Why Video Has Become the Most Important Format on Social Media

Video has become one of the most common formats on social media, and the numbers show why it keeps spreading. On Instagram, Reels reach roughly twice as many users as static photos, with substantially higher engagement, and users now spend over 60% of their time on Facebook and Instagram watching videos.

For local businesses, though, the more important reason to pay attention is trust. Polished posts and AI-generated content are common now, and people have gotten better at sensing what’s generic. Video is the format best suited to showing that a business is real: real owners, real employees, a real location. That’s why customers tend to engage with it more than anything else, and why your business needs a video marketing strategy.

What Social Media Videos Look Like in Practice

Many businesses avoid video because they believe it’s time-consuming, complicated, and expensive. But good video marketing content doesn’t need to be fancy, and you don’t need professional actors. It’s about the authenticity, not the production quality.

For example:

• A roofing contractor walking through a finished job in a recognizable neighborhood
• A salon stylist explaining what she did during a before-and-after
• A restaurant giving a look inside the kitchen before dinner service
• A dental office introducing the team and showing off the office

None of those needs a crew or a script. They work because they’re specific and they’re real, which is exactly what builds familiarity with someone who hasn’t hired you yet.

How to Make Social Media Video Marketing Work

Shooting a video is the easy part. Getting it seen by the right people, on the right platforms, in a format that actually holds attention is where the real challenge is.

Here are some ways you can boost video marketing performance and make it a sustainable strategy for your business:

• Provide Captions: 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. If your video isn’t followable with the audio off, you’re losing viewers before they get your message. Most platforms add captions automatically now, so there’s no good reason to skip this.
• Publish Consistently: A steady cadence of simple, relevant clips will outperform a single polished production over time. Pick a realistic schedule and stick to it, even if that’s just one or two videos a week.
• Keep It Short: For most platforms, videos under 60 to 90 seconds hold viewers best. Get to the point quickly, and don’t save the most interesting part for the end.
• Upload Directly to the Social Channel: Uploading your video directly to Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn will almost always outperform sharing a link to a video hosted somewhere else. Platforms favor content that keeps users on their app, and native uploads tend to get more reach as a result.
• Use a Clear CTA: Every video should point somewhere. That might be visiting your website, calling your office, or simply following your page for more. A simple line at the end of the video or in the caption is enough.
• Repurpose Shoots Across Channels: A video you shoot once can often work across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn with minimal adjustment. Short clips can be trimmed into Stories or Reels. Getting more mileage out of each piece of content makes a consistent schedule much easier to maintain.

With these strategies, you can position your videos for sharing, engagement, and conversions.

Ready to Add Video to Your Social Media Strategy?

Video content has a learning curve, and producing it consistently on top of running a business is a lot to manage on your own. That’s exactly why we’re adding video content creation to our services.

We work with South Florida businesses to plan, produce, and publish social media videos that fit your brand and reach the right audience. We’ll handle everything from planning to preparation and posting.

If you’re interested in adding video to your social media channels, reach out today.