Everyone loves entertainment.
Whether it’s reading the cutest love novel or watching the latest Marvel movie in the cinema, entertainment is part of a person’s daily routine. And with social media easily accessible from virtually anywhere (thank you smartphones!) everyone’s thirst for good entertainment is at an all-time high.
Pop quiz: what entertainment medium is the most sought after in social media and the internet in general? If you answered text, you should go online more often.
Videos, Videos, And More Videos!
The growing demand for video content is undeniable. According to a Cisco report, “the global consumer Internet video traffic will account for 80 percent of all consumer Internet traffic, and this doesn’t even include video exchanged through peer-to-peer (P2P).”
If that’s not enough to convince you, Facebook gets over 8 billion video views every day and rivals Snapchat, who gets over 7 billion views daily. That’s a lot of videos being viewed on a daily basis.
Video Production 101: What To Do?
So videos are the ticket to a successful social media marketing (and the future!), one that can get you LOTS of views for a little effort.
But how can you make your video “watch-worthy”? After all, people want ENTERTAINIING videos and not just any kind of video. So before you roll those cameras and start acting, here are some tips you can use to make your Facebook videos entertaining:
1. Add Subs
Since Facebook decided to auto mute videos in Facebook feeds, it’s important that your videos have accurate, clearly-written subtitles. Subtitles will help viewers understand the video even when the sound is off– and most of the time, it is.
Subtitles don’t need to come as small texts at the bottom of your video, too. Play around and add the subtitle to the video itself to make the video a little interactive. Just make sure it’s well-placed around the frame and not distracting or obstructing the other elements of the video.
2. Keep ‘Em Short
People on social media are impatient people; anything that takes longer than a minute on Facebook is criminal.
So if you’re trying to hook people into watching your Facebook video for your brand, stick to 30-45 seconds. Get creative and condense the info you want in as short as 30 seconds without overwhelming your audiences. If you do this right, you’ll get a good number of views.
3. Make Your Viewers Smile (or Cry)
There’s nothing more that says “entertainment” than watching your audiences roll in laughter or weep their eyes out in tears.
Emotions are the name of the entertainment game: if you can evoke your audiences’ feelings, then you’re on the right track. This means getting your viewers to react and share your video with friends and family so they can react and share as well. Even a boring product can be sold if you can pull on your customer’s heartstrings.
4. Be Real
Social media has made almost everyone a good detective. No matter how much you cover up and sprinkle your story with candy and sugar, viewers will find the fake in your story (if there are any.)
When you create your promotional video, don’t make stuff up. Stick to the real facts, purpose, and principles of your brand. This will help uplift your brand’s name and keep you away from any anti-branding/smear campaign. And plus, lying to your customers is always bad for business.
5. Make It Interactive
Nowadays, people don’t like to just sit around (or lie around), even if that’s literally what they’re doing when browsing on social media.
People love things that they can engage with, things that they can react to or have a say at — and that means they want content that encourages them to engage or participate. So when crafting your video content, think of what information you can put that will make your audiences engage with your content.
Talk about the good and the bad about something, then ask your audiences what they think; or you could show them the benefits of your product by showing them scenarios where it can be used, then ask your viewers for other ways your product can be useful. This way, you can have audiences participate with you and with one another. The more interactions you make, the better the chances your video will go viral.
Lights, Camera…
Videos are the future of social media entertainment. From viral cat videos down right to the craziest funny prank by young high school kids, you can expect videos to dominate social media in the coming years.
And for a company (both start-up and established) getting eyeballs to look at your brand is the main objective of social media marketing, so video creation should be on your list of “things to do” when crafting your social media campaign. Do it right, and you’re bound to see an increase in your Facebook page’s performance. If you’re not confident in handling your social media page, hiring a competent SEO team will be advantageous to you.
