What does the trend toward short-form videos mean for your marketing plan?
Every time social media platforms embrace a new medium or strategy, marketing teams often scramble to stay up-to-date or sit back and wonder whether this is a fad or here to stay.
Do you remember when hashtags ruled the engagement game for social media marketing or when long-form videos like vlogs were one of the most important tools to grow your audience?
Over the last fifteen years, social media marketing has taken many forms. We transitioned from relying solely on photos and graphics for visual storytelling to short-form videos (thanks TikTok!).
Whether you’ve been a short-form video advocate for years or are hesitant to change your marketing strategy, here’s a short guide to maintaining your mission while leveraging short-form videos to reach a broader audience!
Embrace your message — while feeding social media algorithms!
When we ask clients for more short-form videos, some are eager to step into this space while others are hesitant. We sometimes hear feedback like:
- I’m not comfortable on camera.
- These online trends are silly or satirical and don’t fit my organization.
- I feel like I’m sacrificing the integrity of my business by trying to go viral.
- I’m too busy to film videos.
At the same time, clients want to expand their audience. As social media changes, algorithms are requiring more short-form videos or your content may only reach a fraction of its intended audience.
Before you begrudgingly open your phone camera app, we want to remind you of what you already know: The mission of your organization will always be more powerful than any trend.
With that in mind, you can start to explore ways to improve your reach.
Research: Find other organizations with a similar mission and see how they’re growing — or remaining stagnant.
Brainstorm: Could you use a similar audio they did? Could you create a similar reel? How does their content inspire you to try something original for your organization?
Tailor your short-form content to satisfy your current audience and emphasize your existing strengths.
Maybe your fans are used to storytelling that includes graphics with meaningful statistics, photos or detailed captions. At the same time, social media is trending to satisfy younger generations who prefer short-form videos that tell an engaging story with visuals and music.
And let’s be honest — even older generations tend to enjoy this type of content!
You don’t have to abandon one to serve the other. Both are critical to your growth!
Ask: What does my audience enjoy now?
Brainstorm: How can I adjust this content into short-form videos to expand my audience? (See below for some of our ideas!)
Focus on your storytelling.
Marketing teams live and breathe the story!
How we choose to tell that story can boost its impact while maintaining its integrity.
Think about the last book you read. Did you laugh? Maybe cry?
Now think about the last commercial or ad that made you laugh or cry. We can think of a few!
Whether it’s a book or a short video, the story touched you because the storyteller crafted an effective message — whether through 80,000 words or 80 seconds.
Consider: What story do you want to tell? How do you want your audience to feel after they’ve heard or seen it? What’s your message, your story?
Brainstorm: Does the story maintain its integrity in short-form content? If not, how can you use short-form content to encourage your audience to read a longer story or watch a longer video?
Create: Enhance the story’s message through social media tools like trending audio and active visuals.
Now you might be thinking, “Okay, you’ve convinced me to create short-form video content. But where do I start?”
We’re glad you asked!
Here are some ideas for your brainstorming sessions:
- Share statistics through a reel by giving new information throughout the reel. You can add visual elements to maintain interest and trending audio to leverage audience familiarity.
- Create a short video of your office space, headquarters or area where you serve. Overlay a question or update about your organization and prompt the audience to read more in the caption.
- Turn mundane tasks at your organization into “day in the life” videos. From coffee trips to unboxing new merch to clearing your inbox, a short video with fun audio can make even commonplace tasks engaging.
- Ask team members, donors or volunteers if they’d be willing to film a short video on their own. These videos can include important updates, impact stories, mission statements or calls to action. Even the camera-shy may relax when given the opportunity to capture their own content.
With these ideas in mind, start brainstorming and remember: you don’t need to overhaul your content overnight!
Need help developing a new marketing strategy? We want to help!
Click here to contact us!