2015 is the year of social media marketing video. If you look at the statistics of organic reach and engagement, I should be doing this blog post as a video. Video is taking off in 2015. Marketers are jumping on the bandwagon to gain organic reach and to cut through social media clutter to engage customers.
Last week Socialbakers released survey data showing that Facebook photo posts now have the lowest organic reach. Video posts are seen twice as often, followed by text status updates. Here is how Socialbakers’ breakdown of post-based organic reach looked in the fourth quarter of 2014:
Why is this happening?
One reason is clutter. Your customers’ social media feeds are overflowing with content. Marketers are all competing for share of attention and engagement. Video is still less common, so it stands out. And the motion of video (in auto play) catches attention while scrolling. Some marketers are even going back to paper catalogs in the mail to cut through the clutter and integrate with other social media channels.
Another reason is because Facebook, Twitter, Vines, and Instagram are pushing social media marketing video. In 2014 the number of native video posts on Facebook exceeded the number on YouTube. Mark Zuckerberg stated last year that if you look to the future, a lot of content that people will share will be video. Facebook’s algorithm now prioritizes video over photos for display in news feeds. It’s not just Facebook. Twitter is also pushing native video this year.
A third reason is that video is just a better medium for some communications. Explanations, screencasts, and webinars are often more effective ways to tell a story or to show product or service features and benefits. Micro videos via Vines or Instagram may be very effective for a short burst of humor or beauty or amazement.
Social media marketers have historically talked about and striven for video virality. But the data show that after a short viral period engagement goes back to pre-viral levels. I believe the goals should be:
- match the medium to the message
- strive for engagement and shareability
If marketers just read the headlines, we would all migrate all future content to video. But that will just shift the social media clutter to video instead of photos. What will we do then to break through the new video clutter? It’s the latest fad, but I would argue to think more about matching the medium to your message. Use video when it makes sense and will help you to not only capture attention but also to engage your audience.
Use video when you need to:
- explain and demonstrate something
- do a webinar to go in depth on a subject
- tell a story
- show something beautiful
- share a heartwarming experience of interaction
- interact with people or animals
- amaze people with a stunt or feat of adventure
I believe 2015 is the year of social media marketing video. I also predict that many marketers will jump onto the bandwagon blindly. What have your video marketing experiences been so far on social media? What are your plans for 2015?
