It’s a New Year and with that comes new trends and tech so let’s chat about Video and TikTok!
Every New Year we talk about the importance of social media and digital marketing etc. etc… but you know all that. I thought I would take a slightly different approach and be a bit more specific about one topic – VIDEO.
Video is a daunting thought for even the most experienced marketing professional because it’s difficult to keep getting NEW video with NEW ideas and NEW visuals.
After you read this, you might want to check out our social media content ideas series which includes some video ideas.
According to Forbes.com Short videos are taking over social media feeds, especially on Reels and TikTok. This trend will only continue to grow as technology allows the average person to take some pretty great video with their smartphones and easily edit them with simple online apps.
Does this mean you need to run out and get yourself a TIKTOK account? No, it doesn’t. Here’s what you need to think about first:
- 60% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16-24. 26% are between the ages 25-44. 80% are between the ages 16-34 with 55% being women (do you see your target audience there?)
- If you’ve ever scrolled through TikTok, you’ll see the kind of videos being shared – can the content you wish to share fit there?
- According to statista.com, the United States is the biggest user base of TikTok with over 136 million users
- Canadian users were at 8.3 million in 2022 which is 1.1 million more than forecasted but not even in the top 20 of the world’s largest users
Is TikTok around for the long haul? Or, is it a short-term trend?
You’ve likely heard about US lawmakers wanting to ban this platform and suggestions that Canada should follow. I’ve been wrong about political decisions before so it’s anyone’s guess but clearly, there are efforts to make it a short-term trend in 2023.
Whatever happens or doesn’t happen with TikTok, VIDEO is here to stay and will only become more and more popular.
According to Sproutsocial, 25% of marketers say live video is the most valuable type of social content. Half of social media users prefer video over other types of content. 85% of social media users want more videos from brands.
Ever heard of the term ‘Evergreen’?
Evergreen content is search-optimized content that is continually relevant and stays “fresh” for readers over a long period of time – as the name implies. You may think that all online content is sustainable; after all, a blog post doesn’t just disappear after you publish it but you’d be incorrect.
For example, I’ve been writing articles for Lexabi since 2012 and there are some that are now ridiculously old and useless (For example, my article from 2014 about Google Plus – it was actually published in a few magazines in those days!! LMAO!)
I digress … here are two fairly easy strategies to incorporate video for even the most hesitant small business:
STRATEGY ONE –
Hire a professional Videographer … don’t let this scare you if your marketing budget is tight … we have an affordable recipe for you:
- Plan one or two 1-3 minute professional videos once or twice per year. Script them to be as ‘evergreen’ as possible (for example, don’t include dates or names of people that may not be there forever).
- Brainstorm and write down the primary/secondary goals of the video initiative plus have your budget figured out and then share that with your professional videographer.
- Sit down with your videographer and make sure they understand that you’re doing a longer video that you will want to break into smaller bite-sized videos for social media. They will have lots of ideas too.
- Consider if you want to use any of these bite-sized pieces for advertising purposes – that could change your strategy considerably off the top.
- Once you cut a video into pieces, it must still make sense to the viewer as a one-off … this can be tough to do but not impossible.
- Format the video to fit Reels/Stories/TikTok if that will be your primary use (1080×1920 with an aspect ratio of 9:16; vertical) – this is going to be different from the 1920×1080 sizing for YouTube so you’ll have to figure that into your plan.
- How long should a video be? According to Hootsuite:
- Instagram video length: 15 seconds
- Facebook: less than 1 minute
- TikTok video length: 7 – 15 seconds
- Twitter: 44 seconds
- YouTube video length: 2 minutes
- LinkedIn video length: max 30 seconds
- And for your website, I would suggest no more than 2 minutes
STRATEGY TWO –
Convert what you already have into Video and create ‘shorts’ as you go:
- Brainstorm and note what you would rather be video than static imagery and how many times per week you would like a video to be on Reels/Stories and/or TikTok.
- Consider peppering video into your current social media plan with short, and sometimes, stock video…. Even just twice per month can be enough to start
- If you’re posting regular posts once/day, pick a day you want a video/animated post for a story/reel/tiktok
- Lexabi Communications provides video content for social media and you might want to hire someone like us to do this for you (click here to get our pricing). Video isn’t rocket science but again, it does take a creative understanding and some technical knowledge.
- Take some ‘still’ photos and give them movement so they resemble video for social media.
- If you’re brand is okay with a bit of silliness, have an employee video someone simply laughing at work or fighting with the copier – this might seem irrelevant and silly but these are the kinds of things that can also go viral. You can do stuff like this right in Reels on IG too
There are strategies and creative solutions to get video into your social media feeds and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you want to try your hand at it, here are some apps we recommend:
- https://www.canva.com
- https://wave.video
- https://www.apple.com/ca/imovie
Whatever you decide to do, now is the time to start incorporating video into your digital marketing plan. I think it’s also important to note that YouTube is a powerful platform!
YouTube is the second largest searched platform in the world, just behind Google (it is a Google product after all).
Having a YouTube channel can be a great place to house your videos, which also makes them searchable and shareable.
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