Can Video Really Make a Difference for My Business?

​In a word, yes!

According to wordstream, “Social Video Generates 1200% more shares than text and image content combined.”

This means that all of the big social networks are focusing more and more on video because it drives a higher engagement than text and images.

So, including video on your social feed can make a difference.

But what about making sales?

According to Unbounce, adding a video to your landing page, can increase conversions by 80% - not too shabby.

Knowing that video can greatly increase not only your social media engagement, but also your sales conversions, probably has you wondering what are some of the best practices for creating social video.

Here are some helpful tips to help you make sure your videos are ready for any social network.

Tips to Help You Get Started With Social Video

Captions

Did you know that 85% of Facebook videos are watched with the SOUND OFF? (DigiDay)

Make sure your point comes across via text.

Graham Mudd, Director of Monetization Product Marketing at Facebook, says that as many as 40% of Facebook ads do not effectively communicate their message without captions!(Business Insider)

Make the text big and easy to read from a mobile device. 16px is popular for main text while secondary text should be smaller, around 14px, so a distinction can be seen.

Make sure the text is on the screen long enough. It is recommended that no more than two lines of text be displayed at a time, and for a minimum of 0.3 seconds for each word  For example, the caption “I’m DJ Sobanjo, the founder and CEO of Profit from Coaching” should be on the screen for at least 3.3 seconds. We suggest rounding this to 4 seconds. (BBC)

Aspect Ratio―Portrait vs Landscape vs Square

• Portrait is great for for stories posted on SnapChat and Instagram, with an ideal ratio of 9:16
• Landscape is best for YouTube, Facebook, and viewing on computers.
• Square is easy to use on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and is overall the most versatile since it works on mobile and desktop.

How long should your video be?

In general, audience engagement tends to drop off for videos longer than 2 minutes, but the optimal video length varies per platform (Hubspot)

• Instagram: 30 seconds
• Twitter: 45 seconds
• Facebook: 1 minute
• YouTube: 2 minutes

Ok, what’s next?

Now that you know the best practices for creating social video, it’s time to get started! You can create video directly within most of the apps listed above, or you can use a video creation tool, such as Headliner (it’s free!)  to add captions, copy from one aspect ratio to another, and more.