Social media video marketing: Why it's important for businesses

Social media video marketing can benefit businesses with small marketing budgets as it’s a cost-effective way to reach large and even global audiences. But how are companies leveraging the use of social media sites, such as TikTok, as part of their video marketing strategy? Read our survey results to find out. 

The use of social media video marketing to promote services or products can be considered a powerful tool for smaller companies with limited resources allocated to marketing efforts. With social commerce on the rise in Australia, sharing video content via platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube can help build a company's brand, drive website traffic, and potentially increase sales. 

Companies can use organic and/or paid advertising video content on social media. Whilst organic video content relies on an existing follower base to generate engagement, the latter involves spending money to promote videos and reach an audience that goes beyond their current followers. But are brands using organic or paid video content as part of their digital marketing strategy? How can SMEs leverage this strategy?

To get a better understanding of the way social media marketing is being used by businesses in Australia, Capterra surveyed 255 marketing professionals and executives who work in companies that create video marketing content. The full methodology is at the bottom of this article. 

Marketers mostly feature product or service demos in their organic video content

Capterra asked survey-takers how their company uses video content marketing to interact with social media platforms. ‘Running video advertisements’ (82%) was most frequently selected, which was closely followed by ‘posting organic video content’ (80%). Therefore, this article will discuss these two different types of marketing; video adverts and organic video content.

According to survey respondents whose company posts organic content, 'original video content', such as posts unrelated to existing trends, explainers, or how-to videos, is the type of content their company posts the most on social media (92%). This was followed by:

• Videos based on trending hashtags (63%)
• Videos based on trending sounds and/or dances (56%)
• Videos based on trending challenges (53%)
• Live videos (45%)

When asked what their company features in its organic video content shared to their social media sites, 'product or service demos' was the most common answer (73%). Sharing video content with demonstrations of how a product works can help with brand awareness and can help the company reach new customers.

Featuring employees in organic video content on social media is a powerful way to humanise the brand, as it helps the audience to see the faces behind the company. Involving employees in videos can also turn them into brand advocates and may help to boost employee morale. Notably, influencer and customer testimonials are also popularly featured in organic video content shared on social media. Reviews can play a critical role in brand awareness and customer loyalty, which is something we explore in more detail later in the article. 

When asked which of the following is the most important attribute for creating high-performing organic video content, respondents rated the following as the most impactful:

• Image quality/ aesthetic appeal (63%)
• Tone (e.g., humourous, educational) (40%)
• Following a trend (38%)
• Time of day the content is posted (35%)
• Featuring influencers (26%)

In the fast-paced world of social media, users quickly scroll through their feeds. Aesthetically pleasing videos are more likely to stop users in their tracks and encourage them to watch the content. Whilst it’s important to visually capture the viewer’s attention, the tone of the video can also help the brand to convey its message to different audiences. 

Organic video content is mostly educational or informative

The tone of video marketing content is crucial for smaller businesses as it can directly impact how the audience perceives and connects with the brand. According to survey-takers whose company posts organic video content, 'educational and informative' best describes the tone of their videos (72%). This was followed by 'inspirational and affirming' (67%). 

Using video marketing content to create educational videos can showcase the company's knowledge and expertise. Providing valuable information, insights and tutorials can position the business as an industry leader and go-to resource. 

Creating humorous video content can also help define and showcase the brand's unique personality, making it feel relatable and maybe fostering an emotional connection with viewers. Humorous content may have the potential to go viral. When people find something funny they are likely to share it with family and friends, which may result in broader brand exposure. 

The role of influencer and customer reviews in social media video marketing

Capterra's Live Commerce survey found that over half of the respondents who follow influencers on social media (54%) trust them when advertising a product or service. Survey takers selected 'authenticity' as a top factor of what makes an influencer trustworthy. Influencers can be perceived as reliable sources of information, and often have a specific niche or demographic that they cater to. Favourable reviews from shoppers can also leave positive impressions on potential new customers. 

According to survey respondents who post organic video content on social media, 82% said that users/customers have posted a video mentioning or featuring their product. This was featured organically and as a positive recommendation. Only 5% said that customers had posted a negative critique video about the brand’s product or service.

As we saw earlier, 58% of survey takers who work with organic video content said they feature influencer testimonials in these videos. The majority of marketers surveyed (78%) said their product or service has been featured organically in a video on social media by an influencer, without establishing a partnership. The product or service recommendations were also positive. Influencer endorsements can lend credibility to the brand's message, making viewers more likely to engage and share content.

Audience engagement with organic video 

No matter what kind of organic video content a brand makes, or how they choose to go about it, audience engagement and interaction are crucial for marketers to understand. This can help marketing professionals to make informed decisions based on data rather than assumptions. 

Capterra uncovered the following insights regarding viewer engagement by respondents whose company posts organic video content:

• The average time it mostly takes for company social media videos to reach maximum engagement is 'a few days' (58%), followed by 'a few weeks' (28%)
• When asked what length of videos achieved the highest engagement on social media, the most popular response for almost all platforms was 'short videos (between 30 seconds to two minutes)’. This is with the exception of YouTube, where most respondents who use it for organic videos said 'long videos (between two to four minutes)’ perform better
• When asked how long their company spends on producing a single organic video, the majority (65%) said between one to five hours, with 20% selecting ‘three to less than four hours’. This is from the first efforts to publishing

The length of a video posted to social media is crucial because online audiences may have short attention spans. As users often scroll quickly through their social media feeds, a shorter video has a better chance of capturing their attention, is often easier to remember and may also be more shareable. Videos on YouTube are often longer than on other social media sites because of the audience's intent. YouTube videos tend to have more informative content with viewers actively looking to answer questions with detailed explanations.  

Video advertising provides positive ROI, say 87% of users

Creating organic video content for social media may require a lot of consistency and frequent posting to generate a steady stream of engagement. In contrast, running paid video adverts can play a valuable role in reaching and engaging an existing audience. When running video ads on social media, the return on investment (ROI) can vary due to factors such as specific campaign goals, industry, budget and effectiveness of the overall marketing strategy. 

Capterra asked respondents who said they run video adverts what social media ad targeting options are most effective in terms of conversions. 'Demographic (gender, age, location, language)’ and 'interests and behaviours’ targeting were the most frequently selected, at 66% each, respectively. Targeted ads can show videos to users who are more likely to be interested in the products or services. This focused approach can result in better cost efficiency and a higher ROI. 

Of survey-takers running video adverts, 87% said their company has experienced a positive ROI within the last 12 months. When asked how valuable they think paid advertising with video content on social media is for their company, most (87%) said it was valuable. Only 12% said it was ‘minimally valuable’, and no one said it had no value at all. 

Brands expect to spend an average of 10-20% more on video marketing in 2023

When determining how much to spend on social media marketing, it is important for companies to have an effective and specific budget that factors in targeted and paid ads, and the internal resources required to create organic content. When asked what percentage of the company’s total marketing budget is allocated to video marketing, ‘21 to 30%’ was the most popular answer (21%). The majority (54%) of survey takers expect their company to spend more in 2023 compared to 2022.  

The allocation of funds could be on the content creation itself, involving scripting, filming, editing, graphics and sound design. Money may also be spent on platforms as some social media sites charge hosting or promotion fees. There may also be costs associated with distributing and promoting videos, such as influencer collaborations and paid partnerships. 

Reaching a younger audience is one of the top benefits of video marketing 

There are many advantages of incorporating video content into a marketing strategy and 'access to a younger audience' was most frequently selected as one of the biggest benefits by survey-takers (63%). According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), the overwhelming majority of 18 to 34-year-olds are connected to social media platforms and 98% use the internet to watch videos. Targeting a younger demographic can position the brand as innovative and in touch with the latest trends, making it more appealing to a wider audience. 

Next, respondents said one of the biggest benefits is to 'facilitate consumers' retention of information' (58%), which can help viewers remember the key messages conveyed in the video. They may be more likely to recall the product features and unique selling points. 

Social media videos also have a higher potential to go viral, especially among younger audiences, as they are more likely to share the content they find entertaining. 'The ability to create viral content' (52%) was the third most selected benefit. A viral video can lead to a significant increase in brand exposure or website traffic. 

But when it comes to creating video marketing content, companies may also face challenges. 'Posting consistently' (58%), 'attracting followers' (52%) and 'creating high-quality content' (47%) were most chosen as the major challenges of using video content for advertising by respondents. This emphasises the importance of managers setting aside some of their marketing budgets to invest in tools that can help streamline and automate processes, such as content management systems (CMS) to aid in scheduling posts, or the aforementioned video creation and editing tools.

In conclusion

Using both original and paid content in a social media marketing strategy offers a range of benefits. Incorporating both types of advertising into a video marketing strategy provides a balanced approach as it combines the authenticity of the brand's voice with the precision and reach of targeted paid promotions. This synergy can help marketing teams to effectively engage their audience and potentially drive conversions.

In the next article in this two-part series, Capterra looks at whether businesses in Australia are using generative artificial intelligence (AI) marketing tools to create video content.