Video is rapidly taking over social media. It’s visual, it’s engaging, and it’s something consumers want to see more of. In Wyzowl’s report, 87% of people want to see more video content from brands during 2019.
The statistics for video marketing are overwhelmingly positive, and brands are carving out a great deal of room in their budget for it. However, these results are not guaranteed. It all depends on your strategy and where you place your videos for your audience to see.
Social media is a great way to push your video marketing. It can be difficult to distinguish which platforms you should be using, so let’s take a look at the top social media platforms for video content.
YouTube
I’m sure it doesn’t come as a surprise that the video social media platform is one of the top spots for video marketing. YouTube consistently comes in as one of the top 2 social media platforms for video marketing.
Why you should use it
YouTube almost exclusively made up of video content, and this is why video content from brands works so well on their platform. Here are some really good reasons why you should be putting your brand’s video content on YouTube:
· 1.5 billion users are logged in and coming to YouTube every month. (YouTube)
· Users spend over an hour a day watching YouTube on mobile. (YouTube)
· Over the last two years, the number of small- and medium-sized businesses advertising on YouTube has doubled. (YouTube)
· YouTube is the 2nd most-visited website in existence (Hootsuite)
· YouTube mobile ads receive viewer attention 83% of the time (Hootsuite)
How to use it
All YouTube ads are created through Google Ads. If you have experience with this tool, running YouTube ads should be fairly intuitive. If you’re new to the Google-scape, don’t sweat it. You’ll pick it up quickly after you go through Google’s quick tutorial on Google Ads.
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Facebook has been steadily improving its video streaming features, which is making them a serious contender against YouTube for video content. Marketers love using Facebook because you have the ability to target and reach a very specific audience.
Why you should use it
Facebook has been nipping at YouTube’s heels for a couple of years. Their video streaming has become very robust, and marketers are using it just as much, if not more, than YouTube. Here are some of the main reasons you should be putting your video content on Facebook:
· Facebook is the 3rd most-visited website in existence – just behind YouTube. (Hootsuite)
· People gaze 5 times longer at video content than at static content on Facebook. (Facebook)
· Facebook has 80 million small- and medium-sized business pages. (Hootsuite)
· Mobile-optimized Facebook videos lift brand awareness by 67%. (Hootsuite)
· 3 times more people were engaged when a brand name and message were presented within the first 10 seconds of a video ad. (Facebook)
How to use it
All of Facebook’s ads are created and managed through the Facebook Ads Manager. This tool is very robust, so you should expect a bit of a learning curve if you are just starting out. Thankfully, Facebook has pieced together some step by step learning for mastering Ads Manager.
Instagram is perfect for brands that are highly visual and creative. Their user engagement is higher than Facebook and Twitter, and it continues to grow. In June 2016, there were 500M active Instagram users. Just two years later, that number doubled to 1 Billion. This is a wonderful platform to use for short and engaging video content.
Why you should use it
Instagram’s users discover, follow, and engage with brands. Since the major algorithm update in 2016, users now log in and see the content they engage the most with first. User engagement for your brand is key, as this makes it more likely for your content to be seen first when your audience gets online.
Hootsuite also published some great reasons why your brand should be using Instagram:
· Instagram has 2 million monthly advertisers
· 80% of users follow at least 1 brand
· 60% of users discover brands on Instagram
· 75% of users take action when viewing ads on Instagram
How to use it
Instagram falls under the Facebook umbrella so all of your Instagram ads will be created and published via Facebook Ads Manager. If you’re already learning or using Ads Manager to create your Facebook ads, this should be very simple to learn.
While Instagram and Facebook ads are created and managed by the same tool, you should not create one ad for both platforms. Make sure you read the Best Practice for Instagram Video Ads before you get started on your campaign!
Native video is still relatively new to LinkedIn. Back in 2016, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn. Shortly after that, native video was introduced to the platform in 2017. If you were listening closely around that time, you could hear all LinkedIn marketers in the distance saying, “FINALLY!”
Granted, LinkedIn did still provide the option of sharing embedded video links. Not ideal, but it got the job done. Now, marketers have full video marketing capabilities on LinkedIn, and it’s taking off!
Why you should use it
LinkedIn is one of the best – if not the best – social media platform for B2B marketing. If you are a B2B marketer not on LinkedIn, the first step is to set up your page and start building leads and connections!
Since native video is fairly new to LinkedIn, the video noise-level is relatively low compared to other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. This gives you some time to publish video content on LinkedIn and begin fine-tuning your strategy to determine the best way to grow your ROI. Developing a solid strategy for video content on LinkedIn now can help you stay above the noise level in the future.
How to use it
Microsoft is out there competing with the top digital players, like Google and Facebook, so they wanted to create an ads tool that is competitive and user-friendly. The LinkedIn Marketing Solutions page will feel somewhat familiar to the marketers that use Facebook Ads Manager. LinkedIn ads have robust targeting features, as well as reporting functions that give you an extensive performance breakdown for your video content.
People on the go love Twitter. It's a quick and seamless feed of updates that keeps its users up to speed at any moment. The 280-character limit helps to keep the message simple and easy to digest.
Brands that are constantly mobile and providing live updates fit the Twitter mold. Food trucks are a great example of the prime Twitter business account. Followers tune in throughout the day to see when and where their favorite food truck will be parked, and it causes them to act fast.
Why you should use it
Videos boost engagement on Twitter. Tweets that contain video receive 10 times more engagement compared to tweets without.
Using video in your ad will also make your budget work harder for you. Promoted tweets with video save an average of 50% on the cost per engagement.
How to use it
Tailoring your video content to mobile parameters is a must when uploading to Twitter. An impressive 93% of Twitter videos are viewed on mobile devices. Customizing your videos on Twitter will add an element of personalization to your ads.
Twitter also operates on an Ads Manager. The tool is fairly user-friendly, and you can get started here.
Snapchat
Snapchat is used to share quick, fun, and engaging pictures and videos between users and brands. Brands can become discovered through several different ad types:
Snap Ads: drive users to your website, app, video, etc.
Collection Ads: showcase a product line
Story Ads: allow you to display multiple pieces of content
AR Lenses: which turns the selfie camera into an augmented reality experience
Filters: allow you to place an overlay on pictures and videos
Commercials: drive awareness with 6-second, non-skippable videos
Why you should use it
Snapchat is the best place to go if you have a Millennial target audience. 71 percent of Snapchat users are under the age of 34, and there are around 188 million active daily users.
Snapchat users generate 3 billion videos per day. With the platform's advanced targeting features, this makes it an ideal platform for brands with a large Millennial following. Brands can push out photo filters to their audience and generate buzz through UGC (user-generated content).
How to use it
Setting up a Snapchat business account is quite simple. After you have an account, check out Hootsuite's amazing guide on how to do business on Snapchat.
Closing Thoughts
Video marketing is rising quickly in all industries. With most of the top social media platforms introducing native and embedded video functions, it can be difficult to identify the social channels you should be using for your video content.
Although these are the top social platforms for video content, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more great options out there for your brand. Research and determine which platform(s) will work best for you. If you use multiple social media platforms for video content, remember the golden rule: refrain from blasting one message across all channels. Keeping your content unique for each social platform you use will keep your audience tuned in.
