MAKING SOCIAL VIDEO WORK FOR YOU

STEP 1: CREATING A CALENDAR

When putting content live it’s important to be as strategic as you were in planning it. So, you need a calendar to schedule your publishing times. Short textual content, like tweets, can even be stored within the document.
There are optimum times to publish across platforms – the diagram opposite should help. You also need to plan how often you post, and how many repetitions – you have to offer enough chances to see your video without overdoing it:
Twitter: Multiple communications per day is fine. Some content will perform as well on its 5th posting as it did on its first, but try to reframe repeated content and hit different times of the day.
Facebook: Focus on quality over quantity. It’s better to upload your video once and then share it a few times with different headlines to see which works best, then target the right people for a few weeks.
LinkedIn: Once a week for original content is probably enough. Make sure you engage with people in the comments to increase your content’s visibility.
Instagram: Consistency is thought to be more important than frequency. If you have enough content that you think is interesting for the audience you can post daily Instagram stories, and keep your recorded content to once a week or less.

STEP 2: STAND OUT AND MAKE IT EASY TO ENGAGE

The copy you include with your video should act as a hook and quickly communicate why a viewer should engage. A compelling call to action is essential so it is as easy as possible for them to make the interaction you would like them to. Your thumbnail image must be as interesting and arresting as possible, to catch people’s attention. A bright coloured image works very well and make sure it tells a story or sparks curiosity so people stop scrolling.

Facebook’s search function is not great and people discover content through their Newsfeed without having a previous intention to watch it, so the copy should add a snappy extra explanation. On Twitter, people do search for content but they also discover it through users’ timelines so every single tweet should also have a strong image to go with it. Live video offers users the opportunity to react through live comments – make sure you’re there to respond because this sort of live engagement is incredibly valuable. 

STEP 3: TARGETING AND PROMOTION

The best way to boost the visibility of your videos is to make sure you allocate some of your advertising budget to targeting a specific audience. You already have insights about your audience from the work you did in chapter one. Facebook has recently announced an algorithm change that will make it harder for businesses to achieve organic reach. The good news is that £50 to £100 (or comparable amounts in € or $) can go long way with advertising, and if you’ve targeted the right people they will share your content which will do wonders for your organic reach. You can read more about the algorithm changes and how as a result, live video is becoming a particularly effective media, in our blog.

Cross promotion is also something to think about. To take Buzzfeed as an example, they use paid advertising but they also have a network of brand channels across the platforms, so each video can be used to heighten awareness of others.