Thinking of delving into the world of social media video? Perhaps you have already started, but realized there is more to it than you expected? This does not have to be the case. With just a little bit of knowledge you can easily create successful videos for social media.

There are a few important things to keep in mind as a social media video maker, particularly for different platforms.

These are a few best practices for ensuring your video marketing campaign is successful:

• Ensure that your videos are easy to understand on mute.
• Ensure that your videos are suited to the particular social network.
• Make use of a ‘call-to-action’ to get people involved.
• Ensure that your branding is uniform and visible.
• Monitor your timing.

As the most popular social media platform Facebook caters to a wide range of ages. If you are targeting an audience of 35 years and older, Facebook is the best platform. The most successful videos are 60-90 seconds, however short advertisements and longer stories can also be effective.

Who is your audience?

Instagram appeals to a younger audience, with 73 percent falling between the ages of 15 and 35, and videos are limited to 60 seconds. Snapchat’s users are even younger, with 85 percent between age 18 and 34. Twitter user demographics vary by business rather than age, however, also tend towards the younger generations. Twitter videos are limited to 140 seconds.

YouTube is a great platform for explanatory and informational videos. With the correct combination of keywords, descriptions and hashtags users are easily able to locate the video through a Google search which works for all ages. YouTube users tend to have a longer attention span watching videos for between two and nine minutes.

LinkedIn is specifically targeted to a professional, business audience. Until LinkedIn has completed its new video feature rollout, most businesses will still post a YouTube video link in order to play in a LinkedIn feed.

Even simple content filmed on a smartphone should be properly thought out and planned. Professional, scripted social videos are more complicated, and require reliable equipment, lighting and props, as well as test runs.

Due to the saturation of video content social media users are not as easily impressed nowadays as they were originally. Where initially even a low-grade, uninteresting social media video production would have gained an audience, now people have higher expectations and only watch much higher quality content.

Businesses no longer have to be completely formal in order to use time wisely. If there is no one speaking in the video it is not necessary to have a script, but an outline and rehearsal is important. There is no perfect formula for a script or plan.

We have condensed the key areas of focus for creating a social media video. By using the above tips and tricks you are now well equipped to make engaging, productive videos that will attract attention in even the most chaotic feed.