Imagine creating top-quality videos for your social media platforms only to get two to three likes in return. That sounds depressing, doesn't it? 

Unfortunately, many people who don't optimize videos for social media face this. Regardless of the genre or quality of your video, if your content isn't optimized well, it won't achieve the reach, engagement, and impact you may be looking forward to. 

After all, what is the point of creating a video if it doesn't serve its intended purpose? 

You must have strategies for video optimization for social media platforms in place. But what should they cover? Let’s discuss 7 effective tips to nail video optimization for each social media platform. 

What Is Video Optimization for Social Media Platforms? 

You may have read that 86% of marketers say video content has helped them drive more web traffic than any other medium. Besides, 82% of businesses claim that videos help keep people on their websites longer. 

Do you wonder why? 

That's because video content has the power to engage people for a long time. They help capture the attention of the audience. As a result, videos make it easy for everyone to understand the subject matter. 

You may have taken videos lightly so far, but now it is about time you understand their importance and opt for their optimization. 

Optimizing video for social media is a process of making various adjustments to the video content to enhance its overall visibility and performance. For instance, the procedure ensures the format and compresses the content properly so that it becomes digestible for viewers. 

Moreover, video optimization for social media platforms involves sizing the video for various channels and devices to help reduce buffering or quality issues. 

Another important aspect of video optimization for social media platforms covers the process of ranking the content on search engines. This involves optimizing the title, descriptions, and tags of your videos as per the SEO guidelines. 

Why Is Video Optimization for Social Media Platforms Important? 

Here are some benefits of using video optimization for social media marketing:

Improves User Experience

An optimized video plays smoothly and loads faster. Besides, it is easy to find on the internet, enhancing the overall user experience. Plus, such videos are most likely to be watched till the end. 

Supports Better Visibility 

Do you want your video content to reach the maximum number of people? Don't want all your hard work to go to waste? If yes, optimize your videos to increase their visibility. 

When you optimize a video’s description, title, and tags, it is more likely to appear on top of search engines and in most recommendation systems. This makes a video easily visible, increasing the chances of it being viewed by your target audience. 

Boosts Engagement

Videos that are visible and easily viewed by people are more likely to be liked and shared. They can also be conveniently commented on. This helps increase the videos’ engagement while also making them watchable for more new viewers. 

If you want to increase your video’s conversion rates, optimizing your content is the way to go. Optimized videos help offer extensive information to the end user, keeping them engaged in a better, more dynamic way. 

Reduces Costs

When you optimize a video, you reduce your bandwidth costs. This is a significant move for large websites. 

Video optimization for social media platforms may come up as an additional step to achieve your desired reach and engagement. But remember, it is important for your content to go viral and get the appreciation it deserves. 

Wondering how to optimize videos for social media platforms? Continue reading to explore a few fruitful tips to help you out. 

7 Tips for Video Optimization for Social Media Platforms

Follow these 7 tips to optimize your video content on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and other social media platforms.

1. Make Videos Keyword-Rich

Need more views? Make your videos keyword-rich. 

This includes looking up the most searched keywords related to your video’s niche and using them when posting your content on multiple social media channels. 

For instance, use relevant keywords in your YouTube video titles for stronger SEO. Also, keyword-rich and relevant tags help enhance visibility. 

Need an example? Take a look at the video, “How to Buy a House in 2024 Step By Step”. This is a good title with simple yet optimized keywords. 

Focus on the description of the video. It shares all the details of the video, plus other similar content to watch. 

Similarly, you can use the keywords as hashtags to increase a video’s reach on various platforms. Hashtags on Instagram and Facebook work like magic if searched the right way. 

2. Optimize Video Format for Each Social Media Channel

For a successful optimization, you must achieve the optimal format for each social media platform. Each platform has its own requirements when it comes to the right video format. 

Instagram

For instance, the best video format for videos on Instagram is MP4. Additionally, other technical specifications that it should include are: 

• H.264 codec
• AAC audio
• 3500 kbps bitrate
• A frame rate of 30 fps is good
• Video can be a maximum of 60 seconds
• Maximum video width is 1080 px (pixels) wide
• Videos should be 1920 pixels tall

Facebook

Facebook supports a variety of video formats, making it a versatile platform. You can post in WMV, VOB, ts, TOD, MPG, MPEG4, mp4, and many more formats. Generally, however, videos in MOV and MP4 formats work best. 

For best results, you should reframe all your 16:9 videos into 4:5. 

YouTube

YouTube is also a popular social media platform that accepts MP4 as the best video format. Ensure your videos come with a standard aspect ratio of 16:9 and H. 264 video codec.

Additionally, YouTube suggests using original videos with HD resolution to provide an excellent viewing experience to your target audience. 

TikTok

Like most other platforms, MP4 is also the best video format for TikTok. This platform supports video content with a resolution of up to 1080 x 1920 pixels. 

Therefore, all your videos must have a height of 1080 pixels and a width of 1920 pixels to create a solid experience for your viewers. 

Post videos in vertical or horizontal formats for all channels. These formats help maximize screen space. 

3. Make Short Videos 

When it comes to successful video optimization for social media platforms, you must consider the optimal video length for social media 2024. Whether you want to post video content on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, consider making your videos as short as possible without reducing their quality. 

Here’s why.

• Since people have short attention spans now, short videos quickly help capture and retain their attention. 
• Short videos help increase user engagement. 
• They are also mobile-friendly and easy to share. 
• Short videos can easily be used across different platforms. 

Facebook and Instagram

For Facebook and Instagram, aim to create videos that are 15 to 30 seconds long for the feed, stories, and reels. If you want to post on IGTV, aim for a good video that is five to ten minutes long.

YouTube

Ideally, a YouTube video should be 6 to 8 minutes long. That's because most marketers believe that videos start losing views as they go over 10 minutes. 

Check this Behind-the-Scene video by Chanel. It is only a minute and 38 seconds long but captures the attention effectively.

The educational video on how to download Amazon products is also just two minutes long and has captivated the attention of thousands of viewers. 

4. Incorporate Captions or Subtitles in the Videos

This video optimization for social media platforms tip applies to all social media platforms. 

Do you know that almost 85% of Facebook and 80% of LinkedIn users scroll on their platform feeds with the sound off? Therefore, to help your video capture attention, it should have captions. 

Well-written captions help communicate your video’s message. Additionally, it makes your video accessible to everyone and makes it more engaging. 

You can use AI tools to generate captions or utilize the expertise of a team member for the job. Some companies also outsource this task to save time. 

As an example, watch this job fair ad with captions. You don't need to turn on the volume to know what it's about. 

Similarly, the animated short movie Mismatched also has captions that help deliver the story pretty well. 

5. Optimize Your Videos for Mobile

Whether you want to post a video on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or LinkedIn, make sure that it is well-optimized for mobile. This is imperative for video optimization for social media platforms. 

YouTube

For example, if you have a YouTube video, use large text and images for small screens. That's because it isn't easy to view finer details on a small mobile screen. 

Similarly, incorporate an attractive thumbnail in all your YouTube videos. Make sure they have the recommended 1280×720 pixel dimensions. Plus, don't forget to adjust the high contrast, simplified visuals, and saturated colors. 

Instagram

For Instagram, you should pick an aspect ratio and high resolution for the video so it fits the platform. You can use 1:1 or 4:5 for feed videos and 9:16 for your stories and reels. The 16:9 aspect ratio may be perfect for IGTV.

You can also zoom in or crop the most important elements of the video and avoid all types of busy backgrounds to avoid distractions. 

6. Include a CTA In Your Videos

What if you need video optimization for social media platforms but don't have a CTA? Well, that's a major element, and missing it won't get you the results you desire. 

CTA or Call-to-action is more than just a decorative afterthought. It is probably the missing link in your conversion optimization strategy. Also, a solid CTA helps build a strong emotional tie with your target audience. 

Now, the good thing is that you can experiment with a CTA as per your content’s demand. 

You can go for a subtle “Subscribe” CTA, as in this Neil Patel video.

Another option is to add some humor to drive engagement through CTAs, such as “Subscribe to get more sauce.”

Your CTA can be as simple as “Download Grammarly,” initiating the direct conversion. 

7. Post Regularly 

Lastly, to ace video optimization for social media platforms, post your content regularly. Whether you have more viewers on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn, you can't get your deserved viewership until your content keeps coming in front of their eyes. 

Regular posting of video content can benefit your optimization efforts in the following ways. 

• Regular posting improves your content’s ranking and visibility, courtesy of social media algorithms. This results in your videos being watched by a wider audience within a short time. 
• When you post regularly, you build a positive audience expectation. As a result, they keep visiting your profile or channel to see new things every day. This is why most YouTube vloggers grow faster daily than those who post videos once or twice a month. 
• Another benefit of frequent posting is that it drives engagement. Regular, updated content develops your audience’s interest, encouraging them to develop interaction. 
• As someone who posts regularly, you get the leverage to experiment with your audience and know what really works well with them. This helps you refine your content strategy with time to reap far better video optimization results. 

Even if you can't post a video every day, opt for a biweekly strategy. You can also pick a certain time to post videos on reels, your YouTube channel, or Facebook stories so that your audience stays prepared to interact.

Conclusion

How did you find these seven tips for effective video optimization for social media platforms? Will you be using any of these in your content strategy? 

The right strategy includes choosing the right tip to analyze your content and picking a social media platform on which you want to post it. You should also follow the SEO requirements to obtain the best optimization results.

Also, make your video content relatable to your target audience to get maximum views. Don't forget to regularly update it so your views and shares increase with time.