Social media videos: 8 tips to keep audiences watching

Like written content, a video title is the first thing your audience will notice. People are more likely to watch videos with captivating titles. Titles attract attention and determine the level of customer engagement as they inform the viewers about the content of the video. Headlines draw attention and determine the level of customer engagement while informing viewers about the video's content.

Every audience is different. A video that appeals to a particular group of people may be inappropriate to another. It is vital to know your target audience and how to create a video that resonates with them. Your target audience are those likely to be interested in your business and are more likely to patronize your goods and services. Some factors that can make people develop an interest in a product or service include:

• Profession
• Income
• Interests
• Location
• Gender
• Age

Researching an audience involves understanding their needs, attitudes, buying behavior, preferred keywords, and habits, what is crucial for effective social video advertising. Audience research is vital because it helps you to create social media videos that will resonate with your audience.

The length of your social media videos is crucial. Studies show that short videos have become the most loved on the internet. If your message is long and cannot fit into a short video, consider breaking it up into short clips of a few minutes each. You will shoot yourself on the foot and tank you engagement metrics if you put all the information in one long video.

Social media users have many videos to check out and have few seconds to decide if a video is worth spending time on. You can keep your videos straight to the point, by including only relevant and fascinating materials.

Apart from keeping your social media videos short, another critical factor to keep people watching is to grab their attention early on. Experts believe that the first few seconds of your social media videos will decide whether a viewer will continue watching or move on to something else. Some of the ways to grab the attention of your audience early on in videos are:

• Quotes
• Interesting visuals
• Questions
• Facts
• Statistics

Many companies use productivity apps to make their videos more appealing to their audience. Video technological tools were once the exclusive preserve of big corporations with enormous financial resources to purchase them. The story, however, is different today, as there are tons of affordable video tools for everyone, no matter the budget. Many people have used their smartphones to create quality social media videos. Below are simple technological tools that can add quality to your social media videos.

• Tripods
• Lightings
• External microphones

Variety, they say, is the spice of life. This is true, especially with social media videos. If your social media videos become predictable, your audience will lose interest. It is, therefore, necessary to find new ways to deliver your message in your videos. Putting a new spin on your videos will keep your audience coming back for more.

One creative way of putting variety in your videos is by using different locations when recording. Apart from the subject of your video, your background is vital in attracting your audience. For video location, there are many options for you to explore. When making your videos indoors, always use different backgrounds. You can do this by making the videos in different rooms or using some tools to change the video backgrounds.

Another way to put variety in your videos is to create different types of video content. We all have individual differences and preferences when it comes to videos. Creating different video content will help you discover those popular with your audience. Below are the different types of videos you can consider when engaging your audience.

• Live videos
• Listicles
• Question and answer videos
• User-generated content
• Promotional videos
• Tutorials

Your chances of attracting more viewers and followers increase when you have different types of videos on your social media channels.

All the social media platforms are not the same because they have different requirements for their video content. Therefore, what works on one platform may not necessarily work on others. Creating your video to conform to the format of a particular social media platform will increase its chances of getting viewed by the users. The video formats on the various social media channels are different in terms of file size, video dimension, and length. Below are the formats of some popular social media channels.

Facebook

Although you can post lengthy videos on Facebook, limit your promotional content to less than a minute. Other types of videos on Facebook include promotions, live streaming, Q/As.

Twitter

Twitter supports video content, although it is a text-based channel. Although the maximum video length is two minutes, shorter videos perform better on Twitter. Live Streams, entertainment, and promotional videos are popular on Twitter.

TikTok

TikTok is a fast-paced video-sharing platform. Users can share videos of up to three minutes. However, TikTok users love bite-sized videos, and you stand a better chance of engaging your audience if your clips are short.

YouTube

Like Facebook, YouTube can host lengthy videos. But it is always wise to keep your videos short for the audience. YouTube is great for promotional videos, live streams, educational videos, testimonials, and much more.

Instagram

Instagram, which started as a photo-sharing platform, has introduced video-sharing features like Instagram video and Instagram TV. Videos should not be longer than sixty seconds, which is the limit for Instagram videos.

Video is by far the most popular content on most social media platforms. People spend hours every day consuming video content. Many businesses and brands are taking advantage of the popularity of video content to generate leads and increase sales. Because the number of videos uploaded every day on social media is plenty, only the very best stand a chance of being viewed by users. The above tips will help you create quality social media videos that will keep your audience watching.