The Major Impact of Video On Social Media and How It Promotes Your Business

In case you weren't aware, using video on social media has become an integral part of running a long and successful business. That's quite the change from the "pre-historic" traditional and expensive methods used in the past… video content is one of the biggest tools yet in driving traffic to online businesses and there aren't any signs of it slowing down or stopping.

In fact, a study by Cisco revealed that by 2020 (here we are in 2020), online videos will be the driving force behind over 80% of all traffic being driven to online businesses. The thing about video marketing on social media is that you see it all the time but didn't realize that you were looking at video marketing.

Whenever you log in to Facebook or Instagram, the first thing you see at the top of your screen are videos, otherwise known as stories. Whenever you view these stories, depending on the content of the video, you have the option to "swipe up" to shop now. Instagram has even added IGTV to see full video content, instead of "choppy" snippets of a story.

Because of video on social media, it has allowed your marketing strategies to be fluid and versatile. Video content is no longer strictly used to get customers to "buy now"... it's also used to "humanize" your brand.

What Exactly is Humanizing Your Brand?

The act of humanizing your brand means that you're essentially ditching those robotic marketing tactics and making your brand relatable to your audience, putting a face with the brand, and just making your brand seem like an interesting human being.

Your brand obviously isn't a human being and your audience knows that but you can make them feel like your brand, and even the person behind the brand, is someone they could consider as a friend or someone they could grab a bite to eat with… video content is the perfect way to reach your audience on a personal and emotional level.

By your brand putting a bit of vulnerability on display, that's showing your audience that you trust them… that will, in turn, let them know that they can trust your brand. The next thing you know, they're going to be "swiping up" to check out your site.

Before You Promote the "Swipe Up," Give Your Site a Check-Up

Now, one thing you absolutely must do before starting a video marketing campaign is to check out your website. The last thing you want to do is build up a level of trust with your followers on social media only to have them "swipe up" to visit your site and immediately lose that established trust.

You need to do a full and complete assessment of your site. Put yourself in the shoes of the online shopper and ask yourself if the site is user-friendly? Are the colors clashing? Is there a smooth check out process? Is the content relevant and useful? Those are important questions to ask yourself because those are all things that potential customers will look at. You can even ask the opinions of friends and family on how your website looks?

If you've done a thorough analysis of your site and feel that it could use some improvements and a new look, you might have to completely build a new business website to get the results you want. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Plus, once you start to redirect followers to your new and improved site and see sales coming in, you'll quickly see that the change was worth it.

The Purpose of Videos on Social Media

To answer this question is getting back to the basics of social video marketing. At its core, social videos are first and foremost, video content that's shared on social media platforms. It can be anything from cover videos and stories to regular posts and promotional ads. But however you choose to post your video, the purpose is always a constant, and that's is to encourage your audience to interact with your brand, remember it, and shop your brand.

Types of Social Media Videos That Promote Your Business

Video Type 1: Customer Testimonials

People tend to forget the power of word-of-mouth and this is a power that can work for you or against you. In this case of video marketing, you're only going to want to post positive testimonials of course, but when your followers are able to see other followers recommend your products, it's going to prompt others to check it out too.

Video Type 2: Product Demos/ How-to's

Sometimes the proof really is in the pudding. With online shopping, it can be hard to see how a particular product works and when that's hard to tell, it can lead to doubt in your customers and make them not want to buy for fear of wasting their money. By posting a product demo or how-to video, your followers will be able to see the actual product in real-time, restoring faith back in the customer.

Video Type 3: Events

Event videos allow your audience to feel like they're part of the experience with you. You can even go live at various events and have real-time communication between your brand and the followers. Not only does the engagement help your brand but it's also another tactic to humanize your brand.

Video Type 4: Promotional

Promotional videos are always good for business. These types of videos allow you to keep your followers in the know about what type of sales you're having, any promo codes to use, and, of course, the call to action to visit your site!

The thing to keep in mind is that if you're going to do a promotional video for any type of sales, make sure the sale is genuinely benefiting the customers because they can smell a rip-off a mile away… honesty is what's going to keep customers coming back and remaining loyal to your brand, regardless of the price… if the product is good and of great quality, people have no problem paying for it.

Video Type 5: About Us

"About us" videos are videos that allow you to share with your audience what your business does and its purpose. This is the only video type that gives you the first opportunity to humanize your brand. Why? Because it's an "about us" video!

How many times have you been to an interview and the employer said, "So tell me a little about yourself"? They ask this question either at the beginning of an interview or in the middle of it because it breaks down the walls of nervousness… Well, that exactly the purpose of an "About us" video.

This video gives your followers an inside look at the brand and the people behind the brand and lets them know that you're human just like them.