Why Social Media Marketers Love Lightweight Motion Content

In today’s social media landscape, quality content with paid support is essential. Video has proven to be one of the most engaging formats to connect with customers. But, many marketers are challenged by time, budget and resources. That’s why more and more companies are turning to short videos and lightweight motion content for social media. Rather than resorting to another stock image or traditional product photo, marketers are transforming still images into compelling lightweight videos by simply adding motion.

While GIFs have been around for decades, Facebook launched a feature in 2018 that enables advertisers to easily produce lightweight motion content in the form of slideshows. You’ve likely seen your favorite brands use lightweight motion in their ads as the format has continued to grow in popularity. If you’re not on board with the trend yet, here are four reasons social media marketers should consider using lightweight motion content:

It’s no surprise that video is the top performing type of content on social. But, algorithm changes have made it increasingly difficult for brands to reach their audience through organic posts – especially those that lack creative assets. That’s why it’s important to incorporate video or lightweight motion content into as many posts as possible. And, you can make sure it gets in front of your target audience by implementing a paid strategy.

Creating lightweight motion content doesn’t require a significant amount of your marketing budget or your time. Rather than launching a large-scale video production, effective lightweight motion content can be as simple as an image or b-roll with text overlays. Also, lightweight motion content doesn’t require sound – so you don’t need to purchase background music or spend additional time editing sound clips.

Building out a library of video content has never been easier. Given the simplicity and short length of lightweight motion videos, you can easily update clips with different text or imagery to create new content. It’s easy to update existing lightweight motion content for a new campaign or create multiple creatives for one campaign.

While there’s a place for lengthier videos, it’s important that brands deliver a call to action or key message within the first three seconds. (That’s also why we often work with clients to create 10-second content for social media that drives the audience back to a landing page with the longer video.) Lightweight motion content gets the key message across quickly and clearly, so you don’t have to worry about losing your audience’s attention throughout the duration of a long-form video.

Read more tips for creating effective videos for social media here.

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