Debunking Common Social Media Video Marketing Myths

With the increasing number of individuals being available online, digital marketing has played a vital role in today’s marketing tactics. Alongside website design and development and Search Engine Optimization (SEO), marketing on social media videos has also become a trend. 

Today, people watch 4x more Facebook Live content and 80% more video content on Instagram than a year ago. YouTube reaches more people between ages of 18 and 49 compared to any cable or broadcast TV network, not to mention that it’s for mobile alone. More than 60% of marketers say they’re expanding their video marketing budget this year, and by 2021, the video is projected to account for 82% of all internet traffic.

Since it’s here to stay (and there’s nothing we can do about it), it’s about time to debunk the common myths associated with video marketing on social media.

Myth #1: To be effective, video needs exclusive footage and professional editing.

A lot of businesses hold back from investing in video marketing because they assume that social media-friendly content needs exclusive footage and a professional editor. , it’s expensive to get high-quality equipment and shoot and edit the video to create the final product. 

Though, when you use advanced DIY platforms such as Promo by Slidely, these restrictions to enter video marketing can be eliminated. Using Promo’s archives of over 2 million professionally shot video clips with a lifetime license and music options included, you can experience the benefits of video marketing without the need to break the bank. 

Emerging quickly as a go-to solution for small business marketers, solo entrepreneurs and early-stage startups with their sights on the social media newsfeed, Promo makes it easy to add your logo and text titles to videos as well. Say goodbye to expensive software, service providers and equipment — and to production cycles that are so long that you can’t keep up with the speed of changes on social media.

Myth #2: All mobile-friendly video needs to be vertical.

Many marketers believed that people merely have the patience for vertically-oriented video frames on mobile social apps. This myth echoed the inaccurate conventional wisdom of years past when individuals affirmed that desktop website audience doesn’t scroll, so we should all ensure to place calls to action “above the fold.” 

Facebook itself suggested brands to switch to square video content uploads, indicating tests they run which showed superior ad recall performance. Video clips designed with the 1:1 ratio have shown to increase completion rates by 67%, as per a marketing company called Laundry Service.

This fact implies that more people will watch your videos from start to finish. And Buffer recently published the results of an experiment where they exposed that square footage drives more social media engagement, regardless of the audience’s device.

Mobile versus Desktop

It makes a lot of sense. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other known social media platforms with newsfeed will crop a vertical video, so it doesn’t take up too many real effects as people scroll through, but they don’t crop the square ones, which means that this aspect ratio is your best bet for maximizing newsfeed footprint.

Myth #3: YouTube is dead.

With the increasing number of video-sharing platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Vimeo, to name some leading ones — it’s nothing but easy for people to believe that YouTube is dead. 

However, the data shows that such sentiment is misguided. YouTube continues to be the most popular online video distribution property. From desktop devices, the Google-owned property is attracting over 150 million unique viewers per month, according to comScore, compared with Facebook’s 94.6 million.

Myth #4: Videos should not be longer than 3 minutes.

Human now has a smaller attention span than goldfish. You’d think that makes a case for short videos, don’t you? Well, while short videos have their place in the mobile social world, there is also a room for more extended contents. This reminds a seemingly endless debate over the optimal number of lead capture form fields. Though more audience will finish it as you minimize the demands on visitors, when you have more, then it’s safe to say that ones who made it to the end are really into you. 

Facebook data exposed that impact on advertisement recall, brand awareness, and purchase intent rises with video view duration. On the other hand, the same study revealed that people didn’t have to watch an entire video for these performance metrics to increase — even views that lasted under 10 seconds yielded rises in awareness and purchase intent.

A study from Wistia, meanwhile, found that viewer engagement with video content does start to taper off once the three-minute mark passes, but then it plateaus again, with the next engagement drop arriving after 12 minutes of viewing.

Engagement versus Length

Ideally, your video should be as long as it needs to be. Focus on making the video valuable, and audience engagement will follow. When you can hold your audience for beyond 3 minutes, then you are likely to keep them for up to 8 more.

If you are doing this on Facebook, mind you, it’s even possible to create a custom advertising audience based on the high-intent viewers who made it past the three-minute mark – or whatever view duration benchmark you want. People like the video because it provides them the freedom to consume the content they want to see, on the channel they want to be, on the time that is most convenient for them. It’s short, compelling, and simple to digest.

Wrapping Up

Being involved in video marketing on social media can be daunting for many businesses at first. But once they learn the truth about what works and what doesn’t,  it can be the best way to win their target market. Looking for an explainer video for your business? Check out our portfolio of amazing explainer vidoes.

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