7 steps to a successful video marketing strategy on social media Video marketing has all the bells and whistles necessary to entice viewers, including sound, images, music, and other engaging elements. It’s projected that adults will spend three hours and 30 minutes per day watching digital video by 2028, about half an hour more than the 2024 average. For the third year in a row, digital video consumption in the United States surpassed TV viewing time in 2024. Digital video is a necessity for marketers developing a social media video marketing strategy because that trend is expected to continue. Luckily, there are many ways video can be used in social media marketing. We’re not limited to TV-style ads or perfectly polished educational videos. With multiple networks supporting short-form video content, an interest in brand authenticity and accessible editing apps, it’s easier than ever to dip your toes into the video marketing world.
Our seven-step guide will walk you through each of the pieces you need to create a successful social media video marketing strategy. You can also get a crash course in how to scale your video process from pre-production to post-publishing by watching the video below: 1. Set goals for video marketing
At the beginning of any new marketing strategy, you’ll start by setting goals. What do you hope your videos will accomplish? We recommend setting only a few goals when you're just starting out to avoid feeling overwhelmed. An example of a video marketing goal would be generating brand awareness.
However, your video marketing strategy can do more than just raise brand awareness with the right script and creativity. It can also help a brand's advocacy plans, educate customers about their brand-new purchase, and guide potential customers through the decision stage of their buyer's journey. A typical marketing funnel has five stages, and videos can fit into any one of them as long as your social media marketing strategy is aligned with each stage. a picture that shows the stages of the marketing funnel and some examples of goals. Think about your objectives for your video marketing strategy in relation to each stage of the buyer's journey and use that as inspiration for your social media video concepts. Identifying the funnel stage will help you create highly effective calls to action in your video content as well.
In each funnel stage, here are five examples of goals you can accomplish: Increase awareness and reach new clients. According to The 2024 Sprout Social Media Content Strategy Report, social media users are using video-centric channels like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok for product discovery. These are more than “social networks” for audiences, especially Millennial and Gen Z consumers. A method for locating and evaluating brands, services, and products is digital video content. Brands are attempting to pique the interest of potential customers and introduce themselves during the initial phase of the buyer's journey. Social media video marketing is a great way to get in touch with new customers, show them who you are, what you value, what your brand has to offer, and what sets it apart from your rivals. When creating awareness-stage video content, you may only have a few seconds or minutes to get your audience's attention. Get right to the point. For example, eye-catching educational videos or opinionated thought leadership can establish credibility and your brand identity, so when consumers intend to buy, your brand is top of mind.
Videos are frequently used in advertising for some brands. These videos can appear on product pages on a brand’s website or in social ads across networks. This is especially useful for direct-to-consumer brands like Patagonia, where product videos are necessary to help the consumer picture themselves with the product.
The outdoor gear brand shows off some of their winter gear for kids, including hats and coats, in the product video below. It shows kids wearing the gear as they play sports like skiing and explore the wonders of the outdoors. The video can be promoted as a social ad or used as a Facebook post because it is relatable and short. Still from Patagonia’s children’s gear video ad, featuring two kids in hats and coats and the onscreen text “for a lifetime of wonder.”
Consideration: Generate demand
Once consumers have reached the consideration stage, they may know about your brand and what you offer, but it’s still your job to generate demand for your products and services.
There are several ways you can achieve this goal with social media video marketing. How-tos and tutorials, for instance, demonstrate your product in action and make it simple for customers to imagine how they would use it. Brands in the skincare, makeup and wellness spaces, like HUM Nutrition, are masters of consideration-stage videos.
HUM Nutrition frequently shares short-form videos of influencers, creators, customers and staff members using the brand’s supplements in their daily lives. The videos feature a bright, clean aesthetic that help the supplement bottles’ colorful labels stand out. In the following illustration, a routine to restore hair health includes the brand's Hair Strong vitamins. It’s a relatable video that offers tips beyond the brand’s products to give followers an easy, applicable routine. People are more likely to imagine themselves carrying out the same actions when they are able to see how your product or services are utilized by other people to solve problems. Hum video ad showing Hair Strong supplements held by a hand. The label on the bottle is bright pink. An alternative to live-action demonstrations are animated explainer videos. Though more abstract, they’re still an opportunity to put the customer’s problem into perspective and introduce your services as the solution.
Videos in the consideration stage also don't have to be exclusively about your products or services. Before making a purchase, customers also consider a company's culture and core values. Data from a Q2 2024 Sprout Social Pulse Survey shows 87% of all consumers strongly or somewhat agree they expect influencers to speak out about causes that align with their values and take a stand on social media. This is a huge difference from our data from 2023, when only 25% of consumers said that the brands they remember the most talked about causes or news that were good for them. Lean into this consumer interest by using video to highlight your brand story and core values. You’ll establish an emotional connection with your audience, making it more likely they’ll choose your company over a competitor.
Decision: Drive conversion
The decision stage is when prospects can become customers. Here, customer testimonial videos can go a long way to show the real potential and payoff of your products and services.
Short videos that tell the stories of individual students are shared on Codecademy, an online coding school with free courses and a thriving community. In this video, Codecademy alum Noah shares his journey, from self-taught programmer looking to create a booking solution for his yoga business to full-stack engineer.
Codecademy YouTube video on Noah’s story, featuring him smiling in a motorcycle jacket.
Noah tells a strong story and the video features fun, engaging editing. What makes this video a strong decision-stage piece, is the aspirational, yet authentic, “this could be you” feeling. Codecademy isn’t just for folks with a background in coding wanting to uplevel their career. The story of Noah exemplifies how anyone, regardless of background, can immediately enroll in classes. Codecademy is not just promising something and hoping you will believe it; rather, they are demonstrating that they have already won the trust of their students and improved their lives. Make use of this kind of video content to demonstrate to potential customers the outcomes and actual advantages that others have enjoyed, as well as the advantages they stand to gain by selecting your company. Adoption: Educate customers
Marketers aren't the only ones who want to ensure that their investments are paying off. Once a prospect becomes a customer and enters the adoption stage, educate them about how they can get the most out of your products and services.
An energetic how-to video is ideal for platforms like YouTube, LinkedIn or Instagram Reels, where people are willing to spend a bit more time watching and learning.
You have a few options:
Video that teaches your audience: If your products or services have a lot of features based on specific needs or a learning curve, educate your audience. Content that’s focused on hacks, tips, optimization or special features can put complexities into perspective and make customers more confident.
Webinars: These can be highly effective mediums because they give customers a chance to engage with your brand in real-time and ask questions.
Live stream: Going live can help you capture a broader audience, especially on a platform like TikTok where live streams are suggested as users scroll their feed. However, it’s your biggest fans and existing followers who are most likely to tune in. Instagram Live streams appear at the top of the interface at the beginning of Stories. Followers who have their app open when you go live will also receive a notification that you’re broadcasting, so they can easily tune in to get the latest from your brand.
Advocacy: Inspire evangelism
By the advocacy stage, you have satisfied customers that’ll sing your praises and champion your brand.
The beautiful thing about advocacy videos is that customers don’t feel like they’re being sold anything. Capitalize on organic, genuine love for your brand and product using social listening tools like Sprout Social’s. With Sprout Social Listening, you can capture brand mentions from engaged profiles and surface user-generated content.
Profile Overview tab within Sprout Social's Social Listening dashboard.
Not every advocacy video will be viral or come straight from your fans. Brand strategies can be bolstered by employee advocacy content. Consider showcasing your colleagues to show the ins and outs of your company and why they love working there.
Every major social media platform has its own form of video, so there’s plenty of real estate to incorporate it into your strategy.
Start with platforms with established audiences if you have never used video before. The 2024 Sprout Social Media Content Strategy Report found that Gen Z and Millennial audiences gravitate toward Instagram with at least three quarters of users in these age groups using the platform. Gen X and Baby Boomer audiences lean toward Facebook and Instagram. YouTube has a place in the top five platforms of all age groups as well.
Choosing any of these networks to begin your video marketing strategy is a good first step. Let's learn more about YouTube and TikTok. When to use TikTok for video marketing
Without a doubt, TikTok contributed to the rise of the short-form video and is now one of the most popular apps on the internet. In the Content Strategy Report, our data showed that 68% of all social media users use TikTok, but Gen Z and Millennials lead the way with 86% and 73% respectively. The channel is particularly popular with Generation Z for both online shopping and news. Brands can get creative with their video marketing in new ways thanks to the app's nuanced culture and collaborative features like Duets, which are fueled by TikTok trends and TikTok sounds. The app drives a lot of awareness, but trends like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt show that short videos can also make people buy. When to use YouTube for video marketing
With over 2.5 billion monthly active users, YouTube still reigns as one of the most popular video platforms amongst consumers and marketers. A massive user base is great, but that isn’t the only reason brands should consider YouTube marketing. YouTube videos appear in Google's search engine results pages (SERPs), making it one of the world's most popular search engines. By creating content that addresses topics that are frequently searched for, marketers can use YouTube to boost the visibility of their brand. YouTube Shorts offer a short-form video option. Short-form video delivers the highest ROI compared to other current marketing trends, so it’s worth considering in your strategy. These can be used to show off parts of longer videos, share user-generated content, or give insight in bite-sized chunks with your in-depth videos. You will need a robust video SEO strategy to learn more about how to optimize your videos for discovery. You can also get our free social media video workbook to help you get the most out of your short videos. You can address all stages of the marketing funnel with YouTube video marketing, so no matter what you choose, you can achieve your strategy's objectives. Social media video formats and features
Understanding what each platform offers and the video dimensions that can be displayed is necessary to select the appropriate platform for your brand's video marketing. If you’d like to repurpose your videos, it’s best to choose platforms that complement each other. Many platforms (including Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts) use a 9×16 vertical video aspect ratio, making it easy to cross post your video on all of them.
As different social platforms add more features, it can be hard to keep track of what type of video content can be uploaded where or when you might need to do some additional editing.
See below for a quick reference, but visit our full social media video specs guide for all the details you need to upload on each network.
Landscape and portrait feed video
Reels that were shared or cross-posted on Instagram and Facebook. Facebook Live (live streaming)
Facebook Stories (disappearing content)
Landscape and portrait feed video
Streaming live (via Instagram Live) Instagram Stories (disappearing content)
Instagram Reels, which include both short and long-form content Threads
Landscape and portrait feed video
YouTube
Landscape video
Video in portrait orientation (may use pillarboxing for some uploads) Live streaming
YouTube Shorts (portrait, short-form video)
TikTok
Portrait feed video
Live streaming
TikTok Stories (disappearing content)
X (formerly known as Twitter)
Landscape and portrait feed video
Livestream
Landscape feed video
Livestream
Portrait feed video
Idea Pins (set of images, videos or text similar to Stories)
Tasty’s social media content offers great examples of how to tailor your videos for different platforms. The brand frequently uses video marketing, customized for platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Not only are the orientations different, the topics and series also vary between platforms. This diversity of content ensures that the audience will find original content no matter which Tasty social media page they’re on. For example, in this video Tasty shares a compilation of vertical short-form videos in a longer landscape video for mac and cheese recipes:
Tasty’s best mac and cheese recipes video, showing the end result of the beer cheese mac recipe.
Repurpose content across platforms that support similar video formats
When you spend so much time and effort creating high-quality video content, you want to ensure that as many people as possible see it. Why not take advantage of repurposing your video content across channels?
Your audience and thus, your brand, may have a preferred social channel. Approaching your video content with that network in mind makes sense. Yet, your audience on your other accounts will likely enjoy a well-made video, too.
The good news is that feature parity and length parity are getting closer, although video lengths and types can vary by network. YouTube recently increased the maximum length for YouTube Shorts to 3 minutes, making it easier than ever to repurpose your videos from other platforms.
Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts all use a vertical 916 video format, so repurposing a video doesn't require a lot of editing or cropping. There are no drawbacks to reposting your carefully constructed Instagram Reel on YouTube and TikTok as long as you keep the maximum length in mind. You may even reach some members of your audience who didn’t catch it in its original form, or find new customers along the way.
3. Select your video types
An essential step in your marketing strategy is determining the kind of video that best represents your brand. Not all videos are made the same and that’s okay–what’s most important is that they support your key goals.
According to our findings in the Content Strategy Report, consumers are more willing than ever to engage in social media interactions with brands. Some 48% of consumers said they’ve interacted with brands on social media more frequently in the last six months. They are making use of these interactions for both connection and purchase, and they place a high value on a brand that appears genuine and human. The takeaway here? Customers are looking for authenticity throughout your content. Here are a few different types of social media video ideas and their benefits to get you started with accomplishing the genuine content consumers are looking for:
Educational: These are informative and can create brand awareness for new customers. They often take a more polished tone to establish the brand as an expert. If created for current customers, then the videos could be focused on guides and tips for getting the most out of a product.
Explainer: Similar to educational videos, explainer content focuses on teaching the audience more about your brand and the product or service you offer. Use these videos to quickly explain what your company does and how the brand can help solve a particular problem. In order to move viewers further along the marketing funnel, close with a strong call to action. Behind-the-scenes: These give a look into company operations and employees. They provide a virtual peek behind the curtain or entertain the audience. Interviews: With guest speakers, interviews are a great way of introducing your audience to a new influencer and vice versa. Handing the virtual mic over to a guest can be fun and provide a little more authenticity to your brand.
Jokes, cute puppies, and even pranks are examples of these that are entertaining. They are a great way to emphasize your brand's voice and create a sense of community among your audience while also entertaining them. Customers also enjoy “edutainment” content: 66% of respondents in our Content Strategy Report said it’s the most engaging type of brand content.
Testimonials: These videos serve as social proof for your brand and resemble customer highlights. Videos that showcase how a customer uses your product or service and their satisfaction with it operate on a connection level: ideally, a potential customer will see themselves in that video and be persuaded to purchase.
Product: Demonstrate the best features of your company's most popular product or service. Customers may be able to envision themselves using your brand if you highlight the distinctive features of your product or service. Narrative: Put your author’s hat on and tell an engaging story to leave a lasting impression on viewers. Use animation or go documentary-style to explain how your brand was founded or a customer problem you resolved—anything that showcases a memorable story.
The next step is to plan the actual video once you have chosen which kinds of videos to tackle. 4. Plan the content production
In the long run, you will save time and money if you have a good plan for producing content. Whether you plan with a spreadsheet or old-fashioned pen and paper, you need to establish how you’ll create and film videos.
Evaluate your post-production and production options for content. Hiring an agency or production company will alleviate a lot of the stress. They’ll handle all the planning and approvals, you just need to give the guidance.
But if you want to do everything yourself, you'll need to think about all the steps that go into making a good video. Among these are the following: locating the necessary props and equipment Creating a play Editing the script
Storyboarding the video
Planning the shoot for optimal filming. Filming won’t be linear for the most part.
Gathering and nurturing talent (the people who are featured in the video)
Identifying the place(s) you’ll film and taking natural daylight into consideration for timing
Knowing where to send the footage to be edited
Determining who will do the approval sign-offs for each step. For example, you want to make sure that the script sounds good and is in line with your voice. Two people might be needed to look over this. Checking that the music you’re using is licensed for you
As you run through the content plan, you’ll find some ways you need to tweak it or things you missed earlier, especially if this is one of your first efforts putting together a comprehensive video content plan. Be prepared to adjust as necessary. After a solid plan is executed, it’s time to move on to post-production.
5. Know what post-production entails
Make sure you give post-production plenty of time, especially if your videos will be used in ads or need more editing. Post-production does not mean just cutting scenes and putting them back together to music. It also includes additions like closed captions, text overlays, call-to-action screens and more. The more you film and the more polished you want your video to be, the more time you’ll need.
Some videos will only need light edits post production. For instance, if you host a Facebook Live, the video is posted as soon as it finishes. The caption and title can be changed, but not much else. Post-production will be performed on uploaded videos. On YouTube, for example, you’ll be able to add tags, multiple language closed captions, detailed captions and more.
Before you start, know what you're getting yourself into: YouTube videos that are professional and polished take a lot more work than simple livestreams. Now that you have the completed video, it’s time to schedule and promote it. Videos can be published on some management platforms, like Sprout Social. Sprout Social's Smart Inbox with a new video post.
For instance, Sprout’s YouTube publishing options include details like tags, category, playlist and privacy settings. We’re the only social media management software that lets you manage your TikTok content by allowing you to schedule your videos in the same calendar as your other social posts, all on one platform.
Social media videos aren't just one-and-done. One fully produced video could be uploaded to several networks over a month-long time period, depending on your social schedule and plan for repurposing video content. You could promote it numerous times on X, formerly Twitter. For livestreams, you’ll need to promote often to ensure lots of people will join in at the right time.
Multiple videos could be produced from a single film recording session. Different clips could be used for promotion or spliced together to create new videos. Think big when you’re promoting videos.
7. Understand and analyze metrics
The last step in any strategy is the most important of them all: analyzing and reflecting. You won’t know how a video performs unless you take a look at the statistics associated with it. What are the view counts? The watch times? The shares and likes and comments? How is your YouTube engagement or TikTok engagement?
Each network provides different sets of video metrics, so it’s important for you to know what they are before you start on production. Every platform also has native analytics that will tell you how your video content performed. The metrics you use to analyze success should match the goals you set in the beginning. If you wanted brand awareness for a video, the matching metric might be impressions or video views.
Sprout Social's TikTok Profile Performance Report
Along with scheduling, Sprout offers a suite of analytics tools. For example, you can analyze your performance by reviewing TikTok analytics to identify which video posts were the most successful. TikTok’s native analytics only saves your data for limited time periods, but Sprout’s Reporting and Analytics tools don’t put an expiration date on your post performance data. You can compare the performance of your TikTok videos to that of your other platforms' content over time. Keep in mind that audiences will watch your older videos. With the right combination of keywords and an evergreen topic, a three-year-old video might still be relevant to your users today.
Start your video marketing strategy today
One, albeit significant and exciting, component of your overall content strategy is social media video marketing. Setting goals that align with your broader social media marketing plan before you start creating content will help you choose the right platforms and type of video for your brand. You can create engaging videos that appeal to your audiences with a well-thought-out production, promotion, and analytics plan. Just as your video content needs to be tailored to individual audiences and networks, you’ll need to ensure all of your social media content gets a customized approach. Download our 2024 Social Media Content Strategy Report for platform-specific insights to develop a data-informed social media marketing video strategy.