How to optimize your product videos for social media
As individuals, we use our social media profiles to showcase who we are, either to network, generate likes, or connect with like-minded people. Similarly, brands can use social media to generate site traffic and drive conversions. What profile pictures, posts, and Stories are to our private profiles, product videos and images are to social business profiles and webshops. With product videos and images being the content that customers interact with the most, it is important to differentiate your content for different channels and which customer journey stage your audience is in.
FACEBOOK - Why you should post video content on Facebook
Facebook is the mother of all social networks. With more than 2.3 billion monthly active users it’s the biggest and most well-known social platform. Those billions of users watch close to three billion hours of video every day, which makes video content the preferred medium on the app. Don't try to reach everyone, but the relevant audience. You can take advantage of the platform’s smart targeting functions, making sure that the right audience sees your content. Again, it’s important to have your optimal buyer persona defined beforehand, so you can tailor your content towards your audience’s interests and needs.
Video is the safest bet when it comes to telling a story on Facebook. The platform’s algorithm favors both live video and longer videos in a user’s newsfeed, which makes your video content available to a broader audience. You might want to consider making use of Facebook Live for your product videos, as this type of video is watched three times longer than standard videos. Facebook is an amazing platform to provide content for customers in the consideration or purchasing phase of the customer journey.
One channel, multiple options - the different video formats on Facebook
There are various ways of incorporating product videos into your Facebook marketing strategy, making it a 5-in-1-channel. You can promote your brand via Facebook Ads, highlight new content in Stories or Live, make an organic video post about your latest arrivals, and use product videos to sell them in your Facebook Shop.
Whether you want to create an interesting ad or a relevant organic post for your feed - your main goal is to grab the attention of your audience when scrolling through the app. Depending on which type of content you want to release, make sure to use the right aspect ratio for your product videos. As most users are checking social media from their mobile devices, think about how you can appeal to your audience using smaller screens.
The traditional landscape video format (16:9) will appear rather small on your audience’s screen. Yes, it’s possible to tilt the screen to see your post or ad on full screen (9:16), but we are creatures of convenience after all - especially when it comes to social media usage.
For organic posts, we recommend using the 4:5 format. With that, you are able to grab attention the easiest, as around 50% of the screen will be filled with your content. For paid ads, using 1:1 squared content is optimal. Ads are played out on several channels within Facebook and Instagram. Therefore, the squared format is the most universal one to optimally advertise on all channels and devices.
The next step in optimizing your video content for Facebook is to find the perfect resolution. Uploading a high-quality 4K video might sound like the right thing to do to blow your audience away but there is one thing missing in this equation: bandwidth.
Facebook anticipates its users to watch video content mostly from their mobile devices. When on the go, users don’t want to spend all their data on watching videos on a small screen with a mobile connection. To ensure fast loading times, Facebook compresses your video significantly. Don’t spend too much time on pixels, but go for a maximum of 1200 x 1200 screen resolution and optimize your videos for engagement and conversion.
5 Facebook video hacks
#1 - Design for mobile
The majority of users check Facebook on their mobile devices on the go. Therefore, design your videos for mobile by adapting aspect ratio and resolution. Also, take into account that most users scroll through the app without turning on the sound, so consider using subtitles if necessary.
#2 - Keep it short
Using product videos of up to 15 seconds in length has shown to be beneficial for conversion. As users scroll through their feed quickly it’s essential they notice your content within the first three seconds!
#3 - Bombard at scale
To stand out in a jungle of content and to create awareness for your business on Facebook, your product videos have to appear in users’ feeds over and over again. Make sure to create enough content to post on a regular basis.
#4 - Consider fixed elements
Facebook has its own video user interface elements (e.g. a play button in the middle of the viewer field), you should take into consideration when placing your logo or important text on your product videos.
#5 - Communicate a clear CTA
Make sure that users understand what you’d like them to do after watching your product video. Create a meaningful and engaging caption and add a clear call to action like “shop our new collection” or “learn more about this feature”.
INSTAGRAM - Why you should post video content on Instagram
With over one billion monthly users Instagram is the second biggest social media platform out there. To optimally customize your video content to your buyer persona, use your existing demographics data, and engage with your audience by using different Instagram tools. You can make use of Instagram polls to understand which type of content your target audience would like to see. Also, applying location tagging and using the right hashtags helps to reach the right users.
If you want to go one step further to create brand awareness amongst a specific target group, consider collaborating with authentic influencers that are relevant for your industry or branch.
Over 500 million people watch Stories every day. For you as a brand, this is a big opportunity to showcase your video content to a broad audience. On top of that, users aren’t fatigued by brand presence as 90% follow at least one business account on the app.
Instagram is mostly used to discover new products and services or to browse through those already of interest, which makes it a great app to use for the awareness or consideration stage of the customer journey.
5 Instagram video hacks
#1 - The less branded your content looks, the better it performs
If your content looks like it’s user-generated, it will perform better. Make sure your product videos don’t look too branded and consider leveraging user-generated content to promote your products. The authenticity related to posting UGC will most likely help you convert a lot better.
#2 - Be creative and bring value to your audience
Instagram is a highly visual platform, so channel your creativity when creating product videos for this app. Try to entertain and bring value to your audience by creating appealing content that also educates the users.
#3 - Create posts that fit your feed
Maintain the same aesthetic for your posts - be it for shopping posts or general video content. Try to keep your feed balanced and don’t overwhelm your audience with commercial posts.
#4 - Use your campaign videos to create lookbooks
You can use up to ten videos or images in a carousel post and tag up to 20 products in it. Use those posts to present a new campaign or a lookbook and inspire your audience.
#5 - Use descriptive hashtags for general and shopping posts
Handle your shopping posts just as you’d handle your general videos. Use descriptive hashtags that appeal to your target audience. This will create brand awareness and will help similar target groups to discover you on Instagram’s Explore page.
TIKTOK - Why you should post video content on TikTok
If you’re trying to appeal to a younger audience, advertising on TikTok is a great opportunity. Around half of its users are between 18 and 24 years old and with around 800 million monthly active users, TikTok is predicted to grow even further in the next years.
With its less polished, candid, and authentic content, often taken in people’s homes, TikTok is the opposite of the highly curated and beautifully arranged world of Instagram.
TikTok is all about videos: with its five to 60 seconds long clips you can see it like the snack-sized version of YouTube. Its instant success can be attributed to the unique algorithm making it easy to go viral without having many followers.
Brands can use TikTok to create brand awareness through shoppable content, in-feed ads, or brand takeovers that appear on the “For You” page (similar to Instagram’s Explore page).
The popular app is a great marketing tool and all about creativity, authenticity, and fun - also for brands.
The different video formats on TikTok
There are three different formats on TikTok to utilize as a brand. TikTok Live is similar to going live on Instagram. However, you’ll need at least 1000 followers to stream and interact with users in real-time. Try to come up with a plan for your live stream beforehand, so that you actually bring value to your audience.
With TikTok ads, you can target your audience, for example, by gender, location, age, or interests. There are three different kinds of ads on TikTok. Firstly, in-feed ads that appear in your audience’s feed as native content. They are great to quickly drive likes and comments. Secondly, with full-page ads or brand takeovers, users will see either an image or a five-second GIF appear when opening the app. Those ads usually include a clickable link or are related to a hashtag challenge on the app. With full-page ads, only one brand can appear per day for each type of audience. Thirdly, sponsored hashtag challenges are a fun and easy way for brands to collaborate and seamlessly integrate with their TikTok community. They usually include trending songs and act as prompts for users to recreate dance moves, create awareness, or come up with their own variation on a certain topic.
5 TikTok video hacks
#1 - Be smart with your hashtags
Help users to find what they’re looking for by using simple and quite general hashtags (unlike on Instagram). You can also create your own brand-related hashtags or use them for hashtag challenges. Those challenges are a great way to create brand awareness and a collective movement with the users. On top of that, you can leverage the user-generated content to target new audiences by showing how passionate other users are about your brand.
#2 - Make use of simple captions
Captions are shown on the bottom of the screen on your videos. Keep them short and simple but make them personable and relevant. Try to use your captions to enrich your storytelling.
#3 - Understand the TikTok algorithm
The algorithm on TikTok works very differently compared to the one on Instagram. Once you reach a hundred likes on your video, it will get pushed more and more, so that content can easily go viral. You don’t need to have a huge following. Therefore, it’s important not to delete old content as it can still receive likes and go viral, for example, if you used audio (songs, voiceovers, etc.) that is now trending.
#4 - Use trending audio
Speaking of audio - if you pick audio to go with your video, try to pick trending songs or voiceovers to get featured on the “For You” page and potentially go viral. Trends happen quickly on TikTok, so be fast to gain traction. However, don’t be afraid to use your own audio and voiceover to stand out and give your brand an authentic touch.
#5 - Be creative and have fun!
First and foremost, you should enjoy using the app. Play with transitions, features, trends, different editing, and hashtags. Experiment with your posting frequency and see what works best for you and your target audience.
Takeaways
TikTok is all about entertainment. Here you see real people and unpolished moments. To adapt to this style, make sure to keep your product videos playful and authentic without branding them too much. Go for an experimental approach and see what works for you.
On Facebook, almost everything is possible. From connecting with friends and family over news updates to online shopping. As a brand, you can adapt to Facebook by sharing videos that are tailored to the interests and needs of your buyer personas. Try to educate them and keep them entertained. Many users check business profiles of companies before checking their actual website - thus, make sure to come across as a professional and trustworthy brand here. The style of your videos should, therefore, be rather curated and polished.
As a mainly visual platform, the product videos on your Instagram profile should be visually appealing and curated to match your feed. Most users turn to Instagram for shopping inspiration, so make sure that your videos sell your products well.