For a majority of modern consumers, a business without a strong online presence doesn’t even exist, or may be deemed untrustworthy. Buyers are now spending more and more time online and are adjusting their spending habits accordingly. According to a Nielsen consumer report, dollar sales in the U.S. for the year are up 1.4%, with online growth being the driving force (0.1% brick and mortar vs 21.1% online).
Digital video content is influencing the way buyers perceive a brand, product or even local businesses. But how do you get your content out there to an audience? The biggest way to do so is through social media, but with so many places to upload and share content nowadays, it can be hard to know where to start. According to Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers are currently participating in social media—but 85% of participants aren’t sure what social media tools are the best to use. In our case, we focus on the three main social media platforms and how they handle digital video content.
If anything, YouTube is the first place to start and launch your digital content, even if it is just a couple of videos. Now in 2017, approximately 1.5 billion logged-in users are visiting the site every month. The distinction is important as there are undoubtedly still plenty of viewers who aren’t necessarily using Google Accounts to browse the site. YouTube allows for unlimited uploading. When you’re uploading your video, there are quite a few ways to make sure your video will make the greatest impact it can. Having an eye-catching thumbnail is very important. You can use an attractive still frame from the video, or make a new graphic with colours that will pop from the YouTube interface. In addition, including searchable keywords in your tags, descriptions and title will also improve your videos chance of being seen by viewers. Lastly, YouTube has a feature that allows you to annotate to other videos or a subscribe button to entice viewers to check out more of your content.
Facebook, like YouTube, makes it very easy to create a new video or upload an existing video, and Facebook’s video system allows for a more organic reach in the news feed. It has an autoplay feature that will begin playing your video without the viewer having to click on it. It also allows you to add captions so people can read the content without having to play the audio at first, meaning that videos are more eye-catching than a regular post. If you have plans to create media specifically for platforms like Facebook, making the video entertaining and/or inspirational will get new audiences to share it with friends.
Another easy and effective way to get your video out there is through Twitter. Twitter allows you to record separate scenes and edit the footage with a maximum of 30 seconds. After the easy-to-use upload process, it’s time to add a caption and hashtags that will be easy to search for. Relating the video and hashtags to a trending topic is very helpful for getting it seen. Twitter has a video response feature that helps to connect with your following.
So, which social media platform is best for digital video? in most cases the best option is to start with YouTube and then, depending on your audience and target market, expand to other social media platforms. Buyers who exclusively use one platform will help expand your viewership and will allow easy access to your brand. With the sheer amount of content on the internet nowadays, it may seem impossible to be noticed, but equipped with this knowledge and the right strategy, it can be made a lot easier!