Your brand has most likely mastered the art of a Tweet by now. Short and sweet, you’ve learned how to be witty and informative in a handful of characters. You’ve seen how Twitter is beneficial to your brand and how well you can connect to your audience on this interactive platform. As with any other social media vehicle, Twitter is constantly evolving and changing to enhance its capabilities and extend its reach. This is clearly seen through Twitter videos, an offering embraced by brands around the world. Since studies show that visuals can drive up engagement by 180%, shouldn’t you tap into this powerful storytelling tool?
Forming a deeper (and more fun!) connection with your audience
Twitter videos improve your ability to present your brand story and attract more loyal followers. How do you do it? It’s really simple. You can either upload a video you’ve already taken with your smartphone (or computer), or you can open up the Twitter App, touch the camera icon, and record a 30-second video. Since you lose about 1/3 of your audience after this quick time frame, keep your videos short to boost engagement. Once you have your video, provide context for your audience. What is it? Why should they take the time to watch it? Make this caption as short and exciting as possible, while still providing essential information. Don’t forget relevant hashtags in the caption, especially since this simple phrase makes it searchable and shareable.
Now, using as our guide Sarah Quinn’s article “4 Ways to Use Twitter Video for Your Business,” published on Social Media Examiner, here’s how to make your videos work for you:
Get interactive with your responses
Brand followers are always asking questions, especially about your products/services or your latest campaign. It’s simple to shoot back a quick response in a written Tweet, but take it a step further with a video. In a short clip, you can answer the question and show the face behind the brand. With an inside glimpse of a real personality, people immediately get more connected to the brand and feel extremely valued to receive such a personalized response. If you are hosting your own Twitter chat with a bunch of people, make sure they all know the unique hashtag to follow and join in!
Live in the moment
If your audience can’t be in the thick of exciting events, be their eyes and ears! Twitter videos are the best way to cover events as they are happening in real-time. With exciting short clips continually posted to your feed, people will feel like they are right there with you getting that man-on-the-street perspective. These videos will stand out in crowded Twitter feeds and you will undoubtedly fuel some great interaction and dialogue with your followers.
If you are creating videos at an actual event, make sure to spread the word on the relevant hashtag. By doing so, you can accumulate a large mass of people that will be live-tweeting about the event, resulting in some impressive exposure on Twitter.
Promote or Educate? Do both!
Every brand needs to market its products and/or services to succeed, but there is a fine line between promoting yourself and going overboard. The bottom line is you need to show people why they need you. In a subtle and effective way, include your products in every story that you tell as just one piece of the puzzle. However you choose to tell it (whether it’s funny or emotional), your video confirms why your brand is the best.
You can also use videos to educate your audience. In fact, 92% of marketers believe the purpose of a video should be to inform or educate. For instance, let’s say you have a gardening product. Pairing it with the start of spring, film short clips that show customers how to best use your product with essential tips they can only get if they watch your Twitter video. Expand this idea into a video series that runs throughout the entire gardening season, ending in early fall. Not only do these informative videos help your audience improve their own lives, but they also bring your loyal customer base closer to you. And, most importantly, make your videos fun to watch!
Look to your audience
Some of your best content will come from your audience! Leverage this amazing resource any chance you get. For example, run a contest that requires people to make videos centered on your product. Come up with a catchy theme, thinking along the lines of how they would use your product on vacation in a unique place. Since it’s simple for anyone with a smartphone to create a Twitter video, you will get an amazing collection of distinctive videos that support your brand through your valuable customers’ perspective. Once the contest winners are selected, show the best of the best video entries that made the cut. You might even make it a regular event. In fact, GoPro regularly asks followers to send in videos, and shares “a video of the day” with its audience. Again, make sure to give people the specific hashtag for your online contest so you can easily find the videos and share them with all your followers.
Keep posting and keep measuring
The Twitter Engagement feature allows you to see how your videos fared, displaying the metrics of each Tweet you post. In one glance, you’ll be able to see how many views it received, how many people engaged with it, and whether it was retweeted. With these stats at your fingertips, you’ll quickly learn which videos sink and which videos soar. You’ll also learn the best time to post your videos for maximum exposure and interaction. Twitter videos let your brand shine in a way that text can’t touch, so have fun with showing your personality!
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