Video and marketing go hand in hand for promoting an idea. Social media outlets are a common place for businesses and professional marketers to advertise and popularize their content.

According to MediaPost, Animoto, a video creation service, conducted a social video report which says “nearly 2/3 of marketers are planning to incorporate video in their campaign for the coming year.”

Small and medium-sized businesses alike are embracing the integration of video in social media.

CEO of Animoto Brad Jefferson says social media video is a must-have for any size company and “small businesses are not far behind,” when it comes to using videos for marketing on social media especially since video distribution on social media is affordable and convenient.

Even though there are other social media outlets such as Snapchat and Instagram, Facebook still remains the top used platform for marketing among professional marketers and small businesses. YouTube is the second popular marketing platform.

Kathy Langfield, SVP of Blueforest Studios states: “We have found that Facebook offers an easier point of entry for the small business.  It’s so easy to upload a video that is professionally produced or shot on a phone and then Facebook makes it very easy to create a paid campaign to promote the video.  Really anybody can do it.  We have not seen the direct ROI with Facebook video but there’s no doubt that it’s getting results for B to C businesses who use it effectively.”

The social media video report also predicts YouTube will see the most growth in paid video promotion by small business owners and Instagram will see the most growth among professional marketers.  Langfield also mentioned that; “YouTube is far more effective at reaching audiences that are interested in your service or product but the YouTube algorithm can be more difficult for the amateur user to master so it can make small business people reluctant to use it.  There is also an expectation that videos found through search or paid placement on YouTube are going to be more polished professional videos.”

As the social media video world keeps advancing, both businesses and professional marketers will continue to evolve their strategies and figure out which platforms are the best for marketing.

Which platforms are you using to market your company or your brand?