Twitter might not seem to be as popular as Instagram, Whatsapp or Facebook (still holding strong as the #1 social media website in the world), but Twitter is experiencing a come-back. After coming under fire in 2016 (and a victim of it’s own hashtag #RIPtwitter) major changes were made both structurally within the company and to the platform itself. Two years on and the result of these shifts is that Twitter once again a valuable tool for business’ planning their social media campaigns. In fact, as of Q2/2018, Twitteraveraged at 335 million monthly active users, making Twitter the 5th most popular social network worldwide, and those numbers are trending upwards.
Whether you’re new to the platform or are revisiting it after a hiatus, it’s time to jump back in and make those 280 characters count. The most effective way to do this is video, so let’s take a look at how you can share your corporate video content with your would-be-customers.
“Video is becoming a central piece of what’s happening on Twitter. In fact, video views on Twitter have grown 220 times what they were just 12 months ago. With 90% of Twitter video views happening on mobile, this is an ideal way to reach customers in real time, wherever they are.*”[Twitter.Business.com, *Internal Twitter data]
1. Native Video
Native video is video that you upload to the Twitter servers when you compose a Tweet. Native Video has two distinct advantages over using a link to a video hosted on a third party website. Firstly native video is favored in Google searches, so your videos are more likely to be found by people not directly using Twitter (hello audience expansion). Secondly native videos on Twitter autoplay. This removes one of the potential hurdles that all video marketers face – getting the potential viewer to hit play. Twitter’s internal research also confirms that native video has a highly likelihood of being viewed, to be watched to the end, and to be remembered. (increased stickiness = goooood!)Great for: brand awareness, lead generation or general engagement
2. Links to Video
Although using native video on Twitter has many advantages, you should not dismiss also using links to a video that is hosted on a 3rd party site. Using links can drive traffic to your website or Youtube channel. Once a viewer clicks open and viewers the video, they are more likely to watch the video that follows it, or click into your site for more information. Message containing links are also easily shared. One tip is to make sure the cover (still thumbnail) for your video link is highly compelling as it needs to motivate the potential viewer to hit that all-important play button!Great for: customer service, increasing traffic to your website or YouTube
3. Gifs
Using any of the hundreds of free online generators, you can turn your video content not highly shareable Gifs. Gifs are a series of still images that play in a loop. They are terrifically helpful when you have a longer piece of video content that you want to highlight certain parts of. You can also add text over your Gif and this gives you the opportunity to expand your character limit. You can also share humorous Gifs and add value for your followers by making them laugh. Got a short piece of information that you want to convey to your followers that doesn’t require audio? Gifs might be the perfect solution for you.Great for: customer service, adding value, humor
Bonus: Live Video & Periscope
Peroscope is a live video app plugin that works with Twitter and it’s a great way to send a message to your followers on the fly. If your business is on location, or at a conference or event, live video is an excellent way of sharing the experience. It also works really well to give your viewers a behind the scenes glimpse into your workplace. The key to successful live video is to plan a little in advance and to promote your upcoming live video broadcast a couple of days beforehand. You should also keep these videos very raw, viewers expect (and prefer) rough and real so no need to write a script or do a shot list!
We hoped that inspired you to try or revisit Twitter for your business. Need some help creating content that you can share? We specialize in creating affordable, highest quality video for business, and we do it with humor and heart because we love what we do. To find our more, see some of our award-winning work or to reach out and start a conversation, visit: www.frontrunnerfilmsllc.com
