Dominant video platform YouTube released some of their impressive stats saying over 2 billion users across 100 countries in 80 languages watch 1billion hours of video every day. Supporting the trend, all the major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WeChat and LinkedIn are focusing on becoming video-first platforms in terms of content format. TikTok was based on video from the get-go and look where that took it.

A survey conducted by MotionCue among 500 marketers found that 82% of brands publish 1to 4 videos on their social media channels. 65% of videos are published onYouTube, with Facebook, TikTok and Instagram following behind at 17%, 10% and9% respectively. Across different communication formats like social media visuals, blog articles, infographics and podcasts, 70% of the survey respondents believed video was the most effective way for brands to stay top of mind.

For brands, this means there is a lot value in prioritising video in your digital marketing strategy to get ahead of the competition. And as you’ll soon find out once you look into it, there are many different ways of approaching video marketing:do you film things or animate stories, provide education or entertainment, give behind the scenes insight or is it all about the consumer?

Making the right choices requires you to have a digital marketing strategy with clearly defined goals.

Social media has been around for a long time now, but the way we use these platforms has changed a lot. For brands, the implication is that the customer decision-making journey of today is completely different from what it was only a few years ago.Discovery and intent used to be separated: social media was used to discover good finds, and later the customer would visit the brand’s website with intent to purchase. Today, discovery and intent are taking place on the same channel which means you can promote your brand and what you have to offer plus actually make the sales on the same platform.

Most of the bigger social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and WeChat now have more advanced features to sell products. Instagram for example has shoppable posts, which are posts that allow users to click on product images that you have tagged. That takes them to the product page to complete the purchase. In some countries, users get the full checkout experience without ever having to leave the Instagram app – otherwise you simply link the post to a product page on your own site. It’s an easy way for your followers to discover and buy using the same channel. Facebook has similar tools available and WeChat is a lot more advanced with full digital storefronts and all the customisation that goes with it.

There is no silver bullet for making sales on social media. It usually won’t happen on the first contact, or even the second. The game is to have a strategy in place, with follow-ups, retargeting, and consistent messaging. The quality of the relationships you’ve built will make a huge difference in how easy it is for you to sell products on social media.

No digital marketing strategy is complete without Key Opinion Influencers (KOLs). These are social media celebrities with large audiences of loyal followers. A lot of brands have activated KOLs to get their brand message out to large crowds, and over the last years as popularity increased so did the price tag for brands to get in on this game. Now we are seeing an evolution in this space with more brands choosing to work with several niche KOLs, or micro-influencers, rather than spending all their budget on a single celebrity.

Working with micro-influencers often brings in a higher ROI than other marketing tactics as their followers are typically highly engaged. For marketers, the advantage is that the audiences are usually made up of specific demographics which makes it easier to conduct a targeted marketing approach. Plus, the lower price tag makes it a much more accessible marketing tactic for brands of all kind sand sizes.

You might be thinking your brand is too niche, but if the Internet has taught us anything, we know there is a community for every single thing imaginable. Today, those communities usually have their own world of micro-influencers. Finding them simply requires some in-depth brand research as you uncover the opportunities in your field and identify key strategic partners.