The Power of Video Advertising on Social Media
Video has taken the online marketing industry by storm and it’s not going to change anytime soon. It is now believed that over 2.5 billion people own a smartphone, a fully portable mini-computer in our pockets and as such, it is no surprise that video ads are increasing in popularity.
Advertising on social media enables you to reach potential customers when they are at their most receptive, they may be on their daily train commute and scrolling Instagram or simply relaxing at home on Facebook whilst watching the soaps, but one thing is for sure that their faces are often glued to their phones scrawling their favourite social media platform. According to the findings of a recent study by Google, YouTube mobile ads are 84% more likely to receive attention than TV adverts, with a shocking 55% of TV advertising time not being paid attention to due to switching channels, fast-forwarding or multitasking (i.e. playing with our phones). This only begs the question; why are companies continuing to incur the cost of TV advertising when online advertising is now ahead of the game?
When you decide to invest in video advertising on social media you need to think ahead, what you create needs to not only hold a viewers attention but entice them in the first few seconds. Product tutorials are a great way of pushing your brand forward while also showing viewers the services you offer. A few key things should be carefully considered before getting started:
1. Film Vertically – You need to remember whom you are targeting, if your video’s end place is social media then you need to optimize it for smartphone users. Consider filming vertically or export and crop a separate set of videos just for social media, this way you won’t frustrate potential viewers.
2. Don’t rely on sound – This will seem like a scary concept to many companies but most people do not watch videos with the sound on and according to numerous sources, as many as 85% of video content on Facebook is watched without sound. This is a difficult thing to accomplish but it is imperative your video communicates your message visually, subtitles are a great solution but you can’t just rely on them.
3. Bring forward your brand – Be careful how you do this, don’t be shy to introduce your brand straight away so social media users notice you. No matter how long your video is, you will be lucky to keep the watchers’ attention for longer than 10 seconds so it is imperative you don’t wait too long to let them know who you are.
Video can prove more powerful for business advertising than many comprehend. Whatever your marketing objective may be, video advertising should be at the forefront of your marketing campaign and not an afterthought.