By Aileen Barron, Green Acre Marketing

The marketing landscape is ever changing and, with the accelerated growth of technology and media, marketers and agribusinesses alike are forced to keep on top of trends in a bid to retain and expand the customer base, as well as fend off competitors.

Without doubt, social media has presented remarkable opportunities for brand exposure and engagement.

The importance of developing and maintaining a social media strategy is paramount and, with this in mind, if video is not a mainstay of this social strategy, you are missing a trick.

When Google announced that by the year 2021, 80% of searches would involve video, Facebook quickly followed suit – to give video preferential treatment.

This movement grabbed attention of marketers who subsequently invested in video hardware and software.

People in the agricultural industry have always placed value on their time, which is why – more often than not – video is the preferred medium of content consumption.

Although there is an argument for a traditional demographic that prefer to read, the millennial generation are current and future customers.

Hence, it is important to engage them early in order to maintain a long buying cycle. An opportune way to do this is to work the right type of video content into your social strategy.

Love it or hate it, the growth of TikTok has taken the content creation world by storm.

The video platform initially grew within the teen generation but has expanded to adults with usage increasing exponentially – doubling and reaching 14.3 million users in just six months in the US. Therefore, ensure that your video content serves algorithms that are going to favour this type of short-form content.

Items to consider for your video

Mobile-friendly:

It may sound obvious, but this is a critical success criterion for your video. According to Statista, over 70% of video is consumed on a mobile device, so it is imperative your video is set up for this.

Subtitles:

Statista reports that over 80% of users consume social media content with the sound off. To get your message across to the viewer on social media, subtitles are a must.

Visually impactful:

It’s true that a picture paints a thousand words; the same is true for video – if not even more so. The first three seconds of your video are key to capturing the attention of your viewer. Give them something that is visually appealing and encourages them to stay and watch the remainder of the video.

Short and sweet:

Time is precious so avoid repetitive, monotonous content that is there just for the sake of it. Work to ensure that your key message is portrayed within the first 10 seconds.

Hubspot recommends the following times per platform:
  • Instagram: 30 seconds;
  • Twitter: 45 seconds;
  • Facebook: 1 minute;
  • YouTube: 2 minutes.

Listen to your audience:

The use of analytics cannot be overstated. Spend time analysing the content that is performing well and not so well and address areas that need attention.

Stories:

Stories remain visible for up to 24 hours on almost all social media platforms. This is the perfect location to share unedited quick-fire videos that your viewers can interact and identify with.

Go live:

Live video will account for over 10% of traffic by 2021 (Cisco, 2020). Instagram ‘live’ is still a hot tool for anyone and everyone to use. The allure of it is that videos only stay up for 24 hours…and are posted in a real-time format.

The key to success is to move with the times and adapt to the algorithms that are currently in existence.

Don’t be afraid to try something new, make yourself stand out from the crowd and test the waters. By understanding your customers and speaking to them in different forms, your video content will be successful.

For further information on video content that will work for you, get in touch with the team at Green Acre Marketing by emailing: [email protected].

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