Does your company post videos to Instagram just to have them sit there with no likes or comments?
If so, don’t despair. There are more than 4 billion social-media users as of 2022, which means that social-media managers, as well as artists and content creators, are vying for 8 billion eyeballs. Everyone wants a piece of that giant pie, especially companies and brands, because eyeballs on videos can translate into dollars in the bank.
5 Ways to Boost Video Views
- Find the right audience.
- Post at ideal times.
- Create high-quality content.
- Use hashtags.
- Add captions.
With a little strategy and planning, you can get more people to view your social-media posts, particularly those all-important videos. Here’s how.
Find the Right Audience
When it comes to finding the right viewer segment, many marketing parameters come to mind. Audience research. Buyer’s persona. Perfect customer. The list goes on and on. Finding the right audience is like winning half the battle before it begins.
Consider the following questions and answers:
What is the age of your ideal viewer? If you are making videos for older people, don’t post them to Tik Tok as that’s territory for Gen Z, not older adults.
On which social platform do they hang out? If your target audience lives on a particular social media platform, then you need to optimize your videos and video marketing for that platform.
What is their gender? Most of us hate gender bias. Data-driven marketing does not. Try creating videos for men if you are selling beauty products for women. Why? Lately, women are trying men’s beauty products to avoid the pink tax.
What is the profession of your ideal customer? To which income bracket does your audience belong? What is their lifestyle? What are the main issues they face in their personal and professional lives? All of these issues greatly influence their every decision.
Knowing your perfect audience is the best first step to bringing in more views to your videos, both branded and non-branded. This tool from Hubspot will help you determine your perfect audience.
Post at Ideal Times
Generally, publishing videos on any social media platform on Tuesday and Thursday between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. brings the best results. Sunday is the worst day to do the same.
That said, each social media has its own sweet spot. Let’s break the whole thing down and analyze it. The following chart contains a list of different social media platforms, plus the best days of the week and times for posting videos on them.
For any video marketer, artist or video content creator, YouTube is the most popular platform to upload videos and earn their stripes. Here are the best days and times to post videos on YouTube:
Use these data sets and other info to plan your video posting time and frequency.
Create High-Quality Content
It’s a no-brainer. The quality of your videos lets your audience know that you’re the authority on your subject. If you suspect that your quality isn’t quite where it should be, turn to professional tools such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Cyberlink PowerDirector 365, which most artists, video content creators and vloggers use to produce sterling videos optimized for multiple social media platforms.
You can also use the new Reels feature on Instagram to share short videos with your followers. Reels are similar to Stories, but they're vertical and last for up to seven days. Just tap the Create Reel button at the top of your profile page to create a Reel. Add some clips, add a cover image and some text to describe your Reel. Then publish it and share it with your followers.
These tools help create stellar videos and also speed up the video-publishing process.
Use Hashtags
Relevant hashtags add an extra layer of searchability to your videos. Moreover, hashtags are a way to group related posts and a great way to get your videos seen by more people. Adding relevant, and perhaps quirky, hashtags helps people who are interested in those topics find your videos.
Add Captions
More than 80 percent of viewers scroll Instagram Reels on mute, a big issue both for short video and Reel creators. If your reels are not visually or topically brilliant, they get scrolled away within 3 seconds.
That’s the harsh truth with Instagram Reels & videos.
Video captions are a great way to get more views on your videos and Instagram reels. Adding captions makes your content accessible to a broader audience and increases the chance that people will watch your videos from start to finish.
There are a few different ways to add captions to your videos and Instagram reels. If you’re using YouTube, you can add closed captions by uploading a text file with the same name as your video. Facebook also has a built-in captioning tool that makes it easy to add subtitles to your videos. Instagram has a built-in captioning tool; a few third-party apps can help, too.
Video marketing starts just after you hit that published button. That’s another significant chapter, with deep and complex issues. In the meantime, use these best practices to pull more views and natural conversations with your viewers to build a robust social following for your videos.
