7 Steps to Successful Social Media Video Marketing

As digital marketing continuously evolves, video content has become a powerful tool to attract target audiences. Projections show that digital video consumption will surpass TV viewing time by 2026. These trends signal the need for marketers to create their video marketing strategy on social media. Luckily, we’re not limited to TV-style ads anymore, and there are several uses of video in social media marketing. Below are seven foolproof steps for creating a successful social media video marketing strategy.   

1. Determine your goals

The initial step in any new marketing strategy is goal-setting. Ask yourself what you want your video content to accomplish. Start with a few SMART goals to avoid being overwhelmed during the early stage of your journey. An example of a video marketing strategy would be building brand awareness.  

Video content marketing can support five social goals. 

• Awareness. Social media video marketing is an excellent medium to reach new customers and introduce your business or organization.
• Consideration. Video content generates demand with tutorials and other how-to videos. 
• Decision. It also drives conversion by telling real customers stories through video.
• Adoption. It helps leverage video content to keep your customer engaged and satisfied.
• Advocacy. Social media video marketing inspires evangelism and embraces customer advocacy.

2. Choose the Right Platforms 

Image Source: Sprout Social 

Based on Sprout Social Index, Facebook, Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok are the top platforms consumers and brands anticipate using the most over the next year. Undoubtedly, TikTok helped popularize the love of short-form video. Similarly, it has become one of the internet’s favorite apps because of it.

For example, if your audience is primarily young adults, platforms like TikTok and Instagram may be more suitable, while LinkedIn may be better suited for a professional audience.

Choosing the right platforms for your social media video marketing strategy ensures your content reaches your target audience and achieves your goals. Remember, you don’t have to be on every social media platform. Focus on the platforms that are most relevant to your audience and where you can create the most engaging and compelling video content

3. Choose the Video Types

After deciding on the right platform, you should formulate a content strategy that aligns with your goals and stands tailored to your target audience. Consider the video type, length, and tone. Here are the different types of social media videos to get you started. Educational videos

• Explainer videos
• Behind-the-scenes videos 
• Entertaining videos
• Testimonials 
• Product demos 
• Narrative videos

For an in-depth discussion on video type, please read our blog about different marketing videos for business. 

4. Plan your Content

At this point, evaluate your content and post-production options. Tapping a third-party production company or an agency will alleviate much of the stress. They’ll handle all the planning and approvals. It would help if you guided them to deliver the best-desired result. 

A good content plan will save you time and money. Whether you plan with a spreadsheet or traditional pen and paper, you must establish how to create and film videos. It would be best to consider some things when producing social media video marketing”.

• Identify needed equipment and props
• Write a script
• Edit the script
• Prepare the storyboard
• Plan the shoot for optimal filming
• Gather and nurture talents to appear in the video
• Identify the place(s) you’ll film and consider natural daylight for a good timing
• Learn where to send the footage to be edited
• Determine who will do the approval sign-offs for each step.

5. Understand post-production details

Allow ample post-production time, primarily if your videos’ purpose is for ads or have heavier editing needs. Post-production means more than just cutting scenes and combining them with music. It also includes closed captions, text overlays, call-to-action screens, etc. The time you need depends on your film’s length and how elaborate your video is. 

Some videos will only need light edits post-production. For instance, when you host a Facebook Live, the video is published immediately. In this situation, you can edit the caption and title but only a few parts of the video. 

Likewise, uploaded videos will go through the post-production process. For example, you can add tags and multiple languages, closed captions, detailed captions, and more on YouTube.

Know your personal or business objects before you start: formal, polished YouTube videos require much more work than a primary live stream. Since YouTube is a video platform, you must optimize your visuals and words to stand out.

6. Promote the videos

Now that you have the polished video, it’s time to schedule and promote it. Some management platforms offer publishing options for videos. Promote your videos across your social media channels, using relevant hashtags, tagging influencers, and leveraging paid advertising to increase reach.

Don’t think posting videos on social media is a one-time task. A produced video could be uploaded to several networks over a month-long period, depending on your social schedule.

7. Analyze your results

The final step in any strategy is the most important: analyzing it. Analyze your results regularly to determine what’s working and what’s not. Use this information to adjust your content strategy and refine your approach. 

Each platform has built-in analytics to tell you how your video content performed in a certain period. The metrics you use to analyze performance should match the goals you set. If you wanted brand awareness for a video, the matching metric might be impressions or video views.

Final Thoughts

There you have it! A practical guide to creating your social media video marketing strategy. We hope these insights inspire your brand to plan your next set of videos. You can hire some experts to develop excellent social media. But if you plan to do it yourself, this handy guide will help you create compelling video content for your social media marketing projects.