While dedicated video-sharing sites like YouTube remain the primary channel for video-based content, social media is fast catching up, especially when it comes to marketing.

Studies show that a large number of businesses land new customers because of videos on their social media accounts. In addition, social media is now the top video marketing channel for B2B businesses. 

It’s easy to see that without a video marketing strategy, your brand will struggle to gain new customers.

This is particularly true for Gen Z and millennial audiences who are part of the video-first generation. People of these generations are taking over the decision-making process for purchases. Through the use of social video marketing, you can tap into this large market and increase your revenue.

The use of social video marketing, you can tap into this large market and increase your revenue.

However, social media platforms differ widely from each other, and so do the way each platform’s users consume video marketing content.

Read on to know more about effective video marketing for some of the most popular social media platforms today.

The State of Social Video Marketing in 2021

Video content was the winner in 2020. With everyone spending more time online, the average person now spends 100 minutes a day viewing videos online, up from 84 minutes a day in 2019. 

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Unsurprisingly given that growth, businesses are investing more time and resources in video marketing. According to Social Media Examiner’s Social Media Marketing Income Report, 81% of companies use video marketing.

In other words, most companies include video in their marketing funnel.

With that in mind, this guide will walk you through some of the trends you need to be aware of when it comes to social video marketing. 

YouTube Video Marketing Trends

YouTube is no doubt one of the most popular video platforms out there. It has managed to stay popular for several years because it allows users to monetize their content. 

What type of content works on YouTube?

Too many YouTube marketers seem to believe that one viral video can turn their brands’ fortunes around. However, being creative and producing out-of-the-box content is no longer enough. You need to take a strategic approach to creating and publishing YouTube videos.

• Attract the right audience. YouTube marketing expert Paddy Galloway points out that the raw number of views is no longer the best measure of success for videos. Your videos have to attract the right kind of market. Channels showing pranks don’t generate as much revenue per viewer as finance-centric channels that attract an audience that’s more likely to click on ads. 
• Create a good content mix. Second, your channel has to contain a good mix of trending and evergreen content. One channel Galloway reviewed, The Graham Stephan Show, puts out two trending videos for every evergreen video. This ensures that even after the trending topics fade away, there will still be content that generates views.
• Diversify your videos. Finally, Galloway recommends creating different kinds of video content. Most brands publish one or two types of videos, but Stephan posts at least four different types in nine months: instructional/list videos, reaction videos, podcasts, and vlogs. Each type of video content speaks to different audience segments and acts as an introduction to the other videos. A user might discover your brand through a podcast, then be persuaded to make a purchase when they watch your instructional video.

Facebook Video Marketing Trends 

We’ve always known Facebook as a venue for posting our inner thoughts and the occasional meme, but now it’s fast becoming one of the largest channels for video marketing. 

A vast majority of video marketers use Facebook as one of their main channels, while close to 25% of US companies’ 2018 video marketing budgets was spent on Facebook.

It’s clear that Facebook is pivoting towards a video-centric marketing model and is projected to be video-heavy by the end of 2021. 

This isn’t very surprising when you consider that 90% of Facebook profiles post or consume Facebook native videos – that is, videos that are uploaded directly to the social network, not linked from YouTube or another video-sharing platform.

A lot of this traffic comes from mobile devices.

An estimated 65% of all video views on the social media giant come from portable devices like mobile phones. In addition, the average mobile device user keeps their phone in a vertical (portrait) position 94% of the time. It’s vital to factor in these variables when creating video content, especially for Facebook. 

If you’re planning to shift your video marketing model to Facebook, you need to keep a few things in mind when you produce and post videos.

• Adopt for the silent mode. First, 85% of all videos people watch on Facebook are played without sound, which means you need to add captions to your content. Otherwise, you risk not being able to put your message across.
• Go live. Second, Facebook users are more likely to engage with live streams than with recorded videos. According to Socialbakers, live videos generate an average of more than 30 interactions, compared to videos and static images that generate only half that number.

Dunkin’, for instance, announced its new coffee flavors inspired by Girl Scout Cookies through a Facebook Live video. The 9-minute video attracted more than 370 thousand views and generated 1,700 comments, many of which were inquiries about the flavors’ availability at Dunkin’ stores across the U.S.

Instagram Video Marketing Trends 

While Instagram was first built as a photo-sharing app, it has now morphed into becoming a video platform.

Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced in a video that Instagram is focusing on four key areas:

• creators,
• video,
• shopping,
• and messaging.

Each of these key areas will have a significant impact on the way your brand creates content and how your audience consumes it. 

According to Instagram’s research, people use the app mostly for entertainment. Mosseri adds that Instagram’s competition now consists of TikTok and YouTube, which are both video-sharing apps.

Instagram is now rolling out features that will emphasize content recommendations from creators that users aren’t following yet. It will also emphasize content on topics that match users’ interests.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

What do these changes mean for social media marketers? 

1. Produce more videos

The first implication should be pretty obvious: static photo content will appear less and less in your followers’ feeds. As Instagram now emphasizes videos, your brand will need to produce more of that type of content if it is to maintain its visibility to its audience. It also goes without saying that most of your content will need to be mobile-friendly as Instagram is now moving away from its previous square content dimensions.

2. Get ready to sell right on the spot

Second, you may soon need to start selling directly on Instagram. While many brands have already taken advantage of the platform’s shopping features, most Instagram stores use landing pages that link to a separate e-commerce site. Instagram is looking at ways to enable brands to sell products without leaving the platform, including CTA buttons on posts, Reels, and Stories.

3. Leverage chatbot tools for better communication

Third, you need to be more responsive to messages on Instagram. This area is where I feel Instagram lags behind the likes of Facebook. Until early 2021, there were no dedicated chatbot tools for Instagram. Brands that wished to respond automatically to Instagram messages needed to link their Instagram accounts to their Facebook pages, which wasn’t the most nimble of methods.

In February 2021, though, MobileMonkey announced a new set of Instagram chatbot tools that allow brands to engage with their followers 24/7. These include automated welcome messages, automated FAQs, and email capture features. By using these tools, you can create a complete Instagram customer experience that starts with the user viewing your video as a recommendation and ends in a sales inquiry or subscription.

To know more about Instagram video marketing, please follow the link and read our recommendations on video editing for Instagram audience engagement.

Pinterest Video Marketing Trends 

Video marketing for Pinterest is not the same as on Youtube or Facebook, though.

As you already know, this platform is primarily for static images. Hence, the best way to begin incorporating motion pictures is through “teaser videos.”

These could be short commercials (about 30-60 seconds) that only display enough about your product/services so that Pinners become curious. Coupled with SEO-friendly headings, you can create attention for your content.

Such video pins are also shown at the top of the mobile app search results. That means more exposure!

Quay Australia glasses’ Pinterest feed is a good example of how to mix images with video on the platform. 

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One study shows that 83% of Pinterest users made purchases based on pinned images and videos coming from brands. To take advantage of this user behavior, you can sign up for a Pinterest business account that will allow you to put your content in your desired customer’s feeds. 

For your videos to become eligible for Promoted Video Pins, you need to save them to your own business profile and public boards, create non-shortened destination URLs for them, and be composed of all original content.

You may also use your Instagram or Facebook Stories or YouTube uploads as video pins.

LinkedIn Video Marketing Trends 

The popularity of LinkedIn videos is on the rise, and it’s expected to continue trending upwards.

Over 60 percent of marketers say they’ll use LinkedIn videos in 2020, which has proven effective so far, with 87% reporting favorable results.

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LinkedIn for Business has a set of guidelines for better video ads on the platform:

• Include a demo and an offer: LinkedIn discovered that its audience tended to finish videos to see if it will make an offer. 
• Animate your ad: Whether you’re doing product demos or infographics, using animated videos can give your brand up to a 3% increase in click-through rates.  
• Use a single audio track and add captions: LinkedIn claims that using both narration and music reduces video completion rates. Close to 80% of users don’t turn on their audio when watching videos, so adding captions will also help get your message across.
• Keep your copy short and add a CTA button: Most LinkedIn users prefer shorter ads, which means you need to keep your copy short as well. It also makes sense to add a CTA your audience can click to access your offer. 

Aside from publishing short promotional videos on the platform, you may also use LinkedIn Live to broadcast company events and repurpose snippets from those events to gain extra mileage. 

Automation Anywhere is an example of a brand that used LinkedIn video marketing to generate leads and engagement. Prior to its big product launch in 2019, the company used paid ads to generate awareness of the event.

These ads alone generated 300 comments, and when the hour-long event itself went live, there were over 800 comments on the event stream, most of them positive or inquiring. 

As a result of Automation Anywhere’s LinkedIn Live video, the company was able to gain 2,000 high-quality leads per month. In addition, 78% of the company’s views for their product launch came from the LinkedIn Live video and the event snippets that the brand’s team posted on LinkedIn in the succeeding weeks. 

Twitter Video Marketing Trends

Twitter is a fantastic platform for video marketing.

Video tweets receive 10x more engagements than other forms of content. Such posts helped marketers save 50% on CPE. 

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Twitter for Business has published a list of best practices for video advertising on the platform:

• Keep it short: Twitter suggests that you keep marketing videos under 15 seconds and convey your message within the first 3 seconds. You also need to ensure that your video and tweet copy (which you should try to keep under 100 characters) are aligned.
• Display your logo prominently: Twitter recommends that you place your company logo in the upper-left or right corner of your video frame. This can increase brand recall by around 30%. 
• Use captions: While the Twitter users who watch videos on mute aren’t as many as those who do the same thing on Facebook, adding captions to your videos will help engage your followers. According to Twitter, captions extend the average viewing time by 28%.
• Start with the product: When videos start with a product shot, your viewers can become 24% more interested in it and are 34% more likely to click through.

But most essentially, add website buttons and app buttons to videos ads since Twitter says these helped increase ad engagement by 69% yearly. You may also use GIFs to share text content that runs over 280 characters.

TikTok Video Marketing Trends

TikTok has targeted the U.S. teenage market that previously belonged to Musical.ly. Now, 62% of TikTok users in the U.S. are aged between 10 and 29. It is also the fastest-growing social media app, with its U.S. user base growing over 85% in 2020.

But with the popularity comes increased competition for views. Fortunately, using hashtags helps users discover content since they categorize and describe the content. Also, if you spend any time on TikTok daily, you know there’s always a hashtag contest going on. 

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The hashtag campaign above, which was sponsored by fast fashion brand GUESS, attracted close to 53 million views.

TikTok’s main draw is the ability to collaborate on videos, which means that any successful campaign on the platform will require brands to work more closely with influencers to generate organic content.

In addition, TikTok has the potential to be a go-to source of information among younger audiences. By publishing customer service videos on TikTok, your brand can establish itself as the authority in a specific subject. 

One way you can leverage TikTok’s platform is to collaborate directly with influencers.

For example, you can create a hashtag challenge that involves your product then have a few influencers do the challenge. These videos will then appear on their followers’ For You pages.

For example, Colgate’s #MakeMomSmile challenge goes beyond Mother’s Day. It celebrates mothers everywhere by challenging TikTokers to do something that will make their mothers smile, such as baking a cake, surprising them with a hot-air balloon flight, or giving them a surprise gift. It has generated over 5 billion views, and even sports teams like the Dallas Cowboys have joined the fun.

Social Media Video Marketing Trends

Video is no longer reserved for the fashion or travel industry. You can tailor video content to almost anything. Even though it can be challenging to quantify the ROI, new video platforms have made it easy to measure engagement.

Since more consumers are finding brands through videos, video funnels have become an effective way to promote your products.

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Depending on what you’re producing your video for, here are other trends you should know. 

• Video conferencing, password-protected videos and other new features from social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram will continue to emerge. 
• Celebrities and influencers had to rely on live streams as the pandemic raged, and this trend is just picking up steam. 
• Bite-sized videos are clocking in far more engagement and are expected to do more so in the future.  

Social video marketing will only continue to play a critical role in a business ‘ success. The key is to look for the platform/s that will allow you to reach your audience.

Summing Up

If you’re a brand or a marketer, you can no longer ignore social video marketing.

The good news is, there are many platforms now at your disposal. Each platform allows you to reach a specific type of audience. Each channel also has its unique features.

To succeed, then, all you need to do is leverage these platforms. You don’t need to use all of them at once. Just choose the ones that will help you reach your intended audience. Once you’ve made your pick, continue to watch out for platform trends you can take advantage of.

Do all these things, and your social video marketing will be a success. You’ll always be a step ahead of your competitors. 

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About the author:

Michal is immersed in developing, implementing, and coordinating all manner of content marketing projects as the Content Marketing Manager at GetResponse. He has 8-plus years of expertise in online marketing with a Master of Science Degree in Strategic Marketing and Consulting from the University of Birmingham (UK). Michal is the author of more than 100 articles, ebooks, and courses for both GetResponse and renowned websites like Crazy Egg and Social Media Today.