10 Tips to Boost Your Social Media Content Strategy for Vertical Video

Oct 31, 2024
|

Marketing video creation works like a complex machine. It has many moving parts that must coordinate to see your desired results. For example, your visuals must match your message, which has to pair with the title.These ten tips will show you how to build a successful social media content strategy with vertical video.

What Is Vertical Video and Why Should You Care?

Videos are the most powerful content format for marketing. In addition, over half of consumers want to see more videos from brands.You can share videos in three different formats:

  • Horizontal video is wider than it is tall and fits best on computer screens. A typical example of horizontal video is YouTube videos.
  • Vertical video is taller than it is wide and fits best on smartphones. TikTok is one of the most popular apps for vertical video.
  • Square video is a mix of both vertical and horizontal video. Facebook and Instagram primarily use square video.

While there are three possible formats to use in your marketing, vertical video is quickly becoming one of the most popular formats. This is because anyone can shoot vertical video as long as they have a smartphone. While you can also capture horizontal video on a smartphone, most users feel more comfortable holding it upright.You should include vertical video in your strategy to stay on trend with consumers.

Where Do You Post Vertical Video?

Vertical video is compatible with several popular social media platforms, including:

  • TikTok
  • Snapchat
  • Facebook Stories
  • Instagram Reels
  • YouTube Shorts
  • Twitter feed

10 Social Media Content Strategies to Get You Started with Vertical Video

Use these ten social media video marketing strategies from expert video marketers to crush your vertical video creation with unique social media content ideas.

1. Know Your Platform First

Each platform has slightly different vertical video dimensions. For example, Facebook Stories has a recommendation of 1,080 X 1,920 pixels, which is similar to Instagram and TikTok. However, if you wanted to share the video in your feed, you would need to create a square video.By understanding your platform, you’ll know what dimensions work best. In addition, you will know what might also be on the screen. For instance, each platform has comment, share, and react buttons on the video screen, which could cover essential parts of your video if you weren’t aware of their placement before filming.Familiarizing yourself with your platform before filming ensures you create the most compatible video, improving the user experience.

Image from Sculpt

2. Create an Engaging Hook

The average viewer’s attention span is just eight seconds. That means you have just eight seconds to convince your viewer to keep watching. That initial hook is key to the success of your video. Without it, you wouldn’t have an audience.Here are some tips for capturing their attention:

  • Use colorful imagery
  • Make it active
  • Say or do something shocking
  • Connect personally with your audience

Try to be unique with your hook and avoid cliches. On the other hand, you don’t want to overpromise or use a technique that doesn’t match your brand, which will hurt your business in the long term.

3. Optimize Your Written Content

Even though you are creating vertical video, your written content plays a role. For example, what you write in the description and title will impact where your video appears. Having many viewers and having quality viewers are two significantly different results.Many viewers simply mean a significant number of people saw your marketing content. However, quality viewers mean the consumers who saw your videos are all potential buyers with a need, interest, and means to purchase your products.You want your video to appear in those consumers’ feeds. To do so, you must use wording they would use and connect to similar brands to increase your chances of showing up in their searches and feed.

4. Opt for a Shorter View Time

YouTube’s horizontal videos support a longer view time, with videos up to ten minutes performing exceptionally well. However, most viewers who are watching video vertically do so on a short-form video app like TikTok.For vertical video, your goal should be to keep your video under one minute. While you might be able to get away with videos as long as two to five minutes, they won’t see as much success as shorter videos that capture the attention of passive scrollers.Reserve those longer videos for active viewers who searched out your content, as they will be more willing to sit through the video.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Make Your Video Stand Out

Creating content for social media doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With the right tools and ideas, you can create content that resonates with your audience and moves them to action.Contact us to talk with a social media content expert to build a successful video marketing strategy.

David Ledstrup
Chief Strategy Officer

As Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) @ Kubbco, I lead the global strategic efforts and oversee the research and planning, community, content strategy and paid social teams.