Creating a video content strategy for social media may seem like a bit of an overwhelming task, and a lot of businesses give up at this point. But just like a business itself the strategy isn’t simply “created” overnight it’s grown over time.
Here are the top 6 tips from YourFilm to help get you going.
There is little long term benefit thinking in terms of “a video” anymore. Video is now the way businesses and their customers talk to each other. Your ability to communicate in this format is now a measure of your business’ basic literacy in an increasingly visual marketplace. At YourFilm we think in terms of “Videoness”. Don’t think of your next video product, think about your next video format. Social media by it’s very nature is fast moving and responsive, so your video content needs to be too. It’s the language your target demographic speaks.
Don’t make videos, create systems that make videos. We’re not talking about “sausage factories” here, but we are talking infrastructure. You have systems and processes for every other aspect of your business and your video content strategy should be no different. Any successful business realises that the right systems and process facilitate creativity and productivity. What does that mean for production? It means Creating multiple categories of video, each with their own production template and style so you have somewhere for your great idea to go without having to re-invent the wheel each time. You may have categories such as; Product Demo, Customer Testimonial, Statistics or Market Updates. Under each of these is a list of topics or quotes that can be turned into video. Once you have that it’s far more efficient and cost effective to set up the production processes once, then keep pumping new content through when inspiration strikes. Good video infrastructure doesn’t stifle your creative output - it enables it.
1 video, 1 topic. Keep your message short & sweet. All you want is a quick sound-bite, one thing for the viewer to remember. Anything else is over-complicating things. Videos for social media don’t need to be any longer than 30 seconds - less if you can get away with it! Depending on your message, you can sometimes push it to 60 seconds, but research shows that generally most people have clicked off after 30 seconds. This business gets it.
How-To videos are massively popular. Good thing you already know “how-to”! So what better way to start than to share your knowledge with your audience. People use How To videos to make buying decisions so it’s a good way to really make an impact. Demonstrate a particular feature of your product, show it being used in the real-world by real people, are there any hacks or tips for using it? These are also a wonderful chance to be yourself. To get your brand personality in there. To bring your service to life.
Build a library of your own stock footage as you go. We call this “video equity”. Footage compounds like interest. Keep it handy and keep it organized. Capture shots using your phone, if you have a professional camera operator for a shoot have them capture some extra b-roll. Over time, you’ll have a library of footage on hand to repurpose & re-edit when you need it. In 12 months you’ll be that much further ahead of the competition not just in terms of the amount of videos you have under your belt, but in the richness and variety of your content that you can draw from on demand.
Use a scheduling platform (like Buffer). once you’ve got your system built and your library of content being created, it’s very easy to schedule posts weekly, monthly or whatever works for you. Think of the scheduled posts as a foundation, you can throw in anything else over the top - clips from an event, images, current articles of interest…but if that doesn’t happen, you’ve still got your scheduled content going out consistently to keep you front of mind.
If you want more information about creating the video production processes to power your content strategy, get in touch with the team at YourFilm - we’re happy to help!