands. On Facebook they have a ‘What the FAQ?’ series which takes common questions they get about their service and answers it in a short, funny video.
7. Video interviews with team members
Your team are your brand ambassadors so why not put them front and centre? Showcase them explaining more about your brand, or even sharing their knowledge to position you as a thought leader within the industry.
This is something that Buffer, the social media scheduling tool, do so well. Their Social Media Manager Brian is regularly featured in short videos that give handy hints and tips for social media management and marketing. By giving away knowledge for free they position themselves as reliable experts in the industry while also showing their human side. You know that if you need social media advice you can turn to Buffer which makes you more likely to use their service.
You don't have to be an expert to create great designs for social 🎨 These 3 factors (Color-Balance-Space) will help! pic.twitter.com/SeSK7gZpPS
— Buffer (@buffer) September 18, 2016
8. Brand story videos
Chances are you have some kind of video introduction to your company either on your website or for use in conferences, you could repackage this as a shorter more sharable video to put on your company Facebook page or Twitter. If you pin it to the top then it serves as a constant header to your social page which quickly tells the reader who you are and what your brand stands for.
Innocent the smoothie brand is known for its ethical stance with 10% of their profits going to charity. They sum this up nicely in a short, sharable video on their Facebook page.
9. How to videos
How to videos are some of the most popular type of content and now that it’s easy to make stop motion and time lapse videos with a few apps, you can teach your audience something new via video. This type of video content is ideal for recipes, crafts and DIY focused brands, however, even if you don’t fit into this category there is likely something important that your product or service helps people to do, so show them that.
Make up brand Rimmel uses photos to create quick videos showing how to use their products for the latest makeup trends, just search #tutorial on Instagram for lots of how to video inspiration.
10. Video testimonials
People are more likely to buy from you if they know that other customers have, why just tell them how much your customers love your product when you can show them?
Bare Minerals the make up brand have a series of ‘Skinsorials’ on their Facebook page. These are video testimonials of their customers raving about the products. Short and snappy they provide the perfect reassurance to a potential buyer.
11. Product / service tips and tricks video
Videos that give tips and tricks about how to use your product or service are a great way of adding another level to your product and really getting your audience to imagine having / using it.
Sainsbury’s Twitter feed is full of short animated videos with top food tips, designed to make sure viewers get the most out of their weekly shop.
Whatever you do, don't store them in the fridge… https://t.co/RVOBoDBLAh pic.twitter.com/z14na6uW8D
— Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) September 7, 2016
12. Recruitment video
Video recruitment announcements are a great way to show prospective employees a little more of who you are, allowing them to decide whether they’d be the right fit. It’s also a great way to give a lot of information about the role in an engaging way.
Fort Worth Police Department in Texas made this great Star Wars spoof recruitment video which quickly went viral on Facebook.
I’ve focused here just on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram but of course there are a multitude of social networks that you can share video content on. And of course providing it fits with the rules on length you can use your social videos on multiple channels.
