Do you ever open up Facebook and think, “Okay, what’s different today?” We bet you have. It is hard not to when these social media platforms are constantly making updates to how things function. While it may confuse us at times, the changes are intended to make the platforms easier for us to use or to accommodate a trend they are seeing. The current trend is and will continue to be video and more recently live video. Let’s break it down:
Facebook
Visual media has shown to be more effective in reaching audiences than posting text alone or sharing a post, and video has a slight edge over photos when it comes to performance. Facebook videos alone are seeing more than eight million views per month on the platform. It is easy to see why this past spring Facebook made their live video feature called Facebook Live open to everyone. (Previously it was only available for verified accounts like celebrities.) The Facebook Live feature provides transparency that draws users in. A few examples of how it can be used include live Q&As, giving an inside look at your business, broadcasting conferences or event talks, and even sharing experiences like a Houston, TX plastic surgeon who is bringing live video into the operating room!
Instagram
Instagram has had a few changes this year. (Who can forget their icon change?!) But when it comes to video, they made one subtle switch and one large leap. They first increased their video time in March to 60 seconds. Previously, it was only 15 seconds. The change was made because they noticed the amount of time users spent watching videos increased by 40 percent. Then, last month, the company released Instagram Stories. Stories is similar to Snapchat, allowing you to share photos and videos of the day that will disappear after 24 hours. Stories can also be used to share what you are doing live as it is happening. While there is a time limit on a single video recording, multiple videos and photos play in succession of one another in a photo/video slideshow. For those with a good Instagram following, the engagement of the new Stories feature has been outstanding, even outperforming Snapchat. If you want to know how businesses have been using Instagram Stories, there is a great article on Instagram’s blog.
Twitter
User numbers have had little growth over on Twitter recently, but with the start of this football season, they made their next journey into video by introducing live streaming with the Jets vs Bills game. A Twitter feed showing content relevant to the game could be seen on the right side with the live video. While live video may not be a feature available to everyone on Twitter (yet), some may be able to use this to their advantage by sharing relevant content during the game.
Snapchat
Snapchat already has great video capabilities, including a user-to-user video chat, but they are not too shy to jump on the live train as well. They recently removed their Local Stories in favor of focusing on sharing large events live. From here, it would not be a stretch for Snapchat to add a feature similar to Facebook Live for their young user demographic.
What does this mean for your business? Don’t worry about making any large video productions for social media purposes, and don’t be afraid to jump in front of the camera to show your followers around. There are many ways you can provide value to your clients or customers with short videos recorded right from your phone.
If you’re looking for help getting a social media marketing campaign started, contact Baer Performance Marketing today!