Best Social Media Sites for Video Content 2022

Over 58.7% of the global population is on social media and uses it as their primary source of information. That’s roughly around 4.65 billion people. When it comes to social media marketing though, a one size fits all approach does not work. It’s important to know which audience hangs out where so you can know what kind of video content to make and where to put it. According to a HubSpot survey, YouTube is still in the lead with 35% of people watching social media videos. This is followed by Facebook, TikTok, Other and Instagram. TikTok is on the rise as it now surpasses Instagram but this is just according to one small survey done through HubSpot. Other sites show different data. So, who’s right? Who’s wrong? Well, they’re both right. It all depends on who your survey group is. Different groups that are different ages or from different regions will alter the results. The real take away here is that you make sure to market and advertise over a range of platforms, young and older. As social media evolves, so will the need to change strategies.

Social Media Mistakes to Avoid

We’ve all posted that low quality video that got very little love and immediately regretted it. Maybe even taken it down shortly after the fact. We know we’ve done this. There are a few major pitfalls to avoid when attempting to optimize your social media channels. We’re only going to focus on Instagram for the purpose of this article.

1.     Low quality videos. This goes for really any channel. A low-quality video is a sure way to get low engagement.

2.     Missing out on live streaming. This new, powerful tool is a great way to engage your audience in real time. This helps you get feedback immediately.

3.     Uploading videos with TikTok watermark. Don’t recycle your videos. Or anyone else’s for that matter. Always upload the original video without the watermark logo if you decide the video is worthy of a double share.

4.     Skipping out on the bio. This is where you can increase your discoverability. Linktree can help you add multiple links to your bio if needed.

5.     Having a personal or private account. I think the reason for this speaks for itself. If you’re a brand you must have a business account in order to see your metrics.

6.     Buying followers. Although it may be tempting, buying followers is a hollow purchase. These followers are often bot accounts that won’t engage with your content.

7.     Skipping the opportunity of a great caption. Just as when writing a good article, it’s important to have a good caption to hook your user’s attention and can offer more context for your amazing posts.

We love social media and the engagement it creates between brands and consumers. It’s something that brands were unable to do in such a way prior to. With social media, a brand’s audience can connect with them on a deeper level through engaging with their posts, sharing and saving them. It also gives brands an idea of what their audience likes to see versus what they don’t. it’s a great tool for content marketing so making sure that you are doing all the rights things is pivotal. Social media is something that we specialize in when it comes to sourcing user generated content for campaigns so we’ve seen the benefits of it for brands first hand.

Desktop Posting Guide

Did you know that you can post to Instagram from your desktop computer? Yea, neither did we! We recently learned that this was an option so we thought we’d share a quick tutorial on how to do it. It’s basically the same as from your phone but the video quality is better. Sometimes when posting from your phone the quality of the video decreases. Ok to create a post from your desktop first click the add button on Instagram. It will prompt you do select from your computer. Select the photo or video you want. You can change the aspect ratio as well as do a carousel. Click next. It will then prompt you to choose the cover photo if using a video. You can then trim your video as well here and turn the sound on or off. If using a video, edit and click next. Finally, here is where you can add your caption, hashtags and location. Do this and you’re ready to post! Sharing from your desktop can be easier sometimes and you can avoid any decline in video quality. Happy posting!

Which Social Media Channels are Best for Brands

According to Statista the leading social media platform for brand marketers is Facebook at 93%, with Instagram coming in second at 78%. Even if you’re a content creator, you want to get more engagement and turn followers into customers. We couldn’t agree more with this statistic. Let’s think about why this is. Look at YouTube for example. Sure, you can monetize to make money here but, you can only engage with your followers if they leave comments on your videos. You can’t really build a relationship with your audience. What about TikTok? Oh man, do we have lots of thoughts on this platform. It’s great for viral videos but you don’t really get served content from people that you follow. It’ good for discovering new content creators but not so much for building good connections with your current followers. Aside from this, it’s important for content creators to know that anything filmed within the TikTok platform is the property of TikTok and that the creators do not actually own the rights to those videos. Furthermore, if a creator films inside the app, they cannot monetize their content in any way.  Personally, we believe that it’s best to generate revenue from your followers on Instagram because there are so many ways to connect with them through all their different features. The algorithm on this platform is also set up to give you more of the content from the people and brands that you love. It’s important to having a multifaceted approach to social media marketing. Using stories, feed, live, reels, polls, etc. this keeps your audience engaged and it will build stronger relationships with them.

Trending Video Marketing Investments

As we always say here at Locomotive, video content is King! It continues to be the top way to market to brand audiences. However, there are so many different styles of video marketing to consider now, so what types are brands investing in this year? Here is a quick list of our top three trending video marketing styles that brands are investing in.

1.     Short-form video. According to HubSpot, 58% of marketers use short form videos. Out of all video types this one provides the best ROI. Short form generally means anything under a few minutes. It should also be noted that the average engagement for short-form videos is around 50% (Wistia).

2.     Social media video. 93% of social media marketers say that it’s a vital component of their strategies and 85% of consumers say they want more videos on social from brands according to  Sprout Social. Give the people what they want and watch your return on investment increase.

3.     Long-form video. Long form video can be anywhere from 3-6 minutes long. One would think that longer videos see less engagement but that’s up for debate. YouTube is a great example of where longer form videos excel with a high ROI. Long form video creation has increased by 446% for videos between 30-60 minutes long and 228% for videos between 5-30 minutes long (Wistia).

Video marketing will always be the top way to achieve and retaining a successful marketing strategy for your brand. If your brand isn’t already investing in the power of these video marketing tools listed above, get on it quick. Staying up to date with current trends will keep you at the top of your game! And remember, User-Generated Content reigns.

Social Media Stats 2022

Upon all our blog research here at Locomotive, there is always a recurring theme in advertising with social media. It’s now one of the most important parts of an advertising strategy in today’s world. We found some really interesting stats that we wanted to share with all of you. We know it helps us see a clear picture of who is watching what and where. It’s important to know where your target audience is to better serve them.

Pew Research Center:

• In 2005 only 5% of American adults used at least one social platform. In 2021 that number was 72%

• Percentage of adults that say they use at least one social media site by age in 2021:

  • 18-29: 84%

  • 20-49: 81%

  • 50-64: 73%

  • 65+: 45%

• More women typically use social media (78%) than men (66%) in 2021

• YouTube and Facebook are the top most widely used platforms

  • YouTube: 81%, FB: 69%

  • Instagram comes in third at 40%

• 70% of people use Facebook daily

• 59% of people use Instagram daily

These are only some of the current social media stats but in our opinion are extremely useful when looking at where to target your ads. For more interesting statistics visit: Insider Intelligence, Sprout Social and Influencer Marketing Hub.

Tapping Into Gen Z for Advertising

Who’s ready for some changes? We know we are and Gen Z is proving to be new type of market when it comes to the advertising world. They are like no other that came before them. Let’s talk about the biggest difference between Gen X, Millennials and Gen Z. Millennials remember a time before social media whereas Gen Z does not know a world without it. Even more, their Gen X counterparts grew up on MTV with zero social media. I don’t think it really comes as a surprise that Gen Z is a unique group who can’t imagine a world without tech. Actually, 45% of Gen Zers say that they are online almost constantly according to Rolling Stone. Since the insurgence of smartphones, people can watch anything from anywhere and that’s what this generation does. They rely on social media platforms for almost everything. There are a couple of questions to ask yourself when considering how to market to this new breed of consumers.

1.   Can they trust your brand? They want transparency and they want it now. Since this generation can and will find answers to information they have questions for, make sure your brand is be honest. They will also build a relationship with your brand if they feel that they can relate to what your company stands for.

2.     Do you stand for something? Brand neutrality is a no go for this generation. They want brans that stand up for social injustices. They want brands that aren’t afraid to take a stand for what’s right even if that means offending some of their audience.

3.     Are you influencer savvy? They don’t care about celebrities! Relatability takes the driver seat with them. They want people that they can relate to not paid actors. This is another reason UGC is extremely affective to connecting with them!

4.     Can you make it fast? 8 seconds to be exact. That’s the average attention span of this generation according to iab.uk! Are you really that shocked? And before you getting too cheeky, just know that Millennials are right behind them with a whopping 12 seconds.

5.     Do you know how to use each social media platform differently and accordingly? Not only should you diversify your content across each platform it needs to be tailor fit!

Gen Z harnesses the power of $143 billion since they comprise 40% of the U.S. population according to Forbes. If your brand wants to uncover ways to tap into their market it’s important to understand what they value in a company. They’re different. Changes are coming and we think that they’re honestly for the better. Who doesn’t want to support a brand that takes social stances, is trustworthy and transparent?