The demand for video content continues to grow – it is the number-one content search by social media users worldwide.
In a Covid-19 world, where everything is online, the demand for information, entertainment and services will continue to grow ... as will the demand for video content.
Think of how TikTok, the video-creation app, became so popular so quickly. Launched in 2016, it has more than 800-million users worldwide. Yet brands are only now starting to experiment with the app.
In South Africa alone, it is estimated that there are more than six million TikTok users, but according to statistics provided by Talkwalker, a global company that provides brand insights, less than 20% of brands in the country make use of the platform.
Statistics from Brandwatch, a leading social intelligence company, indicate that YouTube has more than 1.9-billion logged-in monthly users, and has become the second-biggest search engine after Google. Every minute, 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, while more than a billion hours of YouTube videos are watched every day.
In August this year – to compete with TikTok – Instagram introduced Reels, a feature that allows you to create and discover short videos on the app. It also allows you to add songs and augmented reality effects to your video, among other things, and is available in 50 countries (as of 5 August 2020).
Influencer Marketing Hub has revealed some interesting statistics on brands using the Reels feature:
- Luxury brand Louis Vuitton reports that all of its Reels have gone viral, averaging nearly seven million views each across the platform
- Make-up brand Sephora has been getting an average of 453 000 views on each of its Reels, which feature make-up tutorials, product demonstrations and user-generated content
- United States National Basketball Association franchises using Reels get 22% more engagement than on standard Instagram posts or Stories
Is this an audience you are prepared to ignore?
Here are some video-content options brands and content marketers who are thinking of including video in their marketing strategies should consider:
- Video ads, one of the quickest ways for consumers to discover your brand
- Social media videos, which can be used to tell your audience everything about a product, a product sale, your company, its culture and the people in the company
- Live-streaming of events
- Video emails – a video embedded in the email, not as an attachment
Tips for maximising your video content
- Focus on creating quality videos that appeal to your target market
- Be timely with your video content – if you are responding to a current issue, get your content out as quickly as possible. Leaving it for later will mean it may get lost among all the other content around the subject
- Ensure your video is formatted properly to work on desktop and mobile
- Video works well in short format (for example TikTok, where videos can only be a maximum of 60 seconds long) or long format (documentaries)
- Focus on viewer engagement, rather than the number of viewers
- Viewers spend 10 to 20 times longer watching live videos than pre-recorded videos, so find opportunities for live video
- Encourage engagement during live-streaming events by giving viewers the option to ask questions or leave comments on the video
- Make sure your videos are search-engine optimised by tagging and labelling them so they can be found easily
- Use your videos across your brand platforms – website, social media platforms, emails, etc.