THE NOW AND THE FUTURE FOR PRODUCT PURCHASE- SOCIAL VIDEOS

Social Media in today’s day and age is an integral part of any business. It has multiple benefits for various companies like establishing an online presence, branding, customer acquisition etc. In recent times, a new trend of video marketing on social media has gathered pace. These videos are capturing the interests of consumers more than the traditional content in the form of posts. Right from a company manufacturing something like the Rubik’s cube, to large automobile manufacturers, the video content on social media networks about these products is bound to pick up greater traction.

In a research conducted by Brightcove Inc., a staggering 74% of consumers said that social video viewing enhances purchasing. Nearly a half of these consumers accepted on making a purchase based on the viewing a branded video on social media and another third had considered doing so. Social video viewing engages users aggressively when compared to other conventional methods, owing to a larger amount of information conveyed through the video and the trigger of emotions through the sound effects and music. The efficiency of conveying the message across the consumer is much higher through these methods.

Social video consumption has been on the rise in recent months, presenting a growing opportunity for brands to get in front of their audiences. Here are 4 interesting facts on social videos:-

• 67% of consumers are watching more social videos on their social media feed than they did a year or two ago
• The average consumer watches an astonishing 49 minutes of social videos every day
• Half of the social video views take place on Youtube, 36% on Facebook and the remaining is divided among on other platforms
• 45% of people are spreading the word about a brand after watching a good social video about it

Creating content for social videos is a wee bit tricky, one has to keep in mind a few aspects of social video design. The most important thing being that people are more interested in paying attention to content that’s relevant to their interests. One has to customise the ad’s message for the people who are going to see it. The best platform today for social videos is arguably Facebook, owing to its autoplay feature. In a bid to keep users on their platform rather than redirect them to third party platforms like YouTube, Facebook automatically plays a video when a user scrolls past it. Here’s where it gets tricky, though, Facebook plays the video with the sound off. It is important to entice the viewers even when the video is muted. A social video's influence is considered positive when a user engages for more than three seconds. One must engage the user in their story quickly. Some viewers disable autoplay in their feeds, and so you’ll need to solicit a click on your shared or promoted video. Optimize the copy that surrounds the video by setting the stage for what the audience about to consume. It may also be prudent to add subtitles to the video to allow the user to view it without sound. Last but not the least, a cohesive and concise story is paramount to video length.

Social Videos are the present and future of social media marketing. One should not miss out on using these to promote their products and business. Whether you use a camera phone or a production team, secure the best available creative resources and set a realistic production schedule and budget. People are likely to watch and remember social videos more than anything else.