Video Optimisation
Small Business Tips
How Square Video Content is Better for Engagement and Watch Time
Social Video is no longer Constrained to Widescreen Format.
Social video is no longer constrained to the 16 by 9, widescreen format. Viewers are looking for content that suits their mobile viewing experience, especially while they are watching video on the go. Here are a few reasons why you may want to experiment with Square Video content on Facebook over the traditional layout, and how it can make a difference to your advertising spend.
SQUARE VIDEO CONTENT – REASON 1
Square Video takes up 78% more real estate on a mobile newsfeed than a Landscape video does. This is a huge draw card, and almost forces the viewer to keep watching. With 90% of consumers watching video content on a mobile device, this is something to pay attention to. The more real estate on a user’s screen your content occupies, the better.
SQUARE VIDEO CONTENT – REASON 2
Square Video also often results in a 30-35% higher video view count and an increase in engagement. However, it has been found that Landscape content on Desktop devices ranks a lot higher in terms of video completion and engagement. It’s clear that Square content works better for mobile devices. This is because they aren’t distracted by anything else; therefore, they don’t have anything to take them away from watching your whole clip. Plus, there is no need for viewers to have to turn their phone for better viewing experiences – no matter which way they choose to hold the phone, square video content performs in both horizontal and portrait format. (Want to know how to film your content for square video? Check out my latest Video Marketing Bite here).
SQUARE VIDEO CONTENT – REASON 3
Square video allows you to create the Letterbox format on your content – allowing you to add text. This is the perfect real estate to capture attention and add key messages to really drive the point home. This is a great way to stand out from the crowd – and allows you to still contribute to the social aspect of social media.
A lot of the big Marketers like Gary Vaynerchuk, Lewis Howes, Cat Howell, Buzzfeed do this a lot with great results. Bonus point: These publishers can maximise their reach by posting the same video to multiple platforms. The 1:1 ratio works well, no matter the channel.
Square Video Content Is The New Way To Go.
Research has shown that square video content can be more effective at engaging viewers and driving results. In fact, square videos often result in a 30% to 35% higher video view count and an increase in engagement compared to traditional landscape videos. This is likely due to the fact that square videos take up more screen real estate and can be more visually striking, which can help capture viewers' attention and keep them engaged.
Here at The Video Box, when we deliver content to clients, we actually hand them copies of both. We create the Landscape content for Desktop campaigns, their website and their YouTube Channel, and then create copies of the content as square format, for Instagram and Facebook Advertising campaigns.
So, if you already have video content that you are wanting to make square, you can do so in iMovie, and/or Quicktime. Simply load your video into the respected player, go to file, export, and choose custom dimensions. Enter in something like 1000px by 1000px or 720px by 720px; what ever you choose make sure it’s the same number for the width and length. If this seems too complicated, or you have hundreds of clips to create into square video content, you can always contact us to do a batch edit. We can quickly and easily, format and export out social media friendly files for your business.
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We’ve generated so many success stories with this process, and so many happy customers, who often return to us over and over again to generate powerful Video Content. I want the same for you, I want your business to succeed, for you to stand out above the noise online and for you to generate the results, the leads and the cash flow you want. If you found the information useful in this video – I’d love to hear from you – leave me a comment. And, if you want more tips and techniques around Video Marketing delivered straight to your inbox, then click this link here.
