Social media, as a significant part of our lives, isn’t only a place to connect with others. It has also become one of the most lucrative and effective platforms for expanding your business. Creating video content that attracts customers is one major way social media can boost your brand potential.

Due to the sheer impact that social media has on society, it’s no surprise that almost every business invests a lot of time and resources into their social media video content. You may notice that a large number of the short clips you see consist of marketing videos, trying to convince people of how useful or effective their products are. 

You might get a laugh out of a social media video because of how over the top it is, and you may dismiss this as just another ad. But in many cases, creating video content like this is exactly what drives people to try out the products they see. So the question now is – what is it that makes marketing videos on social media so effective?

What is an Effective Social Media Video?

When creating video content for social media, it is important to take examples from the most popular creators and analyze factors that bring in views. An easy way to determine an effective social media video is to look at which ones are consistently trending to see what they have in common. Factors like the similarity in video length, type of content, format, delivery, and storytelling are some of the keys to viral marketing videos on social media.

Anyone can make a successful social media video so long as they understand the key elements. Here we’ll discuss each element in greater detail.

Storytelling

Storytelling is arguably the most important element to have when creating video content. When people see that there is an interesting story being told, they tend to stay longer on your video to find out how it all comes together. 

Since your purpose in creating video content is to promote your product, you need to find a way to show off its uses without coming off as overly promotional, it’s not just about making a quick sale. In other words, you should present your product to the audience in a natural way that fits the story being told. The more relatable your story is, the more convinced people will be that your product will solve their problems.

There are many ways you can tell a compelling story through your marketing videos. One good example is sharing real customer experiences dealing with your business. You can do a reenactment of their journey using your product to show how effective it is in solving their problems. A visual testimonial is one of the most effective ways to tell people’s stories. It gives your business and products a sense of legitimacy and builds trust with your audience. 

Storytelling is a major factor that makes people want to share your social media video and convinces others to try your product out.    

Video length

Whether you’re creating video content for Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, or Youtube, you will find that all viral videos tell an entertaining story in a very short amount of time. The length of your video is a crucial factor when it comes to retaining your viewer’s attention. 

It’s a fact that people will scroll past a social media video the instant they lose interest, which typically happens in the first few seconds of watching. You must grab their attention within 3 seconds. Those few precious moments at the start of your video are the pivotal seconds you have to win over your audience and make them stay for the entire thing. 

Since social media video clips are only around 20-30 seconds long, you need to get creative when you start planning and creating video content. It needs to be condensed to fit the platform and effective enough to be persuasive.

Type of Content

There are many types and styles of video to consider when creating video content. Figuring out which style works best for you can determine the success of your marketing videos. 

As we mentioned before, testimonials are one type of content that focuses on building customer trust through real experiences. Though testimonials are effective, they may not be what your business needs right now. Your brand and products could require more recognition and publicity, in this case, it may be more beneficial to produce a product trailer or showcase to get people talking. 

Knowing what type of content to create will take a bit of analysis, however, we can safely recommend you try different styles to get the most out of each. 

Captions

Captions can make your video more accessible to a wider range of people and make it easier for them to understand your content. People who scroll through their short clips on their phones are more often attracted by what they see rather than the content of the video itself. Captions allow us to communicate the context of the video. 

Captions have the potential to bring in much more views, simply by being more convenient for viewers and enhancing their experience. Creating video content should include the use of eye-catching captions, with fitting and expressive fonts that emphasize what the viewers see in the video.

Of course, captions play a huge factor in the accessibility of content to all types of people, some of whom rely mostly on words to consume media. Overall, adding captions only helps to increase your video’s views and allows more people to experience it.

Call-to-Action

The call-to-action of your content is what makes or breaks your video. Even if you have a great video concept, an amazing product, and a good story to tell, it can all be for nothing if no one buys your products or takes action to interact with your brand. 

When creating video content for your business, don’t aim just for views, you should also put thought into what you want your audience to do. Marketing videos need to guide viewers to the next step to becoming your customers. Things like “Find what you’re looking for here” or “Make a change with us” are some examples of ways to end with an enticing offer. 

Compel your viewers to become your customers through persuasive content and a strong call to action.

Every brand can maximize its growth through successful marketing videos on social media. As long as these elements are present, you can produce captivating shorts on any platform.