Is your social video content performance on the right track? Are you gaining more fans, more audience, more impressions, more engagement and reach? Video clips on social media can do all of that, if you leverage your short-form video assets in the right way.
Video has become the go-to content format for sports organizations, TV networks and brands on social media — with good reason — video drives more engagement and sales conversion than other types of content. And, along with social media itself, it goes where audiences go; in fact, one report found that over 80% of Millennials watch social video content mostly on mobile now.
A new WARC study has deemed video crucial for successful social campaigns. However, it’s critical to think about each social platform separately within your brand’s overall video strategy. They each have distinct audiences, with specific types of video and formats that most resonate with these potential consumers.
This best practice is a challenge for social media managers who are facing a core problem already: How do you keep up with the demands of posting quality content across platforms frequently and consistently enough to reach audiences and keep them engaged and growing there?
Community-led content
If this sounds familiar, now is the time to harness the community of people who know your brand the best: your employees, fans, ambassadors, partners, talent and more. These are the people that want to help create and share your video content for you, on the social platforms they’re spending time on.
Greenfly can help. Our community collaboration platform mobilizes these valuable, authentic and influential voices around you to help tell your brand stories their way, and amplify the stories on the social sites that matter to them—and to you. Give your community the opportunity to help you expand and strengthen your brand connections through the different types of videos they make and circulate to their own networks there.
As a guide, let’s take a look at the state of video on four major social media platforms today, along with examples of how brands have thought about community-led, platform-specific video content that connects.
Social Video on Facebook
Facebook has long recognized that its users have been gravitating toward video. It has responded in the past few years by increasing live and long-form video and storytelling opportunities for brands, with features such as Facebook Live, Facebook Watch and Facebook Stories. Despite algorithm changes impacting brands, curated video content still breaks through there. Facebook itself recently reinforced that it wants to be the place for communities to develop and connect around video.
NASCAR uses Greenfly to capture and curate video content from its top race car drivers and fans for Facebook. For example, the organization made a four-minute video using one fan’s contributed content from his experiences at the racetrack during a big race weekend this year.
Social Video on Instagram
The social platform that started as a place to share photos has continued to embrace its visual past while looking into the future. The company’s expansion into short-form and long-form video and the growth of Instagram Stories has helped to make it the fastest-growing social network, with one billion monthly active users now. It remains the social destination for building brand engagement through visual curated stories and images.
Fitness and nutrition company Beachbody uses Greenfly to request Instagram videos from its community of trainers, each with large and active Instagram followings. The company shares these short trainer videos and also packages them together for longer, cohesive Beachbody Instagram Stories and videos. This approach has helped Beachbody increase brand followers and reach, and provide further exposure for the trainers.
Social Video on Twitter
As the social platform of choice for real-time happenings and conversation, Twitter is still the place for brands to share breaking news and event videos. More than half of the company’s revenues come from video now, so expect to see a continued push in that direction.
Raycom Sports uses Greenfly to capture on-the-ground content during live sports events, including its annual event, The Basketball Tournament (TBT). The company targets Twitter for short, near real-time videos shot by staff and talent, including behind-the-scenes moments, event highlights and broadcast analyst commentary that keep engagement levels high during and between events.
Social Video on YouTube
The grand dame of social video remains the global platform of choice for people looking specifically for video—in all shapes and sizes. Five billion videos are watched daily on YouTube now, and entertaining and educational videos, along with vlogs are categories that tend to do well there for brands.
COPA90 started in 2012 as a YouTube channel focused on bringing to life the world of soccer fans and fan culture. In 2016, the company wanted to capture the fan experience across 24 markets at the UEFA European Championship, maximizing engagement around the matches. With Greenfly, COPA90 mobilized its passionate fan community to create and share daily content on YouTube that reached 21 million fans during that one, month-long initiative. COPA90 continues to harness its creator network for major events, including the FIFA 2018 World Cup.
As you’re developing your brand’s social video strategy, think about how you too can harness your community to expand content that connects on each platform. Start by asking and answering these core questions:
- Where do my community and audience intersect and congregate – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or another platform(s)?
- Why are they there – To catch up with friends, get the latest news, be entertained, learn something?
- What content are they looking for and making there – Stories, live clips, longer-form video?
- What are they doing after that – Sharing content, asking questions, following links?
- How can my brand make the most impact with video there – Feature shorter-form video, make it interactive, include a specific call to action?
Looking at your platform strategy not only holistically but specifically will put you on the fast track to social video content success.
Want to maximize your social video potential? Contact us at Greenfly.
