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Twitter turns 10: how to join the party with social videos

21st March 2016

Twitter turns 10 years today. Around this time, a decade ago, co-founder and CEO of this social media network, Jack Dorsey was just about to tweet for the first time…

For brands, Twitter has transformed the way they interact and engage with fans, and handle customer service. It’s not so much about selling, but entering a conversation with authenticity essential. And over the last year or so, video has come in to its own on this social network as the top way to engage fans. There has been a 150-fold year on year increase in video views (from Sept 2015) and tweets containing video are seen six times more than those containing images. (check out our top 5 social media videos blog)

We’re guessing Twitter will have a soiree planned, which is appropriate as we like to think of Twitter as a party. To be a good guest or host you need to be in the moment, share and engage in conversations. Read on for our top tips for making your Twitter video content work and play hard.

Social media invitation list

When you’re organising a party, there’s always the tough task of deciding who to invite and who to leave off the list. At the beginning of 2015, Twitter had surpassed 302 million monthly users per quarter. That’s a lot of people to reach out to, and therefore in order to get the most of this channel, brands need to target their relevant audience(s). If you have more than one segment – perhaps both B2C and B2B – it may be advisable to set up separate accounts. If you are clear about who you are talking to, then you are on the right path to building relationships and creating the right video content for them.

Party theme via Twitter video

Do you love or dread a themed party? On Twitter, regular themes can be a great way to engage your audience especially if you post them at a similar time each week. You can either hook into existing hashtags such as #throwbackthursday, #humpday or create your own branded tag. Then create video content on this theme and elicit response from your audience. Smoothie brand, Innocent uses social media really well with a consistent tone of voice and genuine conversations with its audience. Here’s a typically cute gif from this very social brand to key into WWF’s Earth Hour.

As an attentive host, you’ll be on the move taking coasts and topping up drinks. In video marketing, this translates to the tips video where you’re creating useful content related to your brand. Here’s a recent, fun example from Lowe’s #Fixinsix for social video platform, Vine.

 

To really enjoy a party you need to be in the moment. This is still important on Twitter. We advise having  an editorial calendar and schedule so that you are freed up to create content on the fly. If real-time marketing opportunities do arise you need to act fast and creatively or not at all. The most notable example is Oreo’s Dunk in the dark tweet during a Superbowl power cut. Conversely take the case of Red Lobster, whether they were given a PR gold opportunity when Beyonce mentioned them in her song at the Superbowl. They came back with the following tweet, but it was too long after the fact and their fans asked “was this all they could come up with?”

Brands can also get into the live streaming app, Periscope, which is perfect to take your fans behind the scenes of your brand, share product launches or events. 

Entertaining social videos

People love funny video content. It’s one of the top reasons for sharing. As we’ve noted already, Oreos are an effective social brand, and their latest campaign “Open up with Oreo” includes funny, short social videos. Here are couple:

 

We worked with partner agency, Havas Helia, on a user generated social campaign for Peperami called #HowIPeperamiRoll. The campaign invited people to show “how they rolled” via a video with the chance to win a Rolls Royce. 

 

Good hosts listen carefully to their guests and make them feel like the number one priority. Likewise, it’s vital for brands to listen to their customers and the market. It can be as simple as setting up lists which show your brand mentions or keywords associated with your brand. This allows to find out what your customers/target audience think about your product.

How long is a Twitter video?

It’s great to be the centre of the conversation at the party but no-one wants to be the party bore droning on… and there’s certainly no brand which wants to be perceived like that. Make sure that you keep it brief with your Twitter video content and get off to a strong start. If you are filming within Twitter the limit is 30s, which is long enough for this microblogging channel with longer, more in-depth content available further down the buying cycle.

You obviously need music at any party to create the perfect ambiance. But remember with Twitter video, the sound will not necessarily come on automatically. There are a few ways to approach this; create an opening with someone talking which entices people to play the sound, or use captions to tell your story along with the visuals.

Social animals

One of the best things about Twitter for a marketer is that you can reach hundreds and thousands of people, but also talk directly to individuals. It’s a great way to show your brand personality and get closer to your fans.

John Lewis reached out to individuals off the back of their “Man on the Moon” Christmas video to thank them for liking their advert.

Cadbury’s “Free the Joy” campaign works well via social media and this brand has created games to engage its fans:

Remember it’s not all about you and your brand. Good social accounts look out for content that their fans will love rather than pushing their own content all the time.

Native social videos: make yourself at home

When you’re at a really good party you feel right at home. When you’re creating video content for social media channels, it’s important to go native. This means sharing your video within the social channel itself and follow its rules whether its YouTube, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.  Only 31% of videos posted on Twitter are native, but they account for 67% of total video engagement, making it worthwhile to share native social video.

It’s been emotional

As the party breaks up emotions could be running high. And emotions need to go first on social video. Under Armour brought in Michael Phelps for its latest ad which works perfectly for the sports brand using the power of emotion. It’s the swimmer’s last Olympics and we are given an insight into his grueling training regime.

Legacies like his are built over a lifetime. @MichaelPhelps returns for one last summer. #RuleYourself #IWILLhttps://t.co/pyV1oJj1zs

This brand has created a moment here, and it is accompanied by a film of the athlete and his partner seeing it for the first time, adding another layer of emotional content.

We worked on a social video campaign for Volvo recently which revolved around the emotional relationship between a father and son. The campaign was interactive asking people to submit their children’s drawing to the collection with a Volvo V60 driving experience up for grabs. Find out more about this social video campaign.

What will be the next thing for Twitter?

There are discussions that the 140 character limit could change which would dramatically change the feel of the channel and as we write there are reports that Twitter and Facebook are in a battle for TV live streaming rights.

Recent Facebook style algorithm changes are affecting Twitter and Instagram; they have been brought in for advertising reasons primarily. There was a backlash with #RIPTwitter trending off the back of the announcement, but users seem to be coming round to the changes.

It seems that brands will need to work harder to engage fans organically as well as paying for reach as has become more common on Facebook. Follow our tips above and video content will prove to be the right approach to help your brand cut through.

You can watch some of Twitter’s best moments in its birthday video thank you message:

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