Social media is the main channel for video marketing. All major social platforms support video content and ads. This gives organizations plenty of opportunities for generating leads, conversions, and sales.

Social media video marketing works best when it’s applied strategically. Otherwise it can lead to inconsistent results.

To learn how to develop your social media video marketing strategy, check out our short guide on the topic in the remainder of this post.

Advantages of Taking the Strategic Approach to Video Marketing

Video has a number of advantages that make it an excellent tool for marketing. Videos are:

• Cost-effective
• Easy to produce
• Informative
• Engaging
• Reusable

Another point in favor of video is the scale of demand, particularly on social media. Major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have kept expanding support for video content for the past decade, creating an environment where users communicate by creating and sharing videos. As a result, marketing video content is very effective in such an environment.

How to Create a Social Media Video Marketing Strategy in 7 Steps

Contrary to what you might believe, you don’t need a business planning department to create a video marketing strategy. All you need to do is follow these 7 steps.

1. Define Your Marketing Goals

The first step is to define the overarching goal of your social media video marketing strategy. What do you want to accomplish with your marketing efforts? Do you want to increase sales, spread brand awareness, create engagement, gather subscribers, find influencers to work with, or some combination of these? If you can define these goals in terms of numbers, all the better – this will make it easier to perform analytics in step 7.

2. Determine Your Target Audience

Next, you must determine who is your target audience. These are the people you want to influence to perform actions such as ordering products, subscribing to services, or talking about your organization in various online circles. It’s important to find out as much as you can about your target audience. Knowing your audience’s geographical location, interests, and age is a good place to start, as this information is often publicly available on major social media platforms.

3. Select a Platform for Your Content

All major social media platforms have extensive support for video content and video ads. Each platform has slightly different video specs, so you’ll probably have to make slight adjustments to your content to reuse it on different platforms. As for the specificity of each platform, you probably know the gist of it:

• Facebook is mainly used by Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials, and covers practically every content demographic or niche.
• Instagram is mainly used Millennials and Gen Z, and is focused almost exclusively on images and video content.
• Twitter is mainly used by Millennials, and is focused on news and current events.
• LinkedIn is used by business professionals of all ages.
• TikTok is used predominantly by Gen Z, and is focused on ephemeral, short-form video content.

4. Choose a Video Type

Social media marketing videos come in several types. You can include every type in your video marketing strategy, but it usually best to focus on a couple of types that make the most sense for your business. Here are some of the possible types:

• Explainer video – for explaining a particular topic to a layman audience.
• Product video – for describing products and their uses.
• Branding video – for sharing company values, goals, and history.
• Testimonial video – for giving customers the opportunity to praise your brand.
• Event video – to share footage from event you’ve participated in.

5. Set up Production

Thanks to online video creation tools, making social media marketing videos is easier than ever. Most have an easy-to-use UX, free stock assets, tutorials, and access to customer support, so you can set up production quickly. If you want to go further, you can acquire additional equipment such as professional cameras, mics, and lighting. This costs more, but you’ll have a greater degree of control over the final product.

6. Create a Content Schedule

How and when you post content on social media matters. Posting at times when there aren’t many users online is less effective than posting during hours when most of your followers are actively searching for content. So you’ll want to keep track when you videos perform the best, and upload during those hours. Once you establish a pattern, you should stick with it – consistency makes it easier for viewers to fit your content into their content consumption habits.

7. Keep Track of Performance

A good social media video marketing strategy is one who’s performance can be measured. This means keeping track of key performance indicators, variables that accurately portray how your content is performing. These should be contrasted with vanity metrics, which are useful mostly as bragging rights. For instance, the number of likes you have for a Facebook video post is not a good performance indicator, whereas the number of shares is.

Conclusion

And that’s all there is to it. We hope this guide will help you get started with social media video marketing. If you want to learn more about similar video marketing topics, check out the rest of our blog.

Content creators often wonder if there is a way to boost views and engagement on YouTube by posting during certain hours of the day.

The question probably stems from our understanding of how television works. We often hear that the success of TV show depends on the time-slot when it airs. It makes sense to assume that a similar kind of logic is at work on YouTube.

To understand how posting at different times affects your YouTube channel, check out our guide on the topic in the paragraphs below.

Does it Matter When You Post on YouTube?

Does it really matter when you post on YouTube? The answer is – it depends. Unlike platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, YouTube content isn’t organized around a main feed. Instead, it gives users multiple ways to engage with content:

• Some users check their Subscriptions feed for content from their favorite channels.
• Others browse the Home section for personalized recommendations.
• Some follow trending videos in their region through the Explore feature.
• Many users follow YouTube links from other websites, blogs, chats, newsletters, or social media platforms.

What this means is that the time of day when you upload is not always relevant.

With that being said, posting at just the right moment during the day can sometimes net you a temporary boost in terms of engagement and views. This initial boost becomes less relevant over time, but it is still worth pursuing.

The Best Time to Post: 3 Key Factors

So, what are the key factors to consider when deciding when to post on YouTube? The three most important ones are your content, your audience, and your timezone.

1. Content

The nature of your content can sometimes affect the timing of your posts. Let’s illustrate with a few examples.

For instance, if you’re making reaction content, the sooner you can post after the content you’re reacting to, the better. Reaction videos tend to rank for many of the same keywords as the content they’re covering, so the sooner you post, the quicker you’ll get indexed by YouTube.

If you’re making local news content, posting during or immediately after the events you’re covering will net you more views than if you posted a week later.

Another instance where content influences timing is in the case of long-form content. If you create long analysis videos, it is better to post at a time when the audience has enough time to watch your content in full.

2. Audience

Another important factor that determines timing is your audience. If you can meet audience expectations in terms of timing, you will garner more views and engagement.

Regular viewers will grow accustomed to your existing schedule, and deviating from it can lose you views. This is especially important if you’re producing Member’s only content.

To understand you audience and their viewing habits better, you can use YouTube Audience Analytics. This feature is only available once you hit a certain subscriber threshold, and it allows YouTube content creators to learn more about the behavior patterns of their viewers, including when they’re most active on the platform.

Finally, you can ask your audience directly about their preferred time to watch content. Few content creators do this, but it is an excellent way to build trust with your audience while gathering valuable information at the same time.

3. Timezone

If the majority of your viewers come from a specific geographic region, time-zones become a major timing factor for YouTube videos. You want to upload videos during hours when most of your viewers are awake, and ideally not preoccupied with things like school or work.

If your audience is global, it can be tricky to find a time-slot that’s convenient for everyone, especially people from faraway geographic locales. You should look for overlaps between time-zones, and post videos during those periods.

What is the Best Time to Upload YouTube Videos?

Taking all of this into consideration, is there a best time to post on YouTube? Opinions vary, but some groups claim to have found certain time-slots that work better than others. Here is an overview of the available research.

Frederator Networks

The Frederator Network analyzed 1300 channels with over 120 000 000 monthly views, and they’ve concluded that the ideal times to post videos in the US region are:

• Monday: 2 pm – 4 pm
• Tuesday: 2 pm – 4 pm
• Wednesday: 2 pm – 4 pm
• Thursday: 12 pm – 3 pm
• Friday: 12 pm – 3 pm
• Saturday: 9 am – 11 am
• Sunday: 9 am – 11 am

Boosted

The folks at Boosted argue that Brazil, Russia, China, India, and the UK are often neglected in favor of the US in terms of their impact on YouTube views. Taking this into account, they argue that the highest level of engagement on YouTube occurs on Friday through Saturday and Wednesday. On most days, the best time to post is at 5 pm.

Edgy

Edgy advises content creators from the US to upload videos to YouTube during weekdays between 2 pm and 4 pm CST or EST. They highlight the importance of giving YouTube enough time to parse and index your videos, suggesting that you should always upload a couple of hours earlier than your ideal time-slot.

HowSociable

HowSociable argues that content becomes more enticing as the weekend approaches. Users become more active online in general, as well as more likely to watch videos. In their view, a Thursday or Friday is probably the best day to upload YouTube videos.

Misfit Hustler

Misfit Hustler suggests that there is merit in posting videos a day earlier than your most active day during the week. Their reasoning is that YouTube videos typically pick up most of their views during the first two days after being posted. So, if your second-busiest day is the day before its busiest day, you should try posting on that day instead. That way, you will benefit from having new content during the two most active days.

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, there is some nuance to finding the best time to post videos on YouTube. The benefits are usually smaller when compared to timed posts on other video platforms, bet they’re still worth pursuing for the initial boost of views and engagement.

TikTok is the fastest growing social media app today. It is rife with opportunities for established content creators, as well as newcomers trying to make it big for the first time.

With that being said, TikTok is still somewhat lacking in features, especially when compared to established video platforms such as Instagram or YouTube. This makes it more difficult to figure out how to do well on the platform as a content creator.

One of the most common questions TikTok creators ask is when is the best time to post on TikTok. In the remainder of this article, we will help you find the answer.

Does it Really Matter When You Post?

The short answer is – yes. Posting at the right moment during the day will generally net you more views compared to posting randomly.

The long answer is – yes, but it depends on several factors, some which you have little control over. For instance, if your content belongs to a relatively small niche (i.e. fantasy cartography videos, or DIY book-binding videos), the total number of viewers you could potentially reach is limited, so any optimization efforts with respect to time will have diminishing returns.

To determine if your content will benefit from adhering to a specific posting schedule, consider the following 4 factors.

1. Timezone

The biggest factor by far is the timezone where the majority of your audience resides. For example, if the majority of your followers are from the US, you should post during the time of day when most people in the US are awake. Note that this will limit your reach among audiences from different time-zones.

2. Competing Content Creators

Another timing factor to consider are competing content creators. If big names in your content niche tend to post at certain times during the day, it can be worthwhile to post during times when they’re less active. In general, it’s better to have a bigger share of total viewers in a given time period, than to compete at times where there are more viewers in general, but you have a smaller share.

3. Viewer Demographics

Viewer demographics play a key role in determining the best time to post. People have their preferred time of day for watching TikTok content, and they’re not likely to change their schedule just to catch when you’re on. More importantly, people simply can’t watch a live stream during certain hours of day due to school or work. This means you should adjust your posting schedule to fit your audience’s leisure time.

4. Personal Schedule

You should always take into account your personal schedule when deciding when to post. If you’re busy with work during the day, this puts a constraint on your streaming schedule, same with school. Other obligations such as travel, housework, or raising children also limit your available streaming hours. That said, you can still succeed as a TikTok content creator, even with a busy schedule. The key is consistency. If you can only stream during the weekend, and only during daytime, this can still work if you’re consistent over a longer period.

How to Check Your TikTok Audience Analytics?

TikTok has a built-in analytics feature that can help you find the best time to post. It is only available on Pro accounts, but luckily you can switch to a Pro account for free. Switch to a pro account by following these steps:

1. Go to your profile page
2. Navigate to the Privacy & Setting tab
3. Click Manage Your Account
4. Click Switch to Pro Account

Once you’ve switched to a Pro account, you can use the analytics feature to find where your audience resides. Based on your audience’s location, you can figure out the time of day when your audience is busy with work, school, or sleep.

If your audience lives in multiple time zones, you’ll have to find a point of overlap between the different zones, to reach the greatest amount of followers.

When is the Best Time to Post on TikTok?

Now that you know the key factors that affect the best time to post on TikTok, we can share the results of a recent study by the Influencer Marketing Hub. According to their analysis of over 100 000 TikTok posts, the best time to stream on a given day is as follows:

How Frequently Should You Post?

In general, post frequency is less important than consistency. Everything depends on your schedule, your content, your competitors, and your audience’s daily habits. As a good rule of thumb, create between 1 and 3 posts during workdays, and potentially more during weekends.

Conclusion

Finding a sweet spot for your TikTok content is not easy, but it is doable if you take into account the factors we have outlined. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll intuitively know when is the best time to post.

With its short-form videos, TikTok has changed the way people interact with social media content using shorter clips and simpler words to explain complex phenomena. So, TikTok business videos are the next frontier for aspiring entrepreneurs to spread the word about their business and generate new leads.

Still, it takes some time and creativity to use TikTok adequately for business purposes. One of the main prerequisites is to make videos that people will actually watch.

This article presents the eight TikTok business video ideas that will likely draw attention to your business and increase the number of regular followers.

1) Product Presentations

According to Hootsuite, the most shared and watched TikTok videos last between 7 and 15 seconds. It might sound a bit short for traditional product presentations, but that’s the whole point: presenting your products or services in the shortest time possible.

Concentrate on the principal advantage that your product brings to potential buyers and highlight it during the video clip. If possible, show how exactly it works and what benefits it brings. For instance, if you’re launching a photo-editing app, showcase its unique selling proposition, i.e., its main editing tools in practice.

2) Success Stories

Sharing feel-good business stories yields multiple benefits. Firstly, you evoke positive emotions in your first-time viewers and regular followers alike. Hence, the former will more likely turn into the latter.

Secondly, you associate your brand with positive outcomes. Even if it’s not a success story about your business, its contribution to someone else’s success is a good starting point for future collaborations.

Finally, success stories typically contain immediate takeaways for viewers. So, use some stats, show a graph or two if possible, and serve a cold, ready-made takeaway for your viewers.

3) Production Procedures

Whether you create mobile apps, build power plants, or sew mittens, potential buyers are equally interested in the production process.

TikTok business videos are a perfect opportunity to let the viewers peek behind the curtain and see the production process. In addition to showing how skilled professionals make certain things, business owners should also show themselves at work. The more your audience identifies with you, the more attention they’ll pay to your brand.

4) Edutainment Videos

Short TikTok videos have become a preferred learning source for students from different parts of the globe. Hence, the #education hashtag is one of the most popular hashtags on TikTok.

Business owners can use this option to make practical, amusing, and awareness-raising edutainment videos for their business promotion. Such video clips can contain lessons on business procedures, distinguished businesspeople in the given niche, or practical tips that would help potential buyers or fellow business professionals daily.

Also, consider making a content plan for business edutainment videos to give the viewers a sense of expectancy and attract more TikTok users to your business.

5) Quiz-Like Clips

Quiz-like clips or ‘Did you know that’ videos are another great opportunity for entrepreneurs and marketers to produce some valuable TikTok content. Instead of providing sheer facts or dull explanations, spice things up with short business questions and answers. When a viewer feels as if they’re watching a dynamic TV quiz, they’ll feel more engaged to check out the business in question.

Think about offering follow-up quiz sessions on your business website, where you’d redirect the TikTok viewers.

6) Question-Answering Live Sessions

Live sessions are gaining popularity throughout social media and TikTok is no exception. Recommended at a maximum of 30 minutes, TikTok live sessions help business owners talk about their business development, share valuable tips, and answer viewers’ questions. The latter option is practical in boosting interaction between entrepreneurs, their brands, and TikTok users.

So, take some time to think about what you could talk about in your first TikTok live session and make a detailed plan. Record yourself offline first to see how long you can speak without answering any questions. Prepare enough material for a 30-minute live session (or any other desired length) even if no one asks you a single question.

7) Special Events

Depending on the industry you’re operating in, there are various opportunities to combine TikTok videos and special events. For instance, CEOs who pride themselves in their workers’ rights and perks should make a TikTok business video for Labor Day. They could underline everything they do to make their employees feel good or share some worker-friendly productivity tips.

Another idea could be organizing a live session for the company day and interacting with company clients, partners, and employees.

8) Voiceover Videos

Voiceover and lip-syncing videos are among the most viewed and shared types of TikTok content, opening room for practical business use. If you have online followers or regular buyers in a particular region, you can voice over your business clips for that language. Business owners with multiple audiences in different languages could do the same for all the languages in question. As TikTok videos are not long, it’s not a huge investment, and it will resonate well with those followers.

Conclusion

TikTok has been with us since 2017, and it has already changed how people produce and use the digital video format. This is only the beginning of its business use, so its applicability will only grow in the time ahead. Business owners and marketers need to embrace this social channel to put creative ideas into practice and win over new customers, partners, and followers. The tips shared above will help them reach that goal.

If you haven’t jumped on the TikTok video ad bandwagon yet, it’s high time you start using the popular platform to get a wide, engaged audience interested in your product. With over one billion active users each month who are mostly young, curious about new trends, and very engaged, TikTok provides unparalleled opportunities for raising brand awareness and reaching new customers. 

If you’re new to TikTok advertising, you’ll want to acquaint yourself with the basics first. What video ad formats does TikTok use and what technical specifications are required for each format? Where can they appear on the platform? What are the best practices for each video ad placement option? 

Read on to learn all there is to know about the TikTok video format. 

TikTok Video Formats’ Non-Negotiable Specs: Vertical Orientation and Sound On

Let’s start with specifications that are not open to choosing between different options. They are the video ad’s orientation and sound. 

Though you can upload a horizontal video, all TikTok content is vertically oriented and the platform rewards videos that organically blend with other user content. For the best results, always use vertical videos that you specifically created for TikTok. You can either create videos in TikTok or use some other video creation software that better suits your needs and upload your creative to TikTok.

The platform is all about sound and music, so sound is another must in your advertising. Some video formats (Branded Takeover) play without audio, but other formats have the option of including it and we suggest you always use it. Sound has a powerful effect on users, often catching their attention more quickly than the visuals. However, you should always include captions as well for users who are viewing TikTok without headphones.

Recommended TikTok Video Specifications

It’s important to follow the recommended technical specifications for your video to ensure your viewers have a seamless viewing experience. 

Five Main TikTok Video Formats

Brands and advertisers use the following TikTok video formats for their campaigns: In-Feed, TopView, Brand Takeover, Branded Effects, and Branded Hashtag Challenge. 

In-Feed

In-feed video ads are full-screen videos set to auto-play with the sound on in the users’ personalized feeds on the For You page. They blend naturally with the rest of the content. They can be 60 seconds long, but TikTok recommends sticking to 9-15 second video length and to create engaging intro in the first few seconds of the ad to grasp the viewers’ attention. 

This type of TikTok video supports brief descriptions (12-100 words), CTAs, and user engagement including likes, shares, and reusing video content. They are a popular advertising option for user engagement because they are affordable, allow a lot of creativity, and are able to reach a wide audience. 

TopView

Three seconds after a user opens their TikTok, a full-screen video appears in the top part of their For You page. That’s a TopView video ad. They have similar specifications like In-Feed videos: up to 60 seconds long, with sound and auto-play on, and allowing user engagement. Unlike In-Feeds, they have a better placement, guarantee more impressions, and they are more expensive. 

Brand Takeover

This is another “in your face” TikTok video format that appears as a full-screen video when a user opens the platform. They are the shortest formats (3-5 seconds) and require great skill in presenting the main points of the ad in such a short time, without frustrating the users. A viewer can only see one Brand Takeover video per day. However, the same video can later appear as an In-Feed ad.

The entire ad is clickable, so it guarantees a lot of traffic to the landing page. That convenience comes with a hefty price tag, which makes this TikTok video format attractive only to big brands who can afford it. 

Branded Takeover doesn’t support sound or in-video text descriptions. 

Branded Effects

Not exactly a video format, Branded Effects is a suite of customizable 2D, 3D, and augmented reality stickers and filters that TikTok users can use to create their own content. 

Advertisers who use Branded Effects encourage viewers to engage with their content and get to know their brand in a fun, playful way. This ad format is great for raising brand awareness. It can be used as an independent campaign or as part of a Branded Hashtag Challenge.  

Branded Hashtag Challenge

This is another TikTok video format for raising brand awareness and user engagement. The brands organize a challenge where they invite users to videotape themselves doing a task from the challenge and upload the video with a set hashtag. TikTok places the ad banner for the challenge on their Discover page for six days, during which the users can participate and engage with the brand. Videos that invite users to participate appear in the For You feeds. 

Now that you know the basic TikTok video format requirements, learn some useful tricks for creating effective TikTok videos for your business.