5 August 2019
Seek Social’s general tips for YouTube, and social media videos
We continue our look at all things video this week, bringing you another batch of tips for YouTube. We’ve already covered setting up your channel and laying the groundwork for ad campaigns, but what about the videos themselves? Well, in this week’s post we’ll be bringing you our most important do’s and don’ts for social media videos. However, please note that unlike last week’s content – these are not specifically tips for YouTube… As long as you’re creating video, this week’s advice should help guide your social media content creation process across multiple platforms!
THE BAD:
We’ll start off on the ugly side of things and get it out of the way. So, here are our top four fatal failures committed by people new to the world of social media videos…
Get To The Point!
The data shows that the average view time for social media videos is just six seconds. That big long cinematic intro can’t be part of your social media content creation process any more… People aren’t impressed by them these days, and just want the information or entertainment they clicked your video for. So, the first of our tips for YouTube is that your social media videos should get to the point, and lead with their core message.
Know Your Audience’s Habits and Wants
Your social media videos will become more successful if you know your audience’s habits before you start your social media content creation process. So, use your analytics… Find out your audience’s tastes and behaviours, and then adjust your ideas for social media content to fit those tastes. In short, give the people what they want!
The data provided by your analytics tools will also tell you how your social media videos, and by association your ideas for social media content have been received. Does your audience like long-form videos with lots of in-depth discussion, or are they more into a ‘short sharp shock’ style? Do they want loud and eye-catching, or a calmer more reasoned approach? Adjust your social media content creation process and your ideas for social media content to match what your analytics data tells you, and you’ll reap the rewards!
The Power of ‘Buying In’
So far, the overarching theme of Seek Social’s tips for YouTube has been directness. Say what you have to say, in a way that your audience likes, and your social media videos will do well. However, you can’t underestimate the power of emotional investment too… Tugging on heartstrings and making your audience feel like they are part of something really can pay off big. So, make time to bake that into your social media content creation process. However, make sure you don’t stray from what your audience likes while you do it!
Jack of all Trades, Master of None
While video is the latest key ingredient in your marketing strategy, the simple fact that ‘I have video content on my page’ is not enough. You need to make sure your social media videos are focused too. If a video has too many goals that it’s trying to accomplish, it becomes a rambling mishmash of concepts. You also end up forcing people to watch content that they aren’t interested in because the part that they DO want to see is right at the end of your video. So, the next in our set of tips for YouTube is to keep things focused. No video should have more than 2 objectives (and if you do have 2, they should naturally go together well). If you have lots of different goals and ideas for social media content, that’s great… All the more opportunity to make more social media videos and hone your social media content creation skills!
THE GOOD:
Now that we’ve shown you what NOT to do, we’ll end our list of tips for YouTube on a high with a quartet of cracking concepts for social media videos…
Go Behind the Scenes…
This is one of our favourite ideas for social media content. You may have seen us using it before on Facebook and Twitter, and now social media videos through Facebook live. Giving current and prospective customers a look behind the curtain really can help them buy into your business like nothing else. As a result, videos like these need to be part of your arsenal when it comes to social media content creation.
Tell A Story…
Storytelling and the medium of video have gone hand in hand since video was invented! It’s a proven combination, and one you should be incorporating in your social media content creation process and the social media videos it creates. On top of that, telling your business’ compelling story will draw your audience in further… Helping you turn viewers into clients!
Go LIVE!
Having a plan and a process is great, don’t get us wrong. However, to keep your audience engaged with your social media videos you need to break away from the norm on occasion. Live video is great for this! Even if a live broadcast has a regular timeslot like ours, there’s always the chance something unexpected might happen. Your list of ideas for social media content should embrace that. The unexpected creates new and exciting talking points (and maybe a giggle or two as well). You could also combine this with another one of our tips for YouTube above to go live from behind the scenes…
Embrace Your Weird Side!
This is really about having your ideas for social media content turned into unforgettable social media videos. If something makes someone laugh hard enough, they’ll remember it. If it’s off the wall or out of the ordinary enough, they’ll remember it. You want your social media videos to be memorable so just like the unexpected, embrace your weird too!
