Building a business? Managing an established one? Running a non-profit? Simply curious? This is a guide to help you build a perfect video strategy!
Social Media is a wonderland. You are sure to find a majority of your target audience (and new potential target segments) hanging out here. After all Facebook has 2 billion users(it took less than 5 years for this number to double!). Word spreads really fast and far on social media. Your followers tell their friends which gets you more followers, increasing your reach to the right people.
Assuming you will not want to ignore a market of that size, the next question you should ask yourself: What kind of media should I use on social media? Numerous reports and surveys, like this visual interpretation of video statistics by Adelie Studios, will tell you that video is the way to go!
The 3 reasons to post on social media and their strategies:
1. Brand Building
If you’re not using videos on social media to build your brand, you are missing out. A lot.
Videos make your brand more human and more alive. Invest in videos to acquaint your audience with your values, visions and ultimately the core of your brand.
Here is a checklist for an ideal brand building strategy:
• Pick the right social media platform
There are too many platforms to keep a track of, and more spring up all the time. Not all of them are right for all brands. See what kinds of people hangout in the major social networks and dedicate your brand building efforts to the ones that are popular with your customers.
One of the most well-established rules of social branding is that you must be consistently active. Your brand’s social media feed must include a hefty chunk of videos about interests that your customers have but that are not merely promoting your brand.
To achieve this you have to list out topics that you should be covering, number of videos you will be creating for each topic and build a detailed timeline to plan out the entire strategy.
To make sure your audiences view your video, you need to know the right time to present it to them.
Avoid random posts that don’t connect to your overriding goal of building your brand. If you use colors, select the ones you will use in advance to make sure they harmonize with your brand logo and theme. Always use your logo and brand name the same way as you do with your branding message.
2. Advertising
Publishers experimenting with new ad formats to earn more revenue must consider video ads.
If you run an entertainment site or you notice that your revenue is shrinking for some reason, it’s time to give video ads a try.
Here is a checklist for an ideal advertising strategy:
• Pick the right ad network
A few factors that can help you influence your decision are Model (CPM, CPC, CPV etc), Video Availability, Payout, Payment Method, Reporting Method (Real-time, filtering, etc) and Minimum Traffic.
Keep video ads to no more than 15 seconds, if possible. Make a 15-second video and a 30-second video. A/B test them against each other to see which performs the best. Examine the viewing stats for each targeted audience, and use that information to settle on the most effective length.
Using larger fonts and graphics is critical. This is especially true on mobile devices where tiny graphics and text are almost illegible. Mobile videos should also be shorter than those running on desktop platforms.
Your sales team should share your marketing videos to close more deals faster. Videos are guaranteed to be more engaging than a static follow-up email. Video can shorten the sales cycle as it works well in post sales meetings and follow ups.
Video is great for capturing user-generated content, referrals and testimonials that build on the social proof that buyers consider during the decision making process.
3. Engagement
With increasing demand for high quality content target to a specific audience, it is advisable to use visual media for conveying a message.
You need to keep in mind that the viewer’s journey with you should be a joy-ride through which they learn something valuable.
Here is a checklist for an ideal engagement strategy:
• Determine a goal
What should your audience takeaway from your videos? What’s the value add of your content in particular? What does it help your audience do?
Create content that justifies the answers to these questions. Don’t create videos just because everyone is doing it, else you will end up confused and will soon run out of topics.
Write out your statement like this: “At (Company), we make (adjective) video content for (specify target audience), so that they (exactly what you want them to do).”
• Select the topics
First sort out the functions of the business that will be using video and whether the assets will be used internally, externally, or both. Find which stage of the funnel will your videos help.
Pulkit Jain 
