Are Social Video Ads Part Of Your Marketing Strategy in 2018?

Like it or not, we’ve entered an era of marketing absolutely dominated by video ads, and as we turn the corner to 2018, the evolution of video marketing isn’t slowing down. In fact, advertisers are predicted to shift even larger portions of their marketing budgets to video ads on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Here’s a social video ad we produced for a client that you likely saw on facebook after last year’s Superbowl.

More and more brands are seeing a competitive advantage to including a social video strategy in their marketing. Social Video Ads empowers marketers to reach and engage their target audience — (especially the hard-to-reach millennial demographic).

Each social video platform offers distinct advantages, and producing and managing a high-performing video campaign requires a deep knowledge of the online and social video ad landscape. For this reason, it is highly recommended to hire a business video production agency rather than doing it yourself.  That being said, it’s crucial for ecommerce brands, in particular, to have goals and a strategy in mind when it comes to integrating video ads into their social media campaigns.

For most brands, this means a three-pronged approach…

1.Shows off products in action: just as brands should strive to display real-life applications of their products, the same rules apply for video content (think: models on a runway for a fashion brand).

2.Drives traffic back to your site and store: a positive ROI from social means funneling followers to product pages, plain and simple.

3.Builds buzz for your products: while this doesn’t mean that every video needs to go “viral”    (which is often a pipe dream for brands anyway), videos should maintain a certain sense of hype around them that drives viewers to take action.

How else can you benefit from social video ads?

Lead generation. Much of online lead generation content is very technical and dry. People see a lengthy piece of content and decide it’s not worth their time to fill out the form to download a document they may never read. Videos can be a lot less labor intensive and a lot more appealing. We’ve often found that a video is more likely to get shared, spreading that lead-generating content to a wider net of prospects. Whether it’s to compel viewers to to “buy now”,  subscribe, sign-up or get directed to your landing page, be sure to include a strong call-to-action.

Generate credibility. Posting videos on social media platforms will set up your business as a leader in its field. By posting video links and video, your business will be able to build its reputation, and high quality video will again make you prominent among your competitors.

Connect with the all-important millenial demographic. Millennials are spending less time in front of their TVs (if they even still own one) and more time watching video on their mobile devices and laptops. In the very near future, millennials will comprise 75 percent of the global workforce, making it hard to ignore video platforms that resonate so well with this key audience.

Transform advocates into salesmen. Often people will share and talk about products and services they have had a good experience with. Armed with the right set of videos, your best advocates could indirectly become your best sales force by sharing your video content onto their network over social media. All of this takes place independently and grows dynamically, often leading to potential sales.

Final thoughts…

Social media videos can deliver on a number of marketing objectives. The most obvious is building brand awareness or telling your brand’s story. Whether you run a small business or work for a big organization, there are many different ways to fit social video into your marketing strategy.

Companies also need to think about how they can maintain and build a comprehensive video strategy. On social media, you absolutely can’t have a ‘one and done’ strategy but need to build a momentum of consistent video ads to keep an engaged audience.

Are you ready to get started with social video ads? Contact Original On Hold for a FREE, no obligation Discovery Session where we will review video production, distribution and marketing strategy.