3 Steps to Creating Awesome Social Video Content

February 20, 2017

Hang out anywhere on the internet, and you’re just a click, tap or a swipe from a video. We just love the stuff, and there is no end in sight when it comes to our appetite for video. According to a Cisco report published last year, video will make up 80% of global web traffic by 2019 and we’ll be sharing almost a million minutes of video every second.

And social is where we’re getting our video fix: more than half of Facebook users watch at least one video every day. While images were once the top performing content form on social media, soon a post won’t be worth the laptop it’s written on if it doesn’t have a video accompanying it. The online experience has become truly video-led.

But if we’re consuming more video, that means brands need to create more. Video has long been seen as expensive and time-consuming to create but we aren’t talking about commercials, but a new breed of video: the social video.

These are videos that have been specifically created to be delivered via social media, and primarily on a mobile device (almost 80% of social media use is on mobile). They’re short, snappy and need little more than a smartphone camera and good dollop of creativity to record – which means that any company can create great video content that drives engagement.

What makes a great social video? Below I’ll go through the 3 things you need to consider. (Quick note: while you can stream live videos to social, I’m sticking to pre-recorded video for now!)