social video formats

As the popularity of video content on social media shows no signs of slowing down in 2020, brands must focus on creating appealing social video formats that hook consumers’ attention and drives engagement. Recent market studies show that by 2021, two out of five internet users will spend around 100 minutesevery daywatching online videos. In an increasingly video-first world, brands that explore new video formats on social media will gain a competitive advantage. 

There are many video formats available, but choosing the best matters for businesses. Different video format contents have diverse functions, such as being utilized in providing entertainment to educating to expressing opinions to marketing a product. To help social media marketers achieve their KPIs and increase ROI, we have listed out the top six engaging video formats that audiences love to watch.

1. Live Stream Videos

Since its advent in 2016, there has been a steady rise in searches for “live stream videos” online. Live stream videos are one of the best social video formats due to its vast user base and growing popularity over these days. In addition to this, live stream social video formats enable brands to give prospective customers a better idea of how the company operates, showcase significant events or new products/services, and boost customer engagement. Consequently, Fortune 500 companies have already started leveraging live stream videos on their social media channels. So, it’s high time for video creators to keep pace with the top social video formats to better engage with their target audiences.

2. Listicle Video

Although listicle video formats or list videos prone to accuse due to lack of substance and overly subjective, they are still one of the best video formats used in social video marketing these days. It is because listicle videos provide a clear expectation for consumers in both content and format, and provide viewers with a better way to intake knowledge in the most organized format possible. Also, listicle videos help target audiences to remember information compared to alternative formats. As such, they are leveraging listicle videos as part of the business’ social video marketing strategy is a strong move for brands to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

3. Tutorial/How to Videos

Tutorial or how-to videos are another social video formats that are gaining popularity over the last few years. It is because tutorial or how-to video formats are ideal for interacting with the target audience and enhancing conversion efficiently. Besides, tutorial videos help viewers understand the ins and outs of a product or service. In addition to this, how-to videos are adept at exciting upcoming trends and understanding a new process better.

4. Informational Videos

Informational videos are one of the best formats in social video marketing for businesses looking to promote a new product or service. Owing to the busy lifestyle, people often prefer to watch small informational videos nowadays. As such, video creators must focus on creating videos that are unique, clever, and insightful. To make this video format more engaging, video creators can keep the video short and informative.

5. Breaking News/Events

As social media popularity has risen over the last few years, social video marketing strategies have seen a shift as well. Nowadays, social media is continuing to grow as a primary news source for millennial and Gen Z. As a result, video creators must focus on creating and posting breaking news videos on social platforms. Also, as the number of internet users who consume video content on social media platforms is incredibly rising, marketers can take advantage of breaking news video formats to increase traffic to the website.

6. Personalized Videos

In a world where consumers are increasingly becoming desensitized to advertising, personalized videos format can help brands stand out from the crowd. Personalized video content can be anything like a seasonal greeting with the customer’s name or videos based on their behavior online. As video as a marketing medium matures, personalization is how brands can offer something new, and create a unique and memorable experience for their audiences.

In Conclusion:

In 2020 and beyond, we’re looking forward to seeing the rise of new social video formats and the growth of existing ones. While informational and listicle videos look poised to become standard ways of consuming video content, augmented reality and virtual reality videos are projected to gain popularity over the next five years.