People want action! And by action, I mean videos. Social platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are the top three video hosting services in the world today, and they’re pushing for people to use their platforms to upload videos.
Facebook recently released new updates to its newsfeed algorithm which increases the display priority of its own videos. The increased priority of its own videos mean that they’re encouraging you to upload your videos directly to Facebook instead of embedding the videos in from other services like YouTube or other hosting sites.
These top three services each have benefits and best practices that you can use to successful market your videos. It’s these marketing capabilities that have distinguished these platforms as front runners in the battle of video content. In this blog, we’ll take a look at each platform and breakdown the details of their videos and also some of the best practices for that service.
YouTube
Let’s begin with the platform that everyone thinks of first when it comes to videos – YouTube. The platform itself is 10 years old and has positioned itself as the go-to place when you’re looking for videos. The platform itself has over 1 billion users and 300 hours of videos are uploaded every minute.
- 30 seconds of a video counts as a view.
- Videos autoplay with sound on, but they do not loop.
- It has an embeddable video format.
YouTube Best Practices
Brand your channel. If you create a channel on this platform, make sure to customize the channel to include your brand’s information and logo.
Be consistent. Upload new content consistently, without compromising the content of the videos. This will create a following by encouraging people to be on the lookout for new videos.
Treat YouTube like a search engine. Target the audience your videos are meant to be seen by. Whether your audience searches directly on YouTube or is directed there from Google, your videos will reach users on this all-purpose, industry-leading platform.
While YouTube is leading the charge for video hosting platforms, Facebook is quickly becoming the top contender for the title. Facebook videos’ daily views have risen to 8 billion. This is double what it was in April of this same year. The platform’s new algorithm updates will entice users to take advantage of the services video hosting abilities.
- 3 seconds of a video count as a view.
- Videos autoplay, but without sound or auto-looping.
- Videos are embeddable outside the platform.
Facebook Best Practices
Create good content. This might seem obvious, but since most people have autoplay enabled, you have the opportunity to catch the attention of people scrolling by without having them click on your video.
Tag the captions of your videos. With Facebook, you have the ability to reach out to other pages by mentioning and hashtagging in your videos.
Use call-to-actions. Take advantage of the call-to-action features at the end of your videos. Use the “Learn More,” Watch More,” or “Sign Up” buttons to encourage views to stay engaged with your content.
Not just for pictures of coffee and your lunch, Instagram is becoming extremely popular with brands looking to feature short videos. There are more than 40 billion videos and pictures on the platform, with over 80 million added every day.
- Videos are limited to 15 seconds.
- The videos auto-loop.
- You can embed Instagram videos, but only with the rest of the post.
Instagram Best Practices
Get their attention. Just like Facebook (who owns Instagram), videos on this platform need to contain engaging content in the first few seconds to encourage people to view the entire video.
Make it fun. Instagram is a social site first. Take advantage of the tagging and hastagging features of the platforms and create content that has the potential to go viral. A successfully branded video should encourage people to like and share the post; for this reason, avoid having making them a sales pitch and instead, make them fun.
Make it count. Remember, your videos only last 15 seconds. This might not seem like enough time to get your message across to viewers, but by producing a solid video with good content from start to finish, people will be more willing to engage with your brand.
And, Action!
Videos are becoming a must-have in the online advertising world. People engage more with videos, and platforms like the three above are encouraging brands to incorporate videos on their pages. If your business is looking to attract more customers, make sure you’re giving them what they want to see.
If you’d like to learn more about what advertising tactics are available for your videos, contact us today and we’ll discuss everything you need to know about video advertising. Download our free whitepaper below to learn about the difference between a business page and a personal page on Facebook.
