These days, digital engagement has turned video content into the future format for online social sites. From Instagram to TikTok and from YouTube to Facebook, video content has proved to drive higher engagement, boost brand visibility, and increase conversion rates. On the other hand, video content that would actually engage and retain an audience can be quite hard to create, especially if you are new to it, or struggling to come up with fresh ideas. This article outlines 9 ideas for social media video content to keep your social media interesting, entertaining, and relevant.
Behind-the-scenes videos
BTS videos are behind-the-scenes videos that deal with how things in your brand or business get done. These videos humanise your brand, which basically shows the work involved in creating products or services within the brand. It could be showing how your team works on a project or giving a tour of your workspace; BTS videos help create that personal touch with audiences.
For example, if your company is selling fashion merchandise, you may want to show the design and production chain. Being a service company, you can showcase how your team is preparing for, let's say, customer interactions or even major events. The bottom line is that BTS videos create transparency and build trust within your audience.
How-to or tutorial videos
How-to videos are a great method to establish authority in your niche while giving value to your audience. Whether teaching a cooking recipe, how to use a product, or giving tips on personal development, tutorial videos have high engagement potential. They answer the needs of your audience because they provide practical solutions.
How-to videos, on the other hand, should effectively communicate the instructions and include close-ups that would easily help your audience get through a procedure. Break down complex processes into step-by-step segments if necessary, to make information even easier to digest.
Product demonstrations and reviews
Product demo videos can show the features, benefits, and usage of a product. Some of these videos might drive the purchase decisions of your probable customers by bringing them much closer to what your product actually holds for them. Product reviews build credibility, especially when done by influencers or satisfied customers.
For businesses selling any kind of physical goods or even services that have some online component, product demos and reviews are among the most powerful converting techniques. The more your audience understands how your product works and what makes it unique, the better equipped they will be to make a purchase.
Showcases for user-generated content
User-generated content is a great way to create communities and stir more activity into your social media. You could ask your customers or followers to contribute through videos what their experiences with your product or service have been, and then put those submissions together into a UGC video.
User-generated content is a creation of trust because it serves as some form of social proof. The more consumers who have seen and experienced, the more people will be able to trust it, rather than promotional communications from the brand. Once you promote this kind of content, it speaks volumes that your brand is not only credible but highly engaging with the community.
Event highlights and recaps
Whether a physical or virtual event, filming the highlights or a recap of such an event is fantastic in terms of audience engagement. You can choose to show them the most essential moments, guest speakers, performances, or anything that makes this event special. Event recap videos keep the audience updated on what happened and make those people not present during the event feel included in it.
If you attend trade shows, product launches, or corporate events, these can also be leveraged into video content that will tease and encourage viewers to attend such events in the future.
Interview videos with industry experts
Web video interviews provide a simple, effective way to share high-value insights of the thought leaders or influencers in your industry. Showcasing experts in your niche offers one-of-a-kind insights, tips, or inspiration to your audience. It's also good for getting the traction of the follower base of the interviewee. Their followers surely will like or comment on your content because it features them.
You can interview in a lot of different formats: sit-down Q&As, virtual interviews, and rapid-fire question sessions. Keep the conversation above relevant to what your audience cares about, and encourage the expert to provide actionable takeaways.
Day-in-the-life videos
DITL videos add an intimate touch by letting your audience get behind the door into your daily routine or that of your team members. This could be an interesting video, because, well, it is raw and actually a reality to you or perhaps an idea into people's lives at your company.
For example, an entrepreneur might show a DITL video of how they start their day, manage their meetings, and makes important business decisions. For a brand, follow a team member through a typical workday and show their contribution to the company's success.
Vlogs and storytelling
Vlogs are, in fact, shortened forms of the words 'video blogs'. These are excellent ways to share personal or branded stories in a casual, conversational manner. The storytelling through vlogs will help build relationships with your audience by making this content a little more relatable and authentic. The key to success in vlogging, which will actually make it work, is to be oneself, connect with others, and tell stories that people will want to listen to.
Whether you are vlogging about your business journey, launching a product, or even giving your take on industry trends, it does allow you to establish rapport and show the human side of your brand.
Challenges and trend-based content
One quick way to do so with users on social media is to participate in trending challenges or create content around trending topics. Because these apps, like TikTok and Instagram, are saturated with viral challenges and trends, jumping on one will multiply your visibility greatly.
Do challenges as long as it makes sense to your brand identity or product offering. Take, for instance, a very popular trending dance challenge that could be happening; participate in that but work your product into the dance routine in a fun, witty way. This keeps content relevant to your brand and gives greater chances of sharing your videos.
Creating entertaining video content for social media does not have to be complicated. With these nine ideas-BTS videos, tutorials, product demos, UGC, event highlights, interviews, DITL videos, vlogs, and challenges-you will be able to diversify your content strategy, engage your audience, and amplify the online presence of your brand. You are welcome to try each of these video formats, but do not forget to monitor the efficiency of your videos, so you will know what works best for your audience and improve your strategy in accordance with that.
