Just 12-months ago, social video was a budding marketing technique growing in popularity. However, it had not become the overwhelming influential force that it is today. Everyone is talking about doing it, but do you know how to do it right? In this blog post I’ll set out my top 10 tactics to build an engaging video series.

Videos are great because they catch the eye, inspire curiosity, and are easy to watch with a few minutes of free time.

We live in remarkable times where we can upload our videos onto multiple social media platforms rather than simply hosting them on YouTube. Story trends are also taking centre stage and the more entertaining industry-related videos you can produce, the more interest you can stir up in your audience.

Over time, it’s been found that while one-off videos can be a hit, the best way to make the most of your cinematographic efforts is to create a series that your online audience can come back for again and again.

When you provide a predictable episodic format with a constant stream of interesting content, your viewers may even start working your videos into their weekly or monthly routine, able to not only enjoy your promotional material but look forward to future episodes as well. The only question is what kind of series, or collection of series, you should make? This can be shaped by the industry you’re in, your company culture, and the taste of your audience.

If you’re not sure where to start, here are ten styles of social video that have already found success among internet communities.

1) Interview Your Employees

Believe it or not, your employees are one of your best sources of social media content. The modern consumer audience isn’t looking for actors in makeup parroting your current catch-phrase, they want real genuine human connection.

There are a number of creative ways to offer this kind of realistic content in your videos and one of the best is simply to use the assets you have on hand, real people who work for your company and are immersed in the industry.

Take a camera around your office and interview your employees in each department. Ask them to explain what they do and share what they love about the work. This is not just good PR, it’s also subtle advertising for your company as a great employer as well.

2) Host a Talk Show

Another way to bring that human touch to your social videos is to host interviews in a slightly more formal fashion.

With a regular host or two, you can bring in all sorts of interesting industry names, current employees, business partners, customers, or anyone else you think might be interesting on camera. The most important factor here is to make sure the interview is as real and entertaining as possible.

Don’t be afraid to crack jokes, share a few ‘industry secrets’, and encourage your guests to be candid during the interview. This will invite your audience into your world in a recognisable setting. The host and the talk show set will serve as the episodic anchor while the guests can be your flavour content of the week.

3) Build a How-To Series

There’s no denying that the search engine culture has turned almost everyone into casual DIY enthusiasts. YouTube exists because brands and public sector organisations failed to create the real-life content people craved.

Enter YouTubers, who are now winning on the Internet. But it’s not too late for any of us to take back our space online.

With the ‘how-to’ technique, you can showcase your knowledge and expertise while helping your ideal customer out. Your audience will tune in every week for your latest how-to social video and your less handy audience members will see just how capable and competent you are in your industry.

After a few well-built how-to videos, both groups won’t hesitate to call you when they get out of their depth on a project, and in my case, that’s digital marketing, social media or PR crisis management.

4) Behind-the-Scenes Glimpses

Another great approach is the ability to take your camera absolutely anywhere that doesn’t specifically display private or proprietary information.

Along with the ‘how-to’ trend, the modern audience is much more interested in what goes on behind the scenes in a business or organisation than in previous decades.

You might be surprised just how interested your customers are in what goes into producing your products, shipping, the technical side of customer service, and little industry insights that are normally only attainable through years of hard work and experience in a certain industry.

Simply by sharing these fascinating and normally exclusive tit-bits of behind-the-scenes information, you can peak the curiosity of thousands into watching the next episode of your social video series.

5) Display How your Product or Service Work

If you sell a product or a service, particularly of technical nature or a complex piece of software, you have the opportunity to make interesting social videos that can double as customer training videos at the same time.

Take some time to put together an interesting and informative series of videos that displays not only how your product works but creative or variable ways it can be used.

If you’re selling a vacuum, make an episode about each type of thing your vacuum’s various attachments can handle up to and including exotic things like special blinds or delicate embroidered pillows.

If you make software, make a series of entertaining tutorials on the basics and then more complex industry-specific uses for your product. This will not only interest your audience, it will also be something they can return to again and again for guidance on your features.

6) Collect Customer Testimonials

Testimonials have long since been an important part of any marketing suite, especially if you can get truly happy customers on video.

In the age online ratings and reviews, nothing is more persuasive to new customers than a previous customer looking genuinely pleased on camera and speaking highly of both your products and your company.

While your social video campaign shouldn’t be 100% testimonials, as this can start to look a little cheesy, having a segment for testimonials or throwing one in for about every five videos is a great way to build the human-interest element and increase the influence of your entire series.

7) Industry News and Popular Topics

But what about B2B companies, some of you may be asking about now. Many of the most popular marketing trends, especially involving social media, are built specifically to appeal to individual consumers rather than businesses.

When creating social video for a B2B company, first it’s important to realise that you are actually marketing to people.

Consider your target audience as managers and executives rather than simply consumers. The best way to appeal to this group is by focusing on your industry know-how and cutting-edge knowledge.

You can do just that by hosting a social video series addressing current industry news, sharing business tips, and focusing on popular topics in your industry.

8) Humanise Your Company or Organisation

Just as audience members are looking for that genuine human touch in how you present the content, you can also make your company as a whole seem more human and friendly by focusing on interesting personal stories that happen with the staff and changes going on inside the company.

Possible human-interest stories might include a staff member who gets a new puppy, a team throwing a surprise birthday party for their favourite manager, or the CEO’s charity vacation where they put some of the company’s revenue toward healthcare for children in a developing country.

Not only will your audience be moved by the personal stories of joy and good will, they will also have an easier time seeing your company as being made up of relatable, likeable people rather than a big faceless corporation.

9) Make Announcements

We know that you probably don’t have an announcement to make every single week, but when you do, don’t hesitate to make a video about it. All too often, companies do impressive things and hold a press conference but the news only goes as far as people who read the news which is a much smaller percentage of the population than it used to be.

If you want to reach your entire audience, don’t forget to share with your social media circles in the best way possible, a fun and energetic video that shows off not only what the announcement is, but why you made it and what the effects will be.

10) Showcase Your Events

Finally, one of the best things you can possibly make a social video about are fun events hosted by your company.

Whether you’re throwing an impressive promotional bash for a new product, celebrating the introduction of a new manager, or simply showcasing the fun everyone had at the company holiday party, your audience wants to know.

By creating videos of your events, especially those where your local audience was invited, you let the rest of your supportive online community join in the fun. In fact, you might even consider live-streaming your events for exactly this purpose.

Of course, you don’t have to choose just one type of social video series. Most companies put together a fun collection of styles unified by one or two episode formats so as to convey a collection of messages and reach a widespread audience.

What kind of social video is best for your brand?

Whether you’d like advice on designing the perfect social video style or you already have one in mind and just need to work with the right production professionals, contact us today!