Be there AND be square on social media (Square Video)

How do you get better awareness and engagement from your existing video content on social media?

Whether we’re for or against the existence of social media platforms, they are here to stay, and for most businesses, it simply makes sense to have a presence on there.

But with the attention spans of social media users ever-dropping, what can you as a business owner or marketer do to prevent people scrolling and skipping your content?

Step forward, Square Video!

Square video has been taking social media by storm in recent times, and with good reason, but we’ll get into that shortly. For the majority of content these days the aspect ratio is 16:9, a more rectangular shape, otherwise referred to as Landscape. Another option is vertical video, mainly recorded by people on their mobile phones.

WHAT IS SQUARE VIDEO?

Square video is produced specifically for social media consumption, with a 1:1 aspect ratio, and is better optimised for mobile phone consumption on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

WHY BOTHER WITH SQUARE VIDEO?

Resizing, exporting and uploading an existing video may sound like a lot of work to be considered worthwhile, but let’s reflect on the realities of the social media world. Attention counts for a lot on the social channels, so the more space you can take upon a user’s newsfeed, the better. A square video will do this job much better than a standard 16:9 landscape video.

According to a study by Buffer.com:

MOBILE OPTIMISATION IS ESSENTIAL: Over 90% of social media users use phones to scroll through their newsfeeds.

INCREASED VIEWS AND ENGAGEMENT: Square video resulted in higher video views and engagement levels than its landscape counterpart. In some cases, the number of views was 30-35% higher, with engagement increases of 80-100%. 

SQUARE VIDEO OFFERS GREATER PRESENCE: Square video takes up 78% more real estate on a mobile social newsfeed than a landscape video.

AD COST SAVINGS: As of 2019, it costs a lot less to promote your video on Facebook (7.5% less) and Instagram (33% less) by using square video.

Added benefits of square video:

• Ability to add attention-grabbing headlines
• 85%+ watch video on social channels without the sound on. Square video allows you to add easy-to-read subtitles without impeding the video itself.
• Customisable backgrounds
• Add countdown timers

INSPIRATION FOR SQUARE VIDEO CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

• Teasers and intros: Short clips that encourage and intrigue the viewer enough to get them to click your link to another longer video and page on your website. Now the viewer is away from their social newsfeed, they are more likely to give your content the full attention it deserves.
• Tutorials and how-to videos

• Thought leadership videos

• Announcements and updates

• Promotions and offers

• Behind-the-scenes video

• Video Blogs

• FAQ videos about topics relating to your industry

WANT SQUARE VIDEO FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

Here at Business Video Experts, we can do the hard work for you to get your video reformatted into an attention-grabbing square video. With prices starting at just £59+vat per video and bulk package discounts available, you too could be experiencing better views and engagement from your social channels. Get in touch with us today.

If you’re considering making a great first impression with potential customers and want to find out more about adding some cornerstone video content in your business, check out the following pages:

Bespoke Video Production
Trustimonial Video
Case Study Videos

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