The Art of Social Media Video Content: What Small Businesses Need to Know

It’s no secret that social media has evolved drastically since its inception many years ago. What started out as a networking tool has evolved into an ever-changing, multi-functional platform that businesses can utilize to grow their presence. Part of the multi-functionality of social media today includes using social media video content on your platforms to engage your audience.

Growing the online presence for a small business can be a very challenging thing. With new social media features developing what feels like every month, the task of navigating the social world can seem very daunting.

But fret not, we are here to help.

It’s always great to have engaging pictures and captions, but if you’re looking to step up your social media game, the next move may involve utilizing video content on your platform.

Keep reading along and we will tackle the topic of social media video content together.

What’s the best platform for social media videos?

Great question! To help answer this, I counter with a question of my own: who is your audience? Focusing your target audience is helpful in general, however, with social media video content it’s very pertinent. If your audience is younger, engage with them via Instagram Stories or Instagram Live functions. These two features are fairly new to the social media movement, so consider a game plan while they are still fresh.

Facebook is a good option all around, appealing to a broader age demographic than Instagram. This year, Facebook followed the Instagram Stories trend and developed Facebook Stories, in addition to their already established and popular Facebook Live feature.

Twitter allows users to embed videos into tweets, which can also prove helpful with a younger crowd.

What’s the big deal with going “live” on Facebook and Instagram?            

As I previously mentioned in the last section, both Instagram and Facebook have created “live” features. Integrating live video feeds engages your audience and helps you to directly interact to keep them involved in your recent activity.

Going live doesn’t have to be a stressful or awkward affair either. Filming big events like the opening of your storefront, new product releases, or special deals and events is a great option for utilizing the live feature.

Keeping your audience engaged with big news draws attention to your business and company. This method can be used for the “stories” features as well.

Do I need videos in my Facebook and Instagram feed?

As we know, Facebook and Instagram have video functions for regular posts. Using videos in your feed, whether it be on Facebook or Instagram can be a good way to break up monotony and provide interaction with your current and potential followers.

How-to videos and product demonstrations are a few examples of how to brighten your feed with the video feature. Remember, it is about engaging your audience with good content. Strategy and creativity are key with the implementation of videos in social media.

Social media is an art form itself. A healthy balance of strategic captions, pictures, and videos is what makes a profile engaging and grow-worthy. In addition, partnering strategic content with social media advertising will help increase your reach. Simply creating posts or status updates will not create an active following or engage your current audience.

Your online presence is important, with social media contributing to a necessary part of that presence. Keep your content fresh and your audience engaged—believe me they will thank you for it. If you aren’t sure where to start, or simply don’t have the time, we’re here to help you! Hot Dog Marketing’s team of social media and multimedia pros will give you the help you need!