Are you using social media video the wrong way?

Looking through the social media profiles of multiple car dealer groups nationwide, MotorVise Creative Lead Sam Alsop found that dealer marketing teams overwhelmingly opt for creating a horizontal video (like the shape of your tv or computer screen) and completely overlook vertical video.

This would be fine if most of your customers were watching these videos full screen on their desktop computers, but chances are they’re not.

In fact, in January 2019, 96% of all Facebook users worldwide were mobile users. In addition, a recent study by Digital News Daily found that 79% of users found vertical video more engaging.

But why vertical video?

Whilst scrolling through your Facebook news feed, you’ll find that vertical videos take up far more screen real estate – typically, 80-90% of your screen in comparison to 20-30% with horizontal videos. And once you tap on a vertical video to watch it, that number bumps up to 100%, thereby improving visibility of your company/message. The image below highlights the difference between horizontal, square and vertical video formats on screen.

 

By taking up more of your audience’s screen, you are more likely to capture their attention, boosting engagement with your brand and message.

Having attended a video production seminar at Facebook’s London headquarters last year, Facebook announced that they are pushing their major influencers to use vertical video for these very reasons.

I should say, this format is not yet compatible with LinkedIn, the best you can get on that platform is 4:3 (1440×1080), these videos should, in theory, perform better than their 16:9 (1920×1080) counterparts.

So, if you’re wanting to improve your overall visibility on Facebook, boost engagement, and appear as an innovative brand to those who follow you, it’s imperative to move away from creating horizontal to vertical (or square) videos. Next time you scroll through your Facebook or LinkedIn newsfeed, see how making this small change can help your company stand out from the crowd.

Need help with video for your dealership? Contact our Marketing & Creative team to help you make the most out of the content you already have, or start producing new video content.