- What if I told you that social media has changed forever
and it's never going back?
That's right, my friend.
And if you're a business owner, entrepreneur,
marketer, or creator,
then you have every right to be concerned.
Because what started as a slow drip
and how the social platform started changing
in favoring certain kinds of content over others
has turned into a full-blown flood
that's drowning everything that doesn't align
with this new style of content in its path.
And it's leaving a lot of people scared and confused
and not sure what they should do
in order to get social media to work for them.
Now, some people are fighting back with words.
Others are taking to Google
in order to try to figure out what's going on.
Some are starting petitions
in order to try to gather enough signatures
to convince the social media giants
to change the way they operate.
And some, in what may be the most ironic example of all,
are simply posting their complaints about social media
on social media,
which is kind of proof that social media
isn't going anywhere anytime soon
because at least for now, it's the best option we got.
But that's not the point of this video.
Nope, the point of this video is to help you recognize
and capitalize, and french fries,
on the biggest social media opportunity
available to you right now:
a kind of content that I'm calling video vitamins.
So let me tell you exactly what those are
and how you can use them to reinvent and relaunch,
and reinvigorate your entire social media marketing.
Also, a big thank you to HubSpot for sponsoring this video,
but more on that later.
For now, let's talk video vitamins.
Video vitamins are tiny, little, value-packed video clips
that deliver a ton of value in a short period of time
and have the potential to rack up thousands,
hundreds of thousands, even millions of views
right from your very first one.
This is because the social media platforms
and the algorithms behind them have clued into the fact
that video vitamins are the kind of content
that your audience wants.
And the people get what the people want.
Because the social media platforms know
that the key to keeping their billion dollar empires running
is keeping people active and engaged
and as addicted to their platforms as possible.
Now, to the average person, these video vitamins
are usually referred to by their more commonly known names
of Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, or TikToks.
But video vitamins are so much more than that.
Oh, so much more.
These aren't just silly dances on TikTok.
(playful music)
Or people ranting on Facebook.
You know what really grinds my gears?
Or short clips taken from longer YouTube videos.
Because video vitamins have a strategy behind them:
a series of emotional and psychological hot buttons
that you wanna push,
and a style and a pace that you want to adhere to,
at least if you want to give your content
any chance of success.
Not to mention video vitamins are not only good
for the audience that you're creating them for,
but they're also good for you as the creator of them
as this kind of content helps build trust
and authority and goodwill better than any kind
of text or image-based content could ever hope to.
That said, there are a few dangerous mistakes
that you need to be aware of and avoid at all costs.
That is if you don't want your video vitamins
to completely repel and gross out your audience.
Banana-flavored vitamins, ew!
But I'll talk more about those mistakes
and how you can avoid them later in the video.
For now, let's dive into video vitamin strategy.
When it comes to the content
and what kind of subjects, topics,
and styles work best with these kind of videos,
there are a ton of options available
including doing before and after video,
sharing a secret hack, doing a vlog-style video,
answering common questions, giving advice,
creating a how-to or tutorial style video,
sharing a fun fact,
or hopping on whatever the latest trend is in your industry.
There is no one size fits all strategy here
and you're gonna have to find the overlap
between the kinds of content you enjoy creating
and the kinds of content your audience wants to see.
So my best advice is to just start
with whatever one you want
and then try another, then another.
That said, there is a non-negotiable element here
when it comes to structuring your short-form content
that you need to pay special attention to.
That has to do with the way
that people consume these kind of videos
and how to design them to be as interesting, engaging,
and yes, even addicting as possible.
See, here's the deal.
When it comes to creating short-form video content,
time is not on your side.
I'll talk more about this
when I go over some of the biggest mistakes
that you want to avoid,
but for now, just know that when it comes
to video vitamin content, less really is more.
For example, if you have a video idea
on the top three tips for how to do something,
well, try to cut it down to one per video.
If you have a story to share or to tell,
well, cut it down to just the bullet points
or just the main takeaway lesson.
Or if you're creating a how-to or tutorial style video,
well, then stick to just the basic high level steps
and save the in-depth explanation
for a longer-form video later down the road.
But most importantly of all,
you wanna pay special attention
to these three different sections
of each and every single short form video you create.
Part one is the first three seconds.
This is where you need to hit them
with your hook, your promise, a shocking statement,
or the value that they're going to get
through the rest of the short-form video.
For example, this pen does something
that no other pen can do.
Or going to college is the single worst investment
that you could ever make.
Or did you know that house plans
are part of a global conspiracy to take over the world?
(leaves rustling)
Next is part two.
This is the main body of your content.
Here, your goal is to just keep the good stuff coming,
making sure that it's clear
and short and as concise as possible.
Do your best to try to edit
or trim out any unnecessary words or thoughts or ideas.
Again, the goal here is to try to give as much value
as is humanly possible in 15 or 30 or 60 seconds.
And then part three is where I see most short-form videos
just go so wrong by hinting or giving away the fact
that the end of the video is coming.
For example, ending with something like,
"So to wrap it all up,"
or, "In conclusion,"
or, "All right, well, I guess that's it.
Don't forget to like and comment and subscribe,"
or essentially anything else that lets them know
that the end of the video is coming
and it's time for them to move on to something else.
The better plan is to end on a high note.
Give them something awesome and then cut the video,
which gives you a better chance
of having them rewatch the video by default
when it just loops again
or by decision when they choose to rewatch it again
in order to better understand what you had to say.
Next, here's a piece of advice
that you probably haven't heard before,
but it's definitely something
that you're going to want to start doing
when you're creating your content,
and that is you're going to want
to start filming your videos horizontally, not vertically.
But Adam, aren't we gonna be posting our video vitamins
as Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, and TikToks,
which are all vertical video platforms?
So wouldn't it make more sense to just hold my phone
or camera vertically to make things easier?
It's a good thought, other Adam.
Nice hat, by the way.
Thanks.
But there are a few reasons why shooting vertically
isn't actually the best plan.
First off, short form, vertical video content
on reels, shorts, and TikTok are all 1080 pixels wide
by 1920 pixels high,
which gives you a high definition vertical video.
But most phones and cameras nowadays
are capable of shooting in 4K,
which provides around four times more resolution than 1080P.
This is cool because it means
that you can shoot your video horizontally in 4K,
crop in on the center part,
and still end up with the max allow resolution
of a 1080P video.
And to do this, all you need to do is go to your phone
or camera settings, turn on 4K,
and then enable either grid or thirds grid,
which is gonna help show you what's going to appear
in and out of the frame.
And what this means for you is that for no extra work,
you now have a horizontal and a vertical video,
which means you can use either or both, however you like.
This also acts as kind of a social media insurance policy.
As even though vertical video is the main thing right now,
that doesn't mean that it's always going to be,
so it's nice to have the option to crop your video
in whatever way is gonna work best for you.
For example, way back in the day in 2017,
I remember Buffer publishing an article showing
how square format video
was delivering the best results of all.
So things change.
The other thing you can do to make it easier
to create better short-form vertical videos
is to essentially film longer form videos
with the idea and the intention
of taking the best parts out later to use as shorts,
or creating a string or series of short-form videos
with the intention of re-recording them all later
as a longer form video.
But the best advice of all to really capitalize
on this opportunity right now
is to spend just a few minutes thinking through
and planning your short-form content strategy.
And to help you do that, I wanna introduce you
to HubSpot's Social Media Content Calendar template.
So let me walk you through that now.
HubSpot's Social Media Content Calendar
is a free template that you can download
to help you manage and plan
your entire social media content strategy,
which makes it easier to grow your reach and engagement,
scale your social media marketing,
and boost your productivity.
The fact is with so many different social networks
to manage,
it can be tricky to plan which content to share
at what time and on which platform,
which is what makes having a content calendar
so important to help you organize
your social media activities in advance,
which makes everything more manageable and more effective.
This easy-to-use Excel template helps you plan your updates,
breaking down how to format your content
for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest,
all while providing helpful tips and tricks along the way,
and includes prompts for social media teams
to build out a rock solid social media publishing schedule
including sections on content types, post titles,
links for the content, snippets for the copy, image links,
and the all important publish date.
And all you need to do to download your free copy
of the social media content calendar today
is just click the link down in the descriptions below
right after this video
and HubSpot will send it right over.
So with that said,
let me walk you through some of the mistakes I see
so many business owners, entrepreneurs,
and creators keep making so you can avoid them
and get the best results possible
from your social media marketing efforts.
Number one, video vitamins are designed to be used
as a supplement to your longer form content.
Unless you're planning on creating an absolute ton
of these short form pieces of content,
you're much better off by pairing them
along with a longer form piece of content
like a YouTube video, a podcast,
or even a blogging strategy.
As great and as popular as short form content is right now,
it simply can't compare
to having somebody consume your content
for 10 minutes or 20 minutes,
sometimes even an hour or longer.
Number two is don't confuse short with easy.
In many ways, creating shorter and more engaging
and entertaining pieces of content is even harder
than creating longer form pieces of content
because you need to get your point across
as quickly as possible.
Remember, the key to succeeding
with short-form video content
is to try to deliver as much value as is humanly possible
in as least amount of time.
This means spending even more time editing and refining
and cutting out any parts that aren't completely necessary.
And number three, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Meaning, if you're already getting good results
with another marketing strategy
like a long form video strategy, a podcast strategy,
a blogging strategy, or anything like that,
make sure to not abandon those completely.
Instead, slowly start adding video vitamins
to your content mix,
which is going to help you maintain what you currently have
while still positioning you for the future,
opening up new channels and new platforms, new audiences,
and new opportunities.
And if you're looking for even more tips
on how you can turn social media into your business' best
and most profitable marketing channel,
then you're definitely gonna wanna check out the video
I've got linked up right here,
which is full of some of my best marketing strategies.
So make sure to check that out now
and I'll see you in there in just a second.