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Social Media is the way of the future. Over the last 15 years, we've seen the rise and fall of Myspace, the emergence of Facebook with its billions of followers, and the subsequent developments of Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. For the video production industry, this means that video content now needs to be able to fit into social media specifications and be able to attract the right audience.
When we create content for clients, we consider the following questions:
What do we want to achieve with a certain post?
What kind of wow factor can we provide?
STOP ME
Stop the viewer in their tracks as they scroll down their newsfeed with something that captures their attention with the first frame and keeps them engaged.
Animals are engaging!
MAKE IT EASIER FOR ME
65% of viewers need to be engaged in the first 10 seconds. This means making it super easy for them to stay engaged. E.g. interesting supers, vibrant colours, square format, watchable without sound, no need for fullscreen - and most of all, they don’t need to sit through the video for too long before they get the REWARD.
Here is an example of an animated ad we produced for a client. It's simple and sweet!
REWARD ME
The video needs to reward the viewer in some way. Making them laugh, smile, react, giving them something to share with friends and family.... draw them to a brand that they know they can trust and love, simply by producing fun and engaging content.
Recycled or stale content = missed opportunities. For social media content to be effective, its important to learn who the audience and customers are, and carefully consider what content they would find most valuable.
Let’s not just Create Social Media Goals — Let’s Reach Them
The importance of goal-setting cannot be understated and social media goals are no different. You can use the S.M.A.R.T. model (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant, Timely) to start setting goals and trying to achieve them.
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Make social media goals specific
What’s the benchmark for success? Is it 50 followers? Or 500 followers? On which social network? If the goal is too vague, you will never really know what you’re working towards. Develop goals that are clear, specific, and not open to interpretation.
Let’s not say “I will use social media to increase brand awareness.”
Let’s say “I will create a campaign of hashtag contests, videos, posts on Twitter to increase brand awareness.”
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Set goals that are measurable, make the goals attainable
Keep your goals challenging, but realistic. #babysteps
Not Attainable: “Double the number of my followers every day on every social network forever.”
Attainable: “Grow my Facebook audience by 25 followers a week, and then reach 50 by next quarter”
Relevance is king
Using social media to drive traffic to your website, staying on top of your Instagram mentions. Make sure that goal is relevant to your business’s success.
Not relevant: “I will use Instagram & Facebook posts to increase web enquiries for my logistics business.”
Relevant: “I will use Instagram & Facebook as a way for me to present my stationery brand in a fun, visual way and increase engagement with my community.”
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Keep it timely
When it comes to reaching your goals, are you batting for a thousand? What rules or tricks have worked in the past? And what could have been done differently to improve some of the not-so-stellar results?
Not timely: “I will increase my Facebook followers by 100,000.”
Timely: “I will increase my Facebook followers by 100,000 in 12 months.”
