How to Use Video to Expand your Reach on Social Media

Video is  everywhere, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. and entrepreneurs  in every niche are taking advantage of it. According to a recent article on Forbes, “Last year saw some big changes in the forms of content that resonated with users, with short-form video striding out victorious well ahead of other formats.”

Some reasons for the popularity of short form videos are:

1 – More Exposure and Engagement. The algorithms love video content, because it captures a viewer’s attention for longer. This explains why videos on Instagram generate more engagement than any other content type and Tweets with video see 10x more engagement.

2 – Social media users love video and its popularity is growing across all channels. In 2018, a study showed that 54% of consumers wanted to see more video content from the brands or businesses they support. Fast forward to 2020 and 9 out of 10 viewers want to see more videos from brands and businesses. In 2022 the average person spends 100 minutes a day watching online videos!

3 –It Can Be Repurposed Across Multiple Platforms. Producing a video may be more time consuming than simply creating a meme but it opens the doors to reach a broader and often different audience on all social media platforms.  This translates to a greater reach.

4-  Powerful Sales Tool.  84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video (Optinmonster).

What this means to you is if you want to grow online, it’s time to start creating video content. 

To rock your video marketing, implement these tips:

1. Video isn’t just for social media, add it to your landing pages and you’ll increase your ROI exponentially.
2. Always transcribe videos so you can post the words with it to improve SEO. (repurpose, repurpose, repurpose) Don’t forget to post to your blog!
3. When you go to live events, take the time to record some of the action. You can even go “live” on Facebook.
4. Create a short form video of parts of your longer ones.
5. Don’t focus on perfection, focus on doing it. There is a place for all levels and types of video. No one is perfect out of the gate.
6. The length of your video depends on what is needed to cover the content. The tried and true content tip applies: Content should be short enough to get your audiences’ attention and long enough to cover the essentials. Also, pay attention to rules on the platform you’ll be posting on.
7. Don’t forget to include calls to action whether it’s to visit your website or to buy something. You have to tell people what to do in a video too.
8. Before you begin using video marketing, take the time to craft a video marketing strategy based on your business’s objectives.
9. If you’re not sure what to create first, focus on your brand’s story or just tell what problems you solve for your audience.
10. It might be tempting to make videos that only show your product or services but not people. People are important so it’s imperative that you include them.
11. Nothing is done without looking at the data. When you start your video marketing, remember to monitor the results and focus on engagement over clicks.

Make it easy! Repurpose other forms of content to videos.

Some people will watch video after video, while others prefer text they can quickly scan for the highlights. Still others love to listen to audio while they’re doing other things. These and other format preferences make it easy for you to reuse your existing content over and over again. This is where repurposing really comes into its own: In taking your content in one format, and spinning it into another format so it reaches a new segment of your ideal audience. 

Instead of thinking of repurposing as creating multiple single, completely new pieces of content, think sideways. Start with one main piece of content; then brainstorm how many other ways you can simply format it. In short, re-purposing is not always re-writing!

For example, from this blog post I’ve created 3 videos.

The beauty of this type of repurposing is that each “child” version of your original content piece supports and augments the “parent” content piece (and each other). You are focusing on one specific goal (e.g. lead generation) with multiple supportive pieces of content. Every different format type strengthens and reinforces the message in the original “parent” content piece.

Don’t do this randomly. Be strategic about it. Before you decide which type of format to repurpose a piece into, think about what you want it to do, and the end result you are going for. Ask yourself:

Who hasn’t seen it yet and who do I want to see it?

What is their preferred learning style?

Where do they interact with my material the most actively?

If you find that you have more of an active audience for your podcasts than your blog posts, focus on turning your blog posts into podcast episodes. If you find you get more action on your YouTube videos than your podcasts, turn your podcast into a YouTube video. If you find you get much more interaction for your Facebook Livestreams than your YouTube videos, do a Facebook Live version of your video. And if you’re active on Instagram, create a 15-second Insta Story from your Facebook Live.

I know for many entrepreneurs this sounds like A LOT!  The good news is: I can help.  I can also make it super simple for you with my Video Creation Services.  All you have to do is send your created content, podcasts, blog posts, articles, or resources – all content is welcome – and I’ll transform it into brief videos for your social media platforms (or YouTube channel). Learn more and request a quote here.

(View the video of version of this entire blog here.)