What brands get wrong about social videos (why didn’t anyone watch that thing we posted?)
For a long time now, social cutdowns have been a standard part of the delivery package for most video projects we work on. It’s rare that a video doesn’t have at least two or three shorter versions of itself meant for “social.”
Once upon a time, this approach worked well enough, but as social platforms compete for our attention, they’ve also developed their own language. Each platform’s algorithm favors different things and rewards them accordingly.
Social audiences have also become more sophisticated and now have expectations around tone, pacing, build, tension, and resolution in the content they consume. The old thinking of simply making a shorter version of a longer video, then tweaking the format to vertical or square, no longer consistently works. The result? Videos don’t gain traction and often perform poorly.
So what can we do about it?
The good news is that the problem is highly fixable and, overall, still a relatively low lift. However, it does require more intention than the social cutdowns of the past.
First, every platform values a hook. Know what the hook is and when it needs to hit. The answer is not the same across platforms, and hooks present differently whether you’re on LinkedIn or Instagram, for example. Regardless of platform, don’t bury the lead. No one is sticking around for that.
Each platform also has its own viewing behavior, tone, and expectations. Instagram rewards emotion, while LinkedIn rewards insight. So while content can absolutely come from the same source material, the edits themselves need to be tailored more specifically to each platform.
It’s also important to understand what gives a video traction. Spoiler: it’s not just a great video (that is still a part of it, of course). Viewer interaction, comments, saves, shares, and watch time all play a massive role in whether a platform continues serving your content to more people.
And a point that is often overlooked, but is critically important: if your social channel has been quiet for a while, with few posts or interactions, there may be some groundwork needed first. Posting a video to a semi-dormant channel can doom it to the depths of the internet before it ever has a chance to find its audience.
Social is still an incredibly powerful tool for getting your message out. That hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s become even more important. The upside is that the data and metrics arrive almost instantly, allowing you to iterate quickly and learn what works where. Keep what works, toss what doesn’t. But most importantly, give your social cutdowns the same level of strategic attention as the main piece itself, and they’ll be in a much stronger position to deliver the views, shares, comments, and engagement you’re looking for.