Promoting social media videos means that you have give something that your audience can learn from, preferably something that relates to your product. Basically an educational video that directs viewers towards your conversion funnel.
When you achieve that, you can call your video a success and improve from there. However, there’s a rule of thumb: don’t share blindly.
Now, let’s get to the main reason you’re here.
Social Media Videos: The Promotional Tips
Building followers on social media isn’t an easy task, especially when it comes to video content. There are few things that you could do to amplify your video’s reach on social media.
#1. Make sure your video is shareable from the start.
You’re sharing a video to social media, not to a news site. You don’t have to get every little detail out.
With that in mind, your social video should be as short as possible with a minimum compromise on the amount of content. In other words, it has to be compact.
As for the content of your video, a great way to make a shareable video is by listening to your social media followers first. Find out what kind of videos they have been sharing and analyze whether you can use that particular topic or not.
#2. Don’t sell stuff. Tell stories.
The great thing about telling stories to sell your product is that you have a chance to evoke certain emotions in your audience.
Establishing the plot, the setting, and the hero of your video makes your video more enjoyable (or emotional) to watch, and thus more shareable.
This video from Chocolate Rescue is an emotional piece, particularly for dog owners. And guess what? It’s been viewed over 300,000 times and has been shared nearly 10,000 times.
#3. Involve viewers in the story.
Viewers are more likely to share campaigns in which they feel involved. Now, all you have to do is shape your story using “the hero’s journey.”
This formula has been around since… forever. Almost all top-grossing movies use this type of storyline (think Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Transformers, etc).
All you have to do is shape your story around your audience as the hero.
Yes, that’s right. Your audience is the hero. You might have thought that you’re the one selling something, so you should be the hero.
But if you set it up that way, your audience won’t feel involved–and the chance of them passing along your video drops.
#4. Keep it short.
Wistia conducted a study that put to test the phrase “shorter is better.” They used two videos with the same content. One is 90 seconds long and the other is 30 seconds long.
Here’s what they found:
“Even though viewers were exposed to the same exact content, the drop-off rate of the 90-second video was much higher. By the end of the 30-second video there were about double the number of viewers than at the same point in the 90-second video.”
I recommend that you keep your video under 60 seconds. Here’s why:
We conducted research on how shorter and longer videos differ in retaining audiences. We used our YouTube channel with 600+ videos and 600,000+ views. Here’s the result:
The graphs shows that a video has the best audience retention when it’s under 60 seconds.
Besides, you will have to be careful with length when it comes to social video anyway. Most social media platforms have restrictions on video length and size.
#5. Launch the video like a rocket.
It’s important that you have carefully planned how you’re going to get your video into the social media realm. It’s like any marketing campaign: The most important part is how it starts.
Learn more on: video marketing checklist.
Think of it as launching a rocket to space. It has to use massive thrust power before it can penetrate the atmosphere and float around smoothly.
Even though you have designed your video to be shareable from the start, it’s still your responsibility to start the initial buzz. You have to hit hard with every channel you have at your disposal. You should even consider using paid ads for this part.
In addition to that, reach out to influencers about your video. If your video is good enough (and if you’re lucky enough), you’ll get a huge amplification of reach.
Once you strike the match, it’s much easier to make a wildfire. Your campaign will grow faster and steadier.
This outreach method helped us get our first 100,000 views on YouTube with our self-made Pinterest video here:
Are you ready to make your first social video? Make sure you check out Breadnbeyond’s video distribution strategy for better engagement in social media
