How to Use Video Content on Social Media to Grow Your Business
Social media platforms use complex digital rules, called algorithms, to decide who sees your content, generally putting it in front of new people and non-followers first. The advantage of using video content rather than static imagery (whether on Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube or all three), is that video content has a much longer shelf-life. It can run for months and in the process allow consumers to build up trust in your business and encourage them to buy from you.
Video content is a great way to:
get your business in front of new people
convert more of your followers into customers.
To use social media really well, about half of the video content you create should be what is called short form. Short form video content is generally between 60-90 seconds long (anything over that tends to lose viewers), filmed in portrait format (vertical rather than horizontal) and easily digestible!
Tips for Creating Short Form Video Content
1. Inspire, educate, entertain or build a community
The number one reason that people use social media is for connection. As a small business owner, you can make yourself and your business much more accessible and relatable to potential customers than big brands can. Use your video content to become someone people can relate to, by sharing stories and experiences that make people feel involved and connected. This can build trust and lead to purchase. If you’re not comfortable being the lead in your own movie, find someone else in your business who is.
2. Keep it real
Your short form video does not need to be professionally produced (filming with your phone is fine) but it does need to be good quality, so no blurry, out-of-focus footage and no poor sound if there’s speaking or a voice-over. Make sure your camera lens is clean and try to film near a window or in natural light. Always film with the back camera unless you're talking face to face and film in a high quality setting (get to know the camera settings on your phone) so that the quality is maintained when you upload to social media. Experiment with zoom settings too and enable high quality uploads in the social media platform’s settings.
3. Create value for the viewer
In a world where people are using social media as entertainment, your video content must deliver a reason to view. It’s much more than simply showing people what you do and hoping that they’ll buy. Your video content needs to be memorable to catch a viewer’s attention. The more people that view your content beyond the first three second, the more likely the algorithms are to serve it to more people.
4. Use hooks to draw viewers in
We all spend too much time just scrolling through video content, so your videos need to be compelling enough to halt the scrolling. Use all available hooks on your videos to hold on to their attention, including text, visuals and captions. A visual hook is what the viewer sees instantly, such as sudden movement, a prop or an eye-catching setting. A verbal hook is something that you say right away, in the first three seconds of the video, using a surprising statement, bold claim or urgent question. And a written hook is any on-screen text that highlights a title, acts as a caption or teases more to come.
5. Provide a reason to view
Just like on TV, viewers need a reason to keep watching. For the algorithms to consider your video worth pushing out to more people, you need to get people watching for as long as possible, and certainly beyond the first three seconds. Your content has to make sense to somebody who doesn't know you or your business, so you need to imagine that you're talking to somebody who has never seen your account before.
6. Exploit trends
Jumping on a trend that’s here today and gone tomorrow can be fun, but don’t make them the core of your video content. Not all trending video styles will be right for your business and audience, so concentrate on your own style and use ideas that best represent you and your business.
7. Make sure your audience can find you
Today’s search engines (and AI) routinely include video content in their searches and results, so don't neglect search engine optimisation (SEO) in your content planning and admin. Anything that makes you more discoverable is a good thing. Platforms like Google now categorise your content by the words you use; the text you put on the screen, your captions, subtitles and hashtags. This helps the algorithm decide who to serve your content to.
8. Learn to edit
There are now lots of simple video editing apps available to download and use so it’s very much personal preference which ones you choose. The only real way to learn to edit is to download an app and try it out with your own video content. Instagram Edits is a good place to start and being part of Meta, it allows a video posted on Instagram to also link through to Facebook. Experiment by editing the same piece of content in different ways to see how the different versions perform across different platforms.
9. Make use of analytics
All social media platforms give you access to analytics that you should use to plan and refine what, when and where to post. Get into the habit of reviewing your analytics every month at least, to understand metrics such as what activity drove the most traffic to your website or converted the most views to followers. Learn from what you've done and try things in different ways to constantly refine your activity.
10. Stay focused
Whatever content you’re creating, stay focused on what you want each video to achieve and how it works. For example; what's the one thing you want people to take away from viewing your video or what one action do you want them to take? By doing this, you’ll hopefully stay single-minded about getting that message across.
11. Build up a bank of video footage
Don’t wait until you have a brilliant idea to make a video. It’s like trying to write a blog post but finding yourself stuck looking at a blank screen. Just start by filming lots of short clips of everyday activities in your business. This behind-the-scenes footage will always come in useful to edit together or add to other videos to help viewers understand your business better. Save the video clips in named folders on your phone.
12. Five Ideas to guide your video content creation
Tell your story: why did you start your business or how did you start? Make it personal and relatable eg: how you started as a college trainee.
Share a tip: simple but useful tips encourage viewers to save and share them, giving your content reach and longevity eg: how a florist can help you choose the perfect floral gift.
Solve a problem: think of your ideal follower and ask yourself what issues they routinely face eg: a bride wanting a particular colour theme for their wedding flowers.
Answer a common question: what’s the difference between flowers from a florist and those from a supermarket?
Tease an exclusive, take them behind the scenes or give them a sneak peek of something you're working on, make them feel involved eg: creating an eco-conscious funeral piece.
Content: Martha Brook, Business Secrets Club
Small Business Britain is the UK's leading champion of small businesses, supporting all 5.5 million small businesses in the UK – no matter their location, their sector, or their ambition level. Through reports, events and campaigns, Small Business Britain champions, inspires and accelerates small businesses in the UK to foster growth and increased confidence.
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