How to Leverage Social Media to Share your Marketing Videos

In today's world of social media popularity, it's difficult for a business to promote their products or services without some sort of media presence. While text and image based advertisements are certainly useful in building a social media presence, one resource that should not be overlooked is that of video marketing. Video marketing can increase your visibility to your target audience and capture attention in ways static advertisement methods can't.

Why Video Marketing?

The use of videos on social media has been growing rapidly in the last few years. A few reasons for this include:

• Video posts reach a wider audience than any other type of post. People are more likely to watch and share a funny or engaging video than a block of text or an image.
• When watching a video, viewers are required to put less time and effort into perceiving and processing the information before them, which leads to a smoother and more instantaneous emotional connection. When a viewer feels emotionally stimulated, they are more likely to share the video and remember it later.
• The fact that a video takes more time and effort to produce than writing a block of text or posting a picture adds perceived value to your product or service.
• Videos allow you to present complex or complicated information in a way that is easier to understand. People are more willing to watch and listen to summarized information presented through graphics, visual aids, or even a person talking to them than they would be to read through a wall of text.

Here are some tips to best leverage social media to share your marketing videos:

Know your Audience

When using social media, it's important to know who your target audience is, and how to best reach them. Certain age groups are more likely to use different platforms. For example, those in an older age bracket are more likely to use Facebook than Twitter or Snapchat. Choosing the right platform to share your video will ensure it reaches the audience you need.

Know the Platforms

In addition to targeted age groups, various platforms are also useful for different types of videos. Facebook and YouTube are great for longer videos that go in-depth into what you are offering. Short videos are a great way to announce a new product or generate excitement for a longer video. Platforms such as Snapchat and Instagram are ideal for these shorter videos.

Know your Goals

Whether or not your video marketing strategy is successful will depend on how you define success for your business's particular goals. When it comes to social media, "going viral" is often considered the badge of successes. However, if your goal is to generate interest in a particular demographic, and your video receives 800 views from people in that target set, your video is a success!

Diversify: Tell a Story

Don't focus solely on salesmanship with every video you make. If people feel like they are constantly watching commercials they will lose interest quickly. Instead, diversify; post how-to videos, Q&A sessions, or cute sketches that showcase your product or service. Hector Simoudis, CEO of VP Legacies encourages clients to leverage video to engage with users and provide value, rather than constantly pushing for conversions. Some of the most successful social media video marketing campaigns are those that tell stories in an entertaining way. An example of this is the Puppyhood video series that was extremely popular on social media. It tells the story of a guy who gets a new puppy but isn't sure how to take care of her. At the end we see the product placement for the dog food brand that sponsored the video, but by that point the audience is so enamored with the story and the characters it no longer feels like a commercial.

Social media and video marketing can be invaluable tools for promoting your business. Make sure you're using social videos correctly so you don't miss out on these important marketing opportunities!