Social media has taken off in recent years, gaining popularity among brands as a cost-effective form of advertising. Today, the most popular trend is producing social media videos to reach their target audience.
It all began with Facebook back in the mid-2000s. Mark Zuckerberg was a young college student looking for a way to meet girls. In 2017, Facebook Stories gave brands a “commercial-like” opportunity to post video shorts about their products or services.
A year and a half later, TikTok launched its platform, and mini branding videos became the latest advertising trend. Social media is a powerful tool for branding. Here’s what organizations and brands of all sizes should know about the latest social media video production trends.
The Rise of Social Media and Branding
At the dawn of social media, it was all about self-promotion. Everyone remembers MySpace. (Whatever happened to Tom?) People were able to make a social media profile using code generators to capture their unique styles.
Unfortunately, users longed for simplicity, and MySpace was quickly replaced by Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, to name a few. People used these platforms to connect with friends and stay in touch with loved ones (and still do).
It didn’t take long for people to use these platforms to begin using social media as a form of advertising. Brands and public figures started making profile pages, and the social media giants learned how to profit from businesses.
It led to the rise of influencers and gave brands of all sizes a way to monetize their content. Today, the market value of social media advertising is $229.5 billion.
4 Leading Social Media Video Platforms
Brands use multiple channels to reach their target audience. Social media has given these organizations another tool for engaging with potential and existing customers.
Social media video production is another one of those channels and benefits organizations by:
- Brand building
- Relationship building
- Standing out over the competition
- Increasing audience engagement
- Repurposing content
There are four primary social media platforms that organizations use to post videos. Some are more well-known and easier to use than others, but they each serve their own branding purpose.
1. TikTok
In August 2018, TikTok launched its platform with a premise centered around video shorts of people dancing or conducting character skits to gain followers. Shortly after, well-known brands began making 5 to 30-second commercials to post on the platform.
TikTok is the most popular social media site today, with over a billion daily users worldwide. The platform has brought fame to many previously unknown personalities, revived the careers of former celebrities (or, at the very least, increased engagement), and given brands and customers a way to connect face to face, virtually.
TikTok is the leader in the social media video production trend. Brands need to create video content to post daily (sometime multiple times daily) to stay relevant in their customer’s minds.
2. YouTube
YouTube has been around a little longer. The platform went live in 2005, a year after Facebook. While TikTok limited video length to 10 minutes (previous versions only allowed for 3-minute videos), users can post hours of content per video on YouTube.
Brands mostly use YouTube for the “How-to” videos or to promote products and services. Viewers can even subscribe to the channel of their favorite influencer who promotes their favorite product to learn how that influencer uses that item.
One of the most common YouTube video posts is makeup tutorials by influencers who show fans how they use the various kinds of makeup. Influencer how-to videos are the preferred methods of social media advertising brands use.
3. Snapchat
Members of the younger generations favor this social media platform. Millennials use Snapchat to communicate. However, brands utilize Snapchat to target their ads toward Gen Z and Gen Alpha – the next generations of consumers.
Snapchat isn’t as popular among older generations, although Gen Xers (and even some Boomers) use this social media channel. That’s why brands should be posting videos on all forms of social media. Many of the apps work together and allow users to cross-post videos.
4. Facebook and Instagram Reels
Instagram was the first of Zuckerberg’s Meta corporation social media platforms to begin showing Reels. Facebook followed the next year, in 2021. It was clear Zuckerberg would not allow TikTok to outdo him without at least trying to compete.
Sadly for Zuckerberg, Reels failed to do as well as TikTok. Most of what users post to Reels (on Facebook and Instagram) are their TikTok videos. Both platforms make it easy to cross-post videos.
The one issue with cross-posting from TikTok is that Reels have a maximum length of 90 seconds. If a user’s TikTok video is longer, the Reels video will cut off at 90-seconds.
Inevitably, this often happens at an inconvenient time of the video, leaving viewers frustrated. Brands should avoid this whenever possible by keeping their content under 90 seconds.
Keep Up with the Latest Social Media Video Trends with an Orlando Video Production Team
Social media videos come in various forms. A brand looking to create videos has endless options, from pre-recorded videos to live video content. The best part about it is that you do not need an extensive background in video production to create business videos.
But not everyone is comfortable producing, editing, and publishing videos on their own. Sometimes they need the support of a production team who can help them create professional-looking videos that stand out.
An Orlando video production team can help brands create video masterpieces, no matter the organization’s size. Get professional results without spending Hollywood money.
Our Orlando video production company, NG Production Films, can communicate effectively and efficiently to produce high-quality video production. We have over a decade of experience to produce the next video production project for your organization. Call NG Production Films today for a free no-obligation consultation at 877-203-2895 or fill out our contact form for a prompt reply.
