Summary

READ IT

The Digital Landscape and its evolution.

The community retail sector has undergone a significant revolution with the implementation of video content to boost organisational marketing efforts on social media network outlets. As digital marketers and influencers are navigating this highly dynamic landscape, it has been identified that there is a significant growth in leveraging visually appealing video content with a vision of engaging audiences and converting them into potential customers.

In this post, we dive through a data rich sea of video marketing, charting a data driven course for success with the help of 9 unique statistical markers. As we navigate through the landscape of online community commerce marketing and unlock actionable insights, these metrics will not only boost your engagement levels but provide digital marketers the ability to steer their strategies with data backed methodologies over assumptions. With research showing over 2 million users logged by meta on both Facebook and Instagram, let's interpret more in depth how to successfully engage your desired audience.

What is the ideal length for your YouTube videos.

In the world of YouTube, where content reigns supreme, an essential driving factor for success is optimizing videos to the ideal length can speak volumes. Data research speaks volumes and in a study conducted back in 2020 post covid, statistics show that videos below the one-minute mark merely held a minute share of just 11% of the total views on YouTube.

Image showing the rise of interest towards short video content on youtube
Image showing percentage of views on youtube.

This simply means that back in 2020 content consumption was focused around longer duration video content in order to engage users. However, let's fast-forward to the present day, where these compact videos under 60 seconds are now gems dominating the industry. As of this year the percentage of views for video content that has a duration of less than a minute has significantly risen to a solid 57%, allowing marketers to understand that in the modern era of technology, being concise is the growing trend but also the easiest way to get an individual's attention now days.

Now, how can we make decisions leveraging off this data? It's quite simple actually, with the first plan of action being to craft appealing product videos that can engage your consumers, all within the 1-minute mark. By implementing such an approach in your digital media marketing strategy, creates a journey for your business to unlock the hearts as well as minds of your target audience on the platform, leaving lasting impressions.

Why should you leverage community content?

Taking the first data point into consideration, we can understand the importance of engaging and concise video content with research showing a fascinating phenomenon where a staggering 95% of this concise video material is not crafted from the studios of media giants or multinational brands but instead are born from individuals and digital media content creators themselves. This community retail revolution shines light on the importance of influential user-generated content(UGC).

Short form video creation source
Image showing percentage of individual content creators versus brands themselves.

As a marketer focused on creating successful strategies within this landscape, this data is a critical indicator encouraging businesses to actively roll out UGC campaigns. By encouraging your consumers and influencers to take the creative reign and display your products to their audience base, in addition to their unique perspectives, can be a cost-effective game changer. Through this content, brands are able to harness the authenticity and engagement that UGC offers.

Image showing UGC campaigns represention.

This collaborative effort forges a deeper sense of connection through community building, which has shown to boost organisational reach in the digital era of concise video material. Additionally, only 5% of brands are actually creating content themselves, which serves as a powerful indicator highlighting the room for ranking if brands were able to slowly create video material themselves in addition to UGC.

Taking advantage of the billion dollar market.

Taking into account the ever-changing digital video ad landscape within the United States is witnessing a dynamic shift. Through research conducted, it is inferred that in the recent year of 2021, shortly post covid the market was valued at a steady $80.1 Billion, however what is interesting to consider is the fact that projections are seen to reach a potential of close to $120 Billion, this staggered yet promising exponential growth doesn't go unnoticed.

Image showing digital video market size
Image showing market size in Billions.

If your company is navigating this dynamic terrain of video marketing, this is your golden opportunity to capitalise. How can we create an actionable strategy to leverage these insights, it's simple to make the shift now and allocate your business spend resources towards video advertising. With exponential growth opportunities on the horizon for your products and services, a strategic investment towards creating video content whilst utilising concise media has a potential to guide your brand towards being a part of this advertising boom. It's not important to be a part of the trend, but it's an opportunity to maximise your campaign efforts effectively.

Identifying the best channel for a successful video marketing campaign.

While we've interpreted how to make decisions driven by the above-mentioned data, it is also important to take into account which digital space is ideal to amplify your marketing efforts. While research indicates that almost 91% of marketing professionals are implementing video material into their marketing campaigns in 2023, we can infer that there is an increase in the adoption of video posts as a valuable marketing tool as compared to static posts.

Image showing popularity of social platforms for video content.
Image showing best channel for a successful video marketing campaign.

Facebook: A Time-Tested Classic in the Social Media Landscape

Of this 91%, let's dive deeper into platform based usage in order to pick which platform can increase your followers and boost your conversion rates. The study conducted suggests that coming in second place is Facebook, with a solid 86% of advertisers utilising the video marketing resources the platform has to offer. This potential is likely due to its extensive user base and placement in the market from its early days. Additionally, the platform gives users access to numerous resources, creating room for analysing the success rate of these videos in order to allow your brand to adapt more effectively.

YouTube Dominates the Video Marketing Race: Here's Why"

Having been founded a mere 3 years prior to the development and introduction of Facebook, research finds that YouTube is currently the leading online channel when it comes to sharing videos amongst marketing professionals. Coming in at a strong 90% of individuals utilising this social platform as an advertising channel for their products and services, its significance is underscored. With a strong promotion of user generated media, as a brand it is inferred that as of this year YouTube is the leading platform when it comes to increasing your organisational reach.

TikTok's Surging Influence: Why Marketers Can't Ignore It in 2023

In recent years, TikTok as a platform has experienced significant growth, in particular amongst the younger age demo graphs. With its viral media, becoming an international phenomenon attempting to challenge the traditional social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram etc, it is essential for brands to acknowledge this potential in order to stay relevant. However, statistics underscore the evolution in customer behaviour. While TikTok has dominated in concise video content when it comes to target the younger millennials, marketing professionals are failing to leverage these trends. Research shows that only 35% of marketers are utilising this platform for their video marketing approaches.

Thus, brands should leverage this platform for their campaigns in order to successfully capture the attention of the younger audiences on this platform.

Does one size fit all?

While it may be appealing to pick a platform based on these statistics and focus your efforts solely through a single channel, it is important to analyse your target audience and align your strategy with their preferences, keeping video format content at the core of your foundation.

5. The best type of video content to promote brand visibility

In modern marketing, we've established the importance of videos over images. However, videos are a whole segment on its own and there are unique configurations that can be implemented in order to boost your organisation's visibility. Video media on these platforms comes in three formats namely videos on feed, videos on stories and live videos. Research conducted shows these as top contenders with 58% of marketing professionals using video media that has a duration of 60s or less and 25% of them using live video media and a mere 26% leveraging video in the style of stories.

Image showing different usage metrics for various video form content
Image showing the best type of video content to promote visiblity.

Let's learn how to harness these insights in order to enhance the effectiveness of your advertising outreach:

Step 1. Stories for Real-Time Engagement:

Video visuals on stories are an essential component of sharing real time updates with your customers. Through platforms like Instagram and Facebook, the process of keeping your audience well-informed about the latest products and services is simplified without a compromise on its efficiency.

For example, audience interactions can be encouraged through the creation of interactive polls or quizzes in order to make your stories more memorable and impactful. Additionally, this form of media can be used to shine a light on behind the scene footages, product launches or even highlighting key customer testimonials. All of which provide a sense of real time engagement.

Instagram polls

Step 2. Live Videos for Authentic Connection:

The second element revolves around the usage of live video broadcasts to create a direct communication channel with your audience that is authentic as well as more time oriented as it acts as am immediate channel. The reason these live videos are the ultimate tool for outreach is because of characteristics such as live question and answer sessions, product demos or even a simple interview with industry experts showing your customers the commitment towards them.

Some other interesting applications of this live video content are live broadcasting about special offers or upcoming events, which can create a sense of anticipation and a sort of buzz within your social communities.

Step 3. The Power of Short Videos:

As seen with the conducted research, in order to effectively retain consumer attention, data highlights the importance of creating this visually appealing video content but under 60 seconds. By utilising networks such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, Twitter etc, can help amplify your attempts to leverage this format of engaging media. An ideal example of this would be to create a series of videos that are in the format of short duration media and collectively use them to resonate a narrative and create suspense, or provide tips to leave your consumers wanting more

6. YouTube shorts and its domination.

As seen previously, short form media and YouTube shorts dominate a sector within this social media landscape. First seen in June 2021, with the banning of TikTok in India, this format of video took social media networks by storm. Studies conducted show that this community network had achieved an impressive milestone, logging close to 2 billion users a month.

Image showing youtube shorts growth
Domination of youtube shorts.

Let's capitalize on this growing trend, and learn how to target this vast audience potential. Here’s how:

Step 1. Leverage YouTube Shorts Features:

First and foremost it is crucial for your brand to get familiar with the extensive feature base and analytical tools that YouTube offers for its shorts be it music, stickers or text that could potentially make your content more visually appealing. Once familiarised, you can then engage users with popular trends or challenges that are trending on the platform in order to boost your company's visibility.

Step 2. Consistency is Key:

The next step and most crucial is consistency. With a disciplined, consistent and well planned posting schedule for your video content on YouTube keeps your audience anticipating and wanting more. However, keep in mind, it is suggested to experiment with different themes and types of content in order to understand further your target audience's preferences and demands.

Step 3. Cross-Promote and Engage:

Once a schedule is ready and implemented, cross promotion is one of the simplest ways to drive traffic and broaden your reach. In simple words, this is understood as sharing your YouTube shorts media on other digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. Similar to mono platform, out reach audiences can be engaged cross-platform based through comments and shares further instilling a sense of community on a wider scale.

4. Monitor and Adapt:

The final step, yet the most important, is ensuring that there is a continuous analysis of the performance of these videos in order to identify changes in trends, and adapt your community retail strategy accordingly. Along with performance tracking, keeping up to date with trends that your competitors are partaking in can help you stay ahead of the race.

Image showing Zara sharing TikTok video content on instagram
Image showing social media video marketing.

Now you can leverage the full potential of YouTube Shorts to elevate your brand's visibility and engagement.

Conclusion:

Incorporating these actionable insights into your social commerce marketing strategy can supercharge your efforts in this rapidly evolving digital landscape. As a marketing professional and content creator, individuals should closely watch these statistical trends not only to stay ahead of the video marketing game but also adapt your campaigns to featured market trends. As seen through this post, the numbers highlight that video content is not just a marketing tool, but the cornerstone of digital engagement in the generations to come.