As an entrepreneur who needs potential customers to become aware of their brand, services, and/or products, social media video is a must. They are popping up everywhere people seem to be spending downtime: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, and even LinkedIn.
These videos are under three minutes but are most typically six to 20 seconds long.
Videos are needed for small business marketing because:
- 96% of people have watched a video to learn more about a product/service
- 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool
- 88% of people were convinced to buy a product/service after watching a video product
- 72% of people rather watch a video about a topic versus read about a topic
- 70% of “non-video marketers” plan to use video marketing in 2023
In order to break down the sort of videos people want to see on social media, you need to first ask yourself: what are the kinds of videos I want (or better yet, my viewers want me) to create?
Social Media Video Ideas for Small Businesses
- Product Demonstrations: No, do not make a late-night infomercial. Instead, show how your widget spins on your finger to the tune of a trending song.
- New Product/Service Announcements: Again, don’t be an infomercial or an ad. Show viewers the new announcement in a way that fits the platform. This might mean showing your widget being used to a trending song on TikTok or Instagram, or a small story on Linked In discussing the trials, tribulations, and success of bringing that product to market. Think about what your audience wants to see (entertainment for the masses? inspiration for the business world?) and you can’t go wrong.
Include the story behind the new product. - Give a Tip from Your Industry Expertise: Do you have a tip that no one seems to have common knowledge about? Remember, people don’t have the exact same sphere of knowledge. Share away!
- Industry Mythbusting: Every industry has newcomers who are spewing a lot of uninformed mumbo jumbo. Don’t attack anyone, but do make a video that says “You know that mumbo jumbo you’ve been hearing about? Here are the facts about it.”
- Tips for Being Successful at Work/Life Balance: We all need tips about this. Share what you know and what others who work for you know!
- History of Your Industry: You’re in your industry for a reason, and like most of us, you probably know some pretty interesting tidbits. Share those tids and bits with us!
- Answer Social Media Comments: It’s good business to respond to every comment you receive on social media as a small- to mid-size business. But what’s even better is responding in a video to the questions you might get.
- Employees Discussing Why They Started Working at Your Company: Don’t force anyone to say nice things about your company, but do see if anyone has a fun experience or funny story to share. It makes your company more human, and people like buying from humans!
- Management Discussing What Got Them Where They Are Today: There are a lot of great stories that don’t get told. Think about the people who lead your company and what inspired them/what obstacles they overcame to be where they are.
- Show Off Your Company Culture: There’s a reason why this is under the “entertaining” segment. No one wants to see people at a computer for 8 hours. They want to see people playing ping-pong during a brainstorming session or the office cat. Create a video of your company culture.
- Answer a FAQ: If you keep hearing the same question, it’s a good idea to create a video about it and to even repost it every few months as a new crop of visitors starts wondering the same thing.
- Comparisons (Influencer Marketing): Show your product compared to another product–but in order for people to believe what they’re seeing, it’s important to get a third party involved. Hire an influencer with ties to what your company does to give their honest opinion about your product/service!
- Call Out an Amazing Testimonial/Review: Testimonials and reviews are usually written, but the response to them doesn’t need to be! Have someone read the reviewer’s words out loud and react to them. Maybe this is a heartfelt thank you on Linked In, or it’s a lipsynched “Thank you, Thank You Very Much” a la Elvis on Instagram. Always remember your platform and what your audience wants to see!
- Milestones: Is it an anniversary for your company? Did you open another location? Did you hire another employee? Mark it with a video!
- Talk About the History of Your Company: And don’t be boring, or you’ll sound like the teacher from Peanuts: “Mwah mwah mwah mwah.” Did your company start in a woodshed? Did it have two employees–you and your dog? Is your logo modeled after your child’s first-grade sketch? Share the seemingly mundane with the world–as long as it’s a fun little side note.
- Show the Steps It Took to Go from Concept to Final Product: People like knowing that the cup they’re holding didn’t just magically appear on a shelf one day. Show the fun parts of the process: dumping down the clay, heating the kiln, and glazing it. Think of all the satisfying eye candy of the process and share it with your viewers.
- Celebrate a Holiday that Showcases Your Brand/Product/Service: Is it Valentine’s Day and you sell car insurance? That’s a hard item to sell with sincerity unless you are very, very clever. (Hi Geico!) But what about someone’s 16th birthday? Handing over the keys and an insurance policy? That’s pretty fun and emotional and memorable.
Include the story behind the new product.
AND A BONUS IDEA!
Show Your Company’s Flaws: This is an important value to share. People relate to vulnerability. Now, this doesn’t mean you talk about the Christmas when you lost 500 orders. Instead, think about what you fumbled–and then overcame. So if you lost those 500 orders but then rectified the mistake AND changed your company’s processes so it wouldn’t happen again…that’s an important, heartfelt, human video to make.
As you undertake being one of those business owners embracing social media video, keep in mind that perfection isn’t the name of the game. Professionalism and consistent branding are, but if you aren’t perfectly scripted or stumble over a word, people will relate to you more, not less.
But do make sure you are thinking of your viewer, not yourself, as you create your videos. Viewers are really good at spotting content that was made for them and content that was made for the company’s ego.
In the end, if you create social media videos based on what readers like to see and that fit your company brand, you’ll have a win-win video.
digit-ALL is a full-service marketing company that focuses on the people side of marketing. We focus on websites, social media, video creation, blogs, newsletters, and even corporate event planning. We’re here to help when you’re ready for it.
SOURCES:
7 Examples of Small Business Using Video to Build Their Brand, VidYard.com.
15 Inspiring YouTube Video Ideas to Build Your Brand, Jon Clark, SearchEngineJournal.com.
Video Marketing Statistics 2023, Wyzowl.com.
