Video content has taken social media by storm and continues to be one of the most popular formats on the internet. It’s no surprise—from both a consumer and marketing standpoint. Social media video content is easy to understand, highly engaging, and notable for its extreme versatility.
The popularity of video as a format on social media has continued to grow steadily over the years, with people watching double the amount of video content online since 2018. In 2024 video is an essential tool for your marketing or social media strategy.
Video content is proven to increase customer engagement, followers, and interest in a product. Whether you are starting out or revamping your video content—we are here to help!
In this post, we’ll outline the benefits of video marketing, how to create an engaging video and the best video formats for social media in 2024.
What is a social media video?
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Social media video is a type of video content made specifically for social networks. This type of content is made with the audience and platform in mind, usually to entertain, drive engagement and captivate particular target segments.
Why does social video drive engagement?
So, when it comes to social media video, what’s all the hype about? There’s a good reason marketers can’t stop talking about how important video is for any social media campaign. In short, social videos are a concise and easy way to share information with your viewers.
Posting regular videos means you are active and involved in relevant news and trends on social media. This engages your audience, builds trust, and provides clarity about your brand’s products, mission, and personality.
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Video now accounts for 82% of all internet traffic—people prefer video and brands need to start speaking their language. Not only are videos entertaining but they are easy to share and watch. Social videos are the perfect cocktail for savvy marketing and growth hacks.
How to create engaging social media video
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Market research is the key to nailing your social video campaign, be sure to check out other accounts posting videos on similar topics.
Crafting an engaging video means knowing your audience and creating an engaged community of followers. Get to know your audience and monitor insights, likes, and dislikes over time.
Social video productions operate on budgets big and small, just make sure to plan what you will need. Think equipment, talent, lighting, and location—you can also use social media templates to elevate your video and add a professional finish.
Adding captions to your video is a full-proof way to engage anyone with their sound turned off and make it inclusive.
Top video marketing channels
There are some clear winners when it comes to potential video marketing channels, each offers different formats for video and can be optimized to match your content.
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- YouTube
Youtube has over two billion monthly active users, making it the most popular website after Google. It’s an important tool for brands to promote their products and gain new followers. Users can view your content or subscribe to your channel to access both short and long-form video content plus Youtube stories—which expire after seven days.
Roughly two-thirds of Instagram’s one billion monthly users are aged 34 years and under, making it an attractive channel for marketers. The platform offers the extremely popular IG stories—short-form video that features reply, CTA, and like options. Instagram’s latest feature, Reels, was inspired by TikTok and allows users to apply filters and effects. Instagram Video recently replaced IGTV and combined it with in-feed video posts.
- TikTok
TikTok has experienced exponential growth since launching in 2017, now with over one billion active monthly users. The success is due to the platform’s commitment to social video trends like filters, dances, hashtags, and sounds. We’ve explored the fascinating world of green screen on TikTok and how it can transform your content creation experience. Learning how to do green screen on TikTok is not just about adding a fun feature to your videos; it’s about unlocking limitless creative potential. Whether you’re looking to share stories, educate, or entertain, green screen tools can help you immerse your audience in a world of your making. Recently rolling out Snapchat style stories that expire after 24 hours, and short-form videos that appear in feed for up to 10 minutes in length.
Facebook is the most popular social media platform on earth! with over two billion monthly active users. Video engagement is incredibly high on the platform, making it the perfect place to promote your brand or product. Facebook features short-form videos called stories, interactive live-stream video,s and traditional video content that appears in feed for users.
5 biggest social media video trends to try in 2024
Ephemeral video
Ephemeral video content is transient and disappears after 24 hours, appearing momentarily for followers to watch or interact with. Most people will be familiar with ‘stories’, a feature available on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
This type of content is so popular due to its momentary nature, enticing people to stay up-to-date with accounts they follow.
Snapchat introduced ephemeral content to social media and, in order to compete, Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter have all added their own versions over the years too.
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Ephemeral video is a proven way to increase video engagement on social media, these short videos make a huge impact. Creating a sense of urgency amongst followers and promoting interaction in real-time.
If you’re late to the game—don’t worry, the trend is on an upward trajectory with more brands using stories to promote their products than ever. Here are some tips on how to create engaging short videos for social media.
- Ephemeral content can be anything from video to typography. The point is making content that is relevant and lively, adding personality and connecting with followers.
- Creating high-quality promotional videos for upcoming products or events with a CTA will increase profile visits. If you are working with a smaller budget try adding user-generated content, quizzes or competitions.
- Sharing your followers’ content to stories is a great way to start a conversation and show your brand’s authenticity and build trust. Of course, all of these can be done together or separately to promote interaction and profile visits.
- Make sure to do your research, and check out some well-known brands that are using stories to engage their audience.
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National Geographic is phenomenal at reaching followers—their latest stories campaign included incredible underwater footage with a NatGeo marine biologist and photographer. Allowing followers to ask questions and view behind-the-scenes footage.
Carousel video
Carousel ads are a form of paid promotion available on social media that combine multiple images or videos in a moving ‘carousel’. This type of content is so effective advertisers see a click-through rate 10 times higher than other ad formats.
Facebook and Instagram are the most common channels for this type of promoted content, but it is also available on Pinterest, Linkedin, and recently Twitter.
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Carousel ads appear in-feed and can be swiped through on mobile or clicked through on desktop. Most platforms allow advertisers to upload up to 10 images, with marketing experts believing 3-5 is optimum to grab someone’s attention.
Carousel video ads can feature instructional and topical content or product information and releases. Basically showcasing some aspect of your business personality and what you can offer.
This video trend lets brands upload large amounts of content to one advertisement. Making it a desirable social video format and increasing engagement with your customers.
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Take the grocery store Tesco, which added instructional how-to videos about baking via carousel ads, and included a link to their product range. It’s important to only use high-quality video and keep your text brief—let the video do the talking!
Carousel ads aren’t just advertisements, they are an opportunity for brands to tell a story, embark on a journey and engage people with similar values and interests.
Live video
People are using social media more than ever and want to engage with real people and genuine experiences. Keeping this in mind, it’s no surprise Live video has been trending on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, and TikTok.
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In fact, in a recent study, 82% of people preferred Live video from a brand compared to regular social posts. Considering this, what exactly is a Live video and how do you use this type of content effectively in your social media strategy?
Social media live-streaming means conducting a live video feed with your audience, connecting with them in real-time. Fans and followers can comment, like, and react to your content.
It’s a super engaging and fun process that is spontaneous and less scripted than traditional video.
Just like you would with an offline event, build some hype around your upcoming Livestream and make sure followers are excited to see how it unfolds. Most Live streams are improvisational but you should do some basic planning and practice ahead of time too.
Live streaming is the perfect format to share a BTS look at your workspace, cover an event or product launch, and share tips with followers. You can keep followers engaged by adding competitions and giveaways throughout.
Make sure to pick the right platform for your live stream, and consider the purpose and your demographic. If you are unsure, you can stream across multiple platforms at one time.
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Fashion brand Moschino promoted their show during Fashion Week with influencer Chiara Ferragni. Covering the show live on Snapchat and inviting followers to take part and access BTS footage.
This is just one example of how a brand created hype for their new product line and actively engaged their following.
Influencer collaboration video
Speaking of influencers, collaboration videos are a great way to connect with your audience. It can be a cost-effective option for small businesses and consumers trust this type of content 50% more than other media.
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In a nutshell, a brand will share their products or create an incentive for influencers to mention or promote products via their social media. Just like any marketing plan, research the best influencers and platforms for your product.
Collaboration videos can be shared on platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Ultimately expanding a brand’s reach via the influencer’s existing following and network of loyal fans.
Some of the most popular types of Influencer collaboration videos include unboxing videos, where influencers unpackage goods sent from a brand. They record themselves opening the gift and share insights about the products.
Product reviews involve influencers sharing their thoughts on a recent product either sent to them or that they have used. Not all influencer collaboration is paid, that’s why it’s so effective for connecting with genuine customers.
How-to videos are a great way to show exactly what your products are and offer potential customers a fail-safe option before buying.
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The dating app Bumble has crushed influencer marketing with frequent influencer takeovers and video content shared directly from regular contributors.
This is just one clip from their plethora of influencer content, using humor and relatable topics to reach an audience. Focusing on college students and micro-influencers discussing their career aspirations and dating woes.
Long-form video
Now we arrive at the opposite end of the spectrum with long-form video, one of 2024’s up and coming trends. It seems counterintuitive—given social media videos usually range between 15-60 seconds in length.
Long-form can be categorized as any video over 10 minutes in length, with short-form being anything under. People are now spending an average of six hours per day watching video content.
Yet the majority of brands only post content under one minute in length. This means marketers have a huge opportunity to fill a gap in the market. Crafting advertisements and native content that is relevant to their audience.
Long-form is a great means of storytelling for brands and builds deeper connections with customers. Businesses can share live videos, podcasts, interviews, and educational material, just to name a few.
Not only do people enjoy good storytelling, but long-form is also great for SEO and helps build authority. Consider putting together a video about your company’s founding story or a documentary about a cause you support.
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Dollar Shave Club has been quick to jump on this trend with its long-form ad campaign that won a long-form video award.
Youtube and Facebook are leading the charge with this style of content, hosting Dollar Shave Club’s award-winning campaign Stop Living Dull.
The advertisement features a man running on a treadmill for 45 minutes and a worker counting jelly beans, with the campaign slogan ‘blades shouldn’t be dull’ in the background. Tempting viewers to continue watching mundane tasks in the hope of something happening.
It’s an offbeat way to share an important branded message ‘Change your razor blades’—DSC has cited viewers watching for a length 600% more than the industry benchmark.
Imagination and a sense of humor can go a long way in presenting your brand’s product or ethos, no pun intended!
Leveraging Social Media Video Content
And, that’s a wrap! Remember staying up-to-date with social media video trends is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Stay tuned for changes and monitor metrics after implementing your next social campaign, check out our blog for more guides and tips on how to nail your social media strategy.