12 Aug How to Get Noticed on Social Media with Video

Social media is one of the most important places online for businesses to connect with and engage target audiences, for the benefits of improved brand reputation, stronger customer loyalty and increased conversion rates. There are an overwhelming number of social media platforms that each serve a different purpose — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and Pinterest all facilitate user engagement in unique ways. So, what do they all have in common? The rise of video content. 

It’s more important now than ever before to incorporate video into your social media marketing strategy. Video content is leading the way on social media by providing the perfect combination of visuals, audio and text. Video content is also more shareable for users, who can help dramatically expand the reach of your business online. This means more followers and better conversions!

In order to make your video marketing successful, however, you need to be producing the right type of engaging content for your audience, along with making sure your videos have the right specs for each social platform. Let’s dive into the essentials of video content for social media, starting with the technical specs before discussing what types of video content your business should start creating!

Know the Specs Before You Get Started

Just as every social media platform is unique, so, too, are each of their video specifications. Making sure your marketing videos are able to be seen or even successfully uploaded in the first place relies on getting the video specs right in terms of file size, resolution, aspect ratio, file format, video length and frames per second. Without the right specs, the content of your videos simply won’t matter much, if you’re even able to upload the videos to the social platforms in the first place.

Let’s take a look at the social media video specs for Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, as outlined by Sprout Social:

Facebook Video Specs

Facebook allows for both landscape and portrait orientations for videos, with some similar and some different specifications for each. 

• For both landscape and portrait, the recommended video dimensions are 1280 x 720 pixels, with a minimum width of 600 pixels.
• The recommended landscape aspect ratio is 16:9, and the recommended portrait aspect ratio is 9:16.
• On mobile, the aspect ratio for both is automatically 2:3.
• The maximum video file size is 4GB.
• The recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• The maximum video length is 120 minutes.
• The maximum frame rate is 30fps (frames per second).

These specs cover basic Facebook posts, so it’s important to know that there are also different specs for Facebook’s many video ads options and for Facebook Stories.

Instagram Video Specs

Being a visual-based social media platform, it’s no surprise that video is extremely important and popular on Instagram. Specs for in-feed videos apply to landscape, square and vertical video orientation.

• The minimum resolution is 600 x 315 pixels for landscape, 600 x 600 for square video and 600 x 750 for vertical.
• The aspect ratio is 16:9 for landscape, 1:1 for square video and 4:5 for vertical video.
• The maximum video file size is 4GB.
• The recommended video formats are .MP4 and .MOV.
• The maximum video length is 60 seconds.
• The maximum frame rate is 30fps.

Similar to Facebook video, there are also different specs for Instagram video ads, Instagram TV, and Instagram Stories.

YouTube Video Specs

Of course, we can’t leave out the most prevalent video sharing social media platform, YouTube. While YouTube’s video player really only has one format, the player will automatically adjust to videos non-standard in dimensions by adding black bars, also known as a pillarbox, to the video. This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook when it comes to optimizing your videos, however. Keep these recommendations in mind when filming, editing and uploading YouTube videos:

• The recommended video dimension sizes include 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p).
• The minimum dimension is 426 x 240, while the maximum dimension is 3840 x 2160.
• The aspect ratio is 16:9, but the black bars or pillarboxing will be added to videos that have a 4:3 ratio.
• The maximum video file size is 128GB or up to 12 hours of run time (maximum video length), deferring to whichever is less, the file size or run time.
• The accepted video file formats include MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.

YouTube video ads follow similar recommendations, with exceptions for video length depending on the type of video ad, while YouTube display ads only have additional guidelines for the static thumbnail image.

Types of Video Content You Could Post

As is the case with creating any digital content, videos require thought and careful planning. They need to serve a purpose for either the goals of your business or the needs of your audience/customers. Video content was made for the visual and interactive nature of social media, but your videos will only stand out if you make them effective and engaging!

Consider trying some of these types of videos for social media: 

Interviews or Q&A Videos —  Interviews and Q&As are a great way to introduce audiences to your brand, team members, mission and values! These serve well for targeting users at the discovery stage of the buyer’s journey.

Tutorials and How-To Videos — Tutorials and how-tos are some of the most popular and shareable video content on the internet. Be sure to make the steps clear, your visuals engaging, and your video length not too long.

Behind-the-Scenes — Showing behind-the-scenes video footage of the work you do, your products, or little moments during the day from your business can effectively build trust and a sense of closeness with your audience. These videos help you and your brand feel real!

Live Video — Going live gives you the opportunity to connect with your audience in the moment. Whether you want to go live with a Q&A, behind-the-scenes footage, event coverage and more, live video on social media gives followers the impression that what you have to share in the present moment is important and worth watching. You can also save live video footage and repurpose it for later video content!

Event Coverage — While in-person events may be on hold for the time being, you can still provide great video coverage of virtual events your business is hosting or participating in. Event videos get your audience interested in what your brand is doing outside of your daily business practices.

Feature or Product Videos —  If your business sells a product, featuring products in videos can be a very influential asset for improving sales. Consumers are discerning and want to see a product in action before making a purchase. Special features and product videos can also improve your brand authority in your industry!

Deals and Promotions — Customers love a good deal, and videos on social media can instantly catch the eye of your audience for sales and other promotions.

Announcement Videos — Do you have an exciting announcement to make for your business? Consider sharing it in a video or building up to the announcement with video content! Turning announcements into video content ensures all eyes will be on your business with the visually engaging nature of video.

No matter what type of video content you create for social media, it’s important to remember that your videos need to be providing real value to your audience. Be creative, but also make sure to optimize videos by making videos that can work just as well without sound, adding captions and keeping your videos generally short.

Ideas to Get You Started With Video

Looking for more inspiration to get started with creating videos for your digital marketing strategy? Biteable offers an enormous list of the top-performing online video content, particularly for YouTube. Here are just a few of those ideas to get you started:

• “Getting to Know You” Videos — These can include introductions of yourself/your business/team members, regular vlogs, day-in-the-life videos, tour videos, explainers, and culture videos.
• Tutorial and Educational Videos — These can include DIYs, how-tos, product tutorials, cooking and recipes, webinars or presentations, concept explanations, Q&As and infographic videos.
• Review Videos — These can include product reviews, media reviews (books/movies/games/etc.) and testimonials.
• Entertaining Videos — These can include comedy sketches, safe challenge videos, parodies, unboxing videos and bloopers.
• Top List Videos — These can include listing your top-10 or X-number of anything relevant to your brand or audience interests.

How Do I Fit Video Into My Social Media Strategy?

While there are many steps to making videos, the creation is only the beginning. Video content needs to be optimized for each social media platform — including matching your brand voice and your audience’s expectations in the text, scheduling video to post at the right time, ensuring the right specs are in place, seamlessly integrating video into your overall social media strategy, and choosing the right types of videos to make in the first place.

Our digital marketing experts from Virtual Stacks Systems UK can help you make the most out of your video content with a comprehensive social media marketing strategy! Learn more about our social media services and other digital marketing solutions, and contact us to get started.