Social Media Video Marketing Strategy: 2024 Trends & Benefits

Video marketing has become one of the most effective strategies to generate digital publicity and promote sales. But why does it work so well? What are the latest trends in video marketing? And how can you leverage video to promote your business?

Let’s start by clarifying just what video marketing is:

What Is Video Marketing?

Video marketing is the use of visual recordings or live broadcasts to promote and sell products and services.

Popular types of video media

• YouTube videos

• Social media videos shared on platforms such as Facebook

• Short-form videos such as TikTok and Instagram Reels

• Livestreamed video feeds

• Webinars

• TV ads shared via digital technology

• Slideshows

• Animated videos

Popular video formats

Videos designed for video marketing typically follow a number of standard formats, including:

• Demonstrations of products or services

• How-to instructions

• Consumer or customer service tips

• Telling of brand stories

• Customer case studies

• Sharing of live or recorded events

• Interviews with experts or thought leaders

• Entertaining videos combining humor or interesting facts with brand awareness

• Contest invitations or results

• Celebrations of events such as holidays and company anniversaries

• Repurposing of content from other media such as podcasts

Video marketing benefits

Video marketing serves marketing, sales, and support functions such as:

• Reaching audiences on social media

• Building brand awareness

• Increasing audience engagement

• Making marketing messages entertaining

• Encouraging shares on social media

• Generating leads

• Educating target markets about product and service features and benefits

• Showcasing the value of products and services

• Demonstrating products and services in action

• Dramatizing usage of products and services

• Answering sales objections

• Extending sales offers

• Providing pre-emptive customer self-service tips

Video production methods:

• Scripting and editing footage

• Recording and sharing unedited footage

• Streaming live footage

• Turning still images into slideshows

• Creating animated videos

• Playing live or recorded audio over still or moving background images

What do you need in order to produce a video?

• Equipment: The method used to produce marketing videos determines what type of equipment is needed. Depending on the method used, video creators may use a smartphone camera, a video camera, a camcorder, or other means. 

• Additionally, most videos will require a script ,voice over and editing

• Support softwares: Supporting software tools may include video editing software, slideshow apps, and animation software. 

If you don't have your own in-house video resources, the fastest way to get a video into production may be to connect with a professional who already has access to the required equipment and software. For example, Fiverr's marketplace lets you find voice actors to produce quality voice over for your video and video editors. 

Why Video Marketing Is So Powerful?

The recent surge in video marketing spending reflects the benefits brands see from investing in videos. Digital video advertising grew 49% in 2021 and is on track to increase another 26% in 2022, reaching a total of $49.2 billion, according to a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) trade group. Why is video so appealing to advertisers? Here are ten of the top reasons:

1. Video Reaches Wider Audiences

One of the biggest benefits of video is that it enables you to reach wider audiences. Streaming video audiences now exceed the size of cable TV audiences, according to recent data from media analytics company Nielsen.

According to Fiverr Spring 2022 Small Business Needs Index report, Searches inside Fiverr for "promotional video ads" has increased by 453%.

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Following four months of record growth, the size of streaming audiences surpassed cable for the first time in July 2022, with viewers consuming an average of 190.9 billion minutes of streamed content per week. This represented 34.8% of total television consumption, ahead of cable at 34.4% and broadcast at 21.6%. Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube all captured record shares in July.

These are large audiences, and they represent only a portion of the market for videos. Through video marketing, brands can reach audiences comparable to the size of traditional TV audiences.

2. Video Attracts Mobile Users

One reason video commands such large audiences is that it attracts mobile users. By November 2021, video accounted for 69% of mobile traffic, according to a report by telecommunications provider Ericsson.

By 2027, this is projected to grow to 79%. This makes video the primary driver of mobile usage. Smartphone users are watching video in many forms, including movies, TV, sports broadcasts, short video formats such as TikTok, and social media videos.

3. Video Reaches Connected TV Audiences

Another growing audience accessible through video marketing is connected TV viewers. The connected TV viewing audience now accounts for 36% of total TV viewing time, according to IAB’s report. Advertiser spending on connected TV grew 57% in 2021 to reach $15.2 billion.

In 2022, this is projected to grow another 39% to reach $21.2 billion. Advertisers like connected TV because it allows them access to types of data not available through traditional TV and delivers better sales results. Additionally, it provides more transparency about where ads are being run and avoids reliance on third-party cookies.

4. Video Encourages Audience Engagement

Higher engagement is another big benefit of video marketing. For example, video ads drive higher engagement on Facebook than other types of content, according to 60% of marketers surveyed by data analytics provider Databox.

Video includes a couple of features that encourage audience engagement. For one thing, videos often require viewers to click to see them, which promotes audience participation.

Beyond this, videos can engage audiences through content that holds viewer attention. A video that makes viewers laugh, tells an interesting story, or shares a surprising fact encourages audience engagement.

5. Video Promotes Social Sharing

The engaging nature of video makes viewers want to share videos with their friends and followers on social media. Videos posted on social media get 1,200% more shares than posts with texts and images combined, according to Joshua Moroles of Alamo Digital Agency.

6. Video Can Help With SEO Performance

Video marketing can significantly improve your SEO performance. Adding video to existing content can increase search engine results. Video includes a number of features that can improve your brand’s search engine optimization performance. 

You can include keywords in videos just as you can in other types of content. This allows Google and the internal search engines of platforms such as YouTube to index your videos by keyword. In Google, video results appear in their own dedicated tab, which can help you compete with text-based content.

Video results often appear with thumbnails. An eye-catching thumbnail increases the odds of a video attracting clicks, pushing your search rankings up. Videos may gain additional SEO traction from referrals, shares, and comments.

7. Video Lets You Tap into Trends

Video provides marketers with an effective way to leverage the popularity of trending topics. When users search on hot topics, if you have a video posted that ties that topic into your brand, you benefit from the publicity.

Tapping into trends can be especially powerful on platforms that prioritize trending topics. For instance, TikTok’s algorithm displays results that use the same song or sound as the video currently being viewed, so if a song is trending, you can gain views by including it in your video. Using trending hashtags can help you get views on platforms such as TikTok and Twitter.

8. Video Personalizes Your Brand

Videos help marketers communicate with customers in a more personal way by putting a face on your brand. Whereas other forms of content may lack a personal touch, video lets customers see who’s talking to them.

This can make customers feel a more personal connection to your company. If the personalities who appear in your videos are humorous or entertaining, it also can serve to promote engagement and brand loyalty.

9. Video Dramatizes Your Products and Services

Seeing is believing, and one of the unique advantages of video is that it lets customers see your products and services in action. You can use video to document case studies or depict simulations that show off what you sell.

For example, a video can show what types of common problems lead customers to turn to your brand. A company selling a kitchen product might begin a video by showing a consumer frustrated over how hard it is to prepare a meal using conventional equipment, setting the stage for offering the product as an innovative solution.

Videos likewise serve to showcase product features and benefits and to pre-empt common sales objections. A video effectively can deliver an entire sales presentation in a dramatic package.

10. Videos Provide Social Proof

Another way video helps marketers is by providing a powerful form of social proof. In contrast to testimonial formats which rely on text alone, videos allow viewers to see and hear your actual customers describing their experience with your product or service.

Endorsements from celebrities, thought leaders, and other famous personalities carry more impact when delivered on video. Video brings social proof of your products and services to life in a format that is easy to share online.

Videos on Social Media Marketing Platforms

Let’s look at the most popular platforms:

YouTube

Need help setting up your youtube video marketing strategy? All your Youtube channel needs in one place.

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YouTube is one of the oldest video marketing platforms and remains the most popular. Owned by Google, YouTube benefits from Google’s search engine dominance, making it an attractive platform for marketers. Marketers use YouTube to:

• Publish original video content

• Run ads on videos that are being viewed by your target audience

• Partner with influencers to promote brands

These applications make YouTube a primary tool for video marketing. Marketers use YouTube to promote brands through formats such as:

• How-to videos

• Question-and-answer sessions

• Whiteboard presentations

•  Lists, and product reviews

YouTube marketing videos tend to be only a few minutes long, though the length can vary depending on the purpose of the video. For instance, entertaining videos intended to build brand awareness may be less than a minute, while informative videos explaining products may run up to ten minutes or more.

LinkedIn Video

LinkedIn supports its own native video format. LinkedIn native videos play automatically within the platform, which increases views and engagement.

Native videos can be posted on profile pages, shared to homepages or groups or pages, or broadcast live to profiles, pages, or events. Videos can be uploaded after being previously created or they can be created within LinkedIn itself. 

Profile videos can be up to 30 seconds long. Videos shared on homepages, groups, or pages can be up to 10 minutes long when uploaded from the LinkedIn mobile app or 15 minutes when uploaded from desktops.

In addition to supporting native videos, LinkedIn allows you to post a video ad up to 30 minutes long or to link to an embedded video hosted on an external site. Embedded videos do not play automatically on LinkedIn, unlike native videos.

Instagram

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Instagram currently supports several different video formats. Most video content now appears in a native format called Reels, which allows you to record and edit short videos up to 90 seconds long using Instagram’s Camera feature. You can add voiceovers, music, or effects.

In addition to Reels, Instagram also supports other formats, including:

• Stories, which disappear after twenty-four hours unless added as highlights

• Live broadcasts, which can be saved for archiving

• Videos, which can be recorded within Instagram or uploaded

• Video ads

Since July 2022, most Instagram videos only can be shared as Reels.

Facebook Video

Facebook supports a number of video options, including:

• Video uploads, which can be added to posts as native videos

• Stories, which can be viewed for up to twenty-four hours

• Live videos up to eight hours long

• Video ads

For video uploads, Facebook recommends MP4 or MOV formats, though a number of other formats are supported.

Webinars

Webinars are online events that can be broadcast live or recorded. They usually are delivered via software apps that support one or more presenters and up to thousands of participants. Presenters can broadcast themselves or share screen views with audiences. Audiences can participate by typing questions or speaking over audio or video. Leading webinar platforms include Zoho Meeting, ON24, Hubilo, and GoTo Webinar.

TikTok

TikTok’s platform is oriented toward short videos which feature music. The platform supports a number of video options, including:

• Brand takeover ads, which pop up on user screens when they open the TikTok app and run up to five seconds

• In-feed ads, which appear between other videos and run up to fifteen seconds

• TopView ads, which appear in a user’s first in-feed ads after three seconds and run up to sixty seconds

• Branded Hashtag Challenge ads, which invite users to record themselves participating in a challenge and upload the result with a specified hashtag

• Branded Effects ads, which are videos enhanced by augmented reality filters

TikTok supports MP4 and MOV formats.

Twitter Video

Twitter supports several different methods of sharing videos, including:

• Recording videos using the Twitter app

• Importing videos from the Twitter iPhone or iPad app

• Uploading videos to Twitter’s website

• Creating live videos using the Twitter app

Recorded and uploaded videos can run up to two minutes and twenty seconds. Twitter recommends using the MP4 format, although MOV also is supported.

Video Marketing Trends

As video marketing has grown more popular, certain tactics have become standard, while others have changed as new formats have emerged. Keeping up with the latest video marketing trends can help you know which methods are effective today. Here are ten of the latest video marketing trends:

1. Short-form Videos

As social media has become a primary channel for sharing videos, videos have been getting shorter in a couple of ways. First of all, the average length of videos is growing shorter. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok favor videos that are seconds rather than minutes long. This shorter playing time appeals to audiences’ short attention spans and attraction to quick, attention-getting entertainment.

The average amount of time videos are available for viewing also has grown shorter. This reflects the rise of story videos which disappear after twenty-four hours, popular on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. 

Some platforms such as Snapchat support videos that are available for even shorter times. For marketers, an advantage of videos being available for a limited time is that it adds a sense of urgency, encouraging clicks.

A simple way to leverage this trend is to take existing footage from longer videos you already have and repurpose excerpts from them as short-form content. Fiverr video editors can help you repurpose your videos into short-form versions.

2. Vertical Format Videos

The physical appearance of videos has been moving towards a vertical portrait orientation suitable for viewing on smartphones. This departs from the horizontal landscape orientation characteristic of movie, TV, and desktop screens. Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok have helped promote the trend toward vertical videos. A portrait orientation places more emphasis on the subject’s face, which can give marketing videos a personal touch.

The ideal way to produce vertical format videos is to shoot them in the right orientation in the first place. However, if you have existing horizontal videos, one of Fiverr's video editors may be able to help you reorient them for vertical format.

3. Vlogging

As the name implies, video blogging or vlogging is the video equivalent of blogging. Just as blogging is one of the most popular content forms for text-based marketing, vlogging has become a leading form of video marketing. Vlogging puts a face and a voice to your content and keeps content creators in touch with audiences on an ongoing basis. This builds rapport and brand loyalty while making content easier to digest for those who prefer video to reading.

Some people may feel self-conscious about vlogging. In this case, consider hiring one of Fiverr's spokesperson video specialists to produce your vlog content for you.

4. Live Videos

Smartphone cameras make it easy to record live videos, which has made live streaming a popular marketing tool. Live videos can be shot with no planning or minimal planning. They also allow brands to broadcast live events. This can give audiences a sense of being there with your representative in real-time.

What if you're not sure how to shoot live video? No worries, this is easily outsourced. For instance, Fiverr gives you access to filmed video production services to help you.

5. Unedited Video Content

The growth of live videos has promoted a trend toward unedited content. This parallels the rise of reality TV and shares some of the marketing advantages of that format. Unedited content reduces the amount of time and resources spent on editing while conveying a sense of realism that feels authentic to audiences.

6. User-generated Video Content

Smartphones allow customers as well as businesses to generate content. This has promoted a trend toward user-generated video content. User-generated content helps increase audience engagement by allowing customers to submit reviews and testimonials, comment on content, and participate in contests. Customers also can interact with other customers, which builds brand-centered communities and loyalty.

7. Social Media Video Ads

As videos have grown more popular on social media, advertising has shifted toward social media video ads. Social video ads let you deliver the equivalent of TV commercials to audience smartphones.

Video ads on social media are especially effective because social analytics tools allow you to segment your ads to reach very specific audience demographics. Social media video ads can be displayed as pop-ups upon opening apps, aired between other content, or promoted as recommended content.

Need help creating a video ad suitable for social video? Digital marketing agencies can help you, or you can hire a specialist from Fiverr to design your video ads and commercials.

 8. Interactive Videos

Videos can include features that allow audiences to interact with them. This has a number of important marketing applications which are gaining popularity.

One application of interactive video is encouraging audience participation. For example, audiences can click on videos to see different product features, explore variant story outcomes, or submit comments or questions.

Another important marketing application is making videos shoppable. Audiences can not only view products on video, but they can even make purchases directly from videos. Your video can effectively become a buy button.

9. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Videos

Marketers are using augmented reality and virtual reality to promote higher audience engagement from video viewers. AR lets online shoppers view products from different angles, zoom in, or explore different model options. Combined with selfie videos, this can promote immersive online shopping experiences. For instance, a customer shopping for clothes can use a selfie video to see how they’d look wearing a product in different colors.

Virtual reality takes realism a step further by letting audiences experience your brand in 3D. Online shoppers using a VR headset can browse through your digital store just as if they were walking through brick-and-mortar aisles and viewing physical products or service demonstrations.

Producing a video in AR or VR requires some knowledge of the software involved above and beyond knowing how to create a video. A video specialist with skills in these areas can assist you. For instance, Fiverr's marketplace features 3D product animation specialists who can help you show and explain your product using AR.

10. 4K Ultra HD Videos

4K or Ultra HD videos represent the latest resolution standard for new TV screens, which has made 4K content more common on digital devices. The increasing speed of Internet and smartphone connections also has helped make 4K more accessible to mobile audiences. While 4K hasn’t yet gained the popularity of previous resolution standards, marketers should expect it to become increasingly important as 4K content production increases and 5G speed network connections become more widespread.

How to Find Help Marketing with Video

Effective video marketing requires a combination of a sound marketing strategy and technical video production skills. If you lack the in-house talent to plan your own video marketing strategy or produce your own videos, outsourcing can be an efficient and cost-effective option.

The Fiverr marketplace provides you with access to experienced video marketing specialists knowledgeable in areas such as audience research, video SEO, video promotion and distribution, and YouTube channel management. You also can hire video and animation production experts with specialties such as social media videos, video ads, and video editing.

Use Video Marketing to Attract and Engage More Customers

Video marketing leverages the power of visual media to help businesses attract wider audiences on mobile devices, connected TVs, and other channels. This promotes higher engagement and social sharing which boosts SEO performance, personalizes branding, and strengthens sales presentations.

Top tools for video marketing include YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. Today’s marketing videos trend toward shorter videos with a vertical orientation suitable to smartphone screens. Marketers are leveraging smartphone cameras to create content through vlogging, live videos, and unedited videos. Customers also contribute user-generated content.

In addition to content marketing, video has become a popular media for social media ads and interactive videos which allow viewers to make purchases. Emerging technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and 4K are increasingly shaping video marketing as well.

These trends make video one of today’s most important tools for attracting and engaging customers on social media. Add social media videos to your marketing arsenal to grow your brand, gain more customers, and make more sales. If you need help, be sure to tap into Fiverr’s video marketing and video and animation production resources to find qualified experts who can assist you.