Intro to Vertical Video on Social Media: Facebook, Youtube, and Linkedin

Video is the best way to convey your story. End of discussion. As soon as that changes (and it doesn't look like it will be soon), don't you worry a thing because the storifyme team will let you know as soon as possible. Nevertheless, for the time being, and the foreseeable future, the world around us remains video-centric, and we love it that way! 

Yet… Not all videos are created the same. For example, fewer and fewer people tend to use their desktops and laptops to watch stuff. Yes, folks spend countless hours watching moving pictures, but here's the kicker - they do it on their mobile devices!

And when you realize that, think about the following: How do you hold your phone usually? You hold your phone vertically. Everybody does. The odds are you're not turning your phone horizontally very often (games don't count!).

Vertical Video Adaptation and Usage

Once upon a time, visual recordings in portrait mode were considered amateurish. However, over time and uncountable hours of videos watched on our mobile devices, that opinion started to shift. Humans realized that even if the "vertical delivery" bothered them, it was way more convenient then clicking on "full screen". So, what's the next thing that happened? Humans did what they do best = they adapted. Developers noticed that consumers are turning their preferences away from bothersome horizontal tilt, and they started making their respective apps more "vertical friendly".

As an aspiring storyteller and marketer, you have to be ready to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances of social media video marketing. In other words: if you want to keep up you better start creating content that your target audience will gladly (and easily) consume. Today we'll go over some of the universal best practices when it comes to "verticalization" of Facebook, Youtube, and Linkedin.

Verticalizing Facebook 

Both Facebook and Instagram have a "story" feature that grows more popular by the day. Some would argue that the ease of vertical viewing is the very reason why web stories are so successful. Moreover, 79% of Facebook users say that they find vertical videos more engaging.

Be careful, however, just turning on your camera and pointing at pretty things won't get you the conversions or ROIs you desire. To produce an engaging video, you have to go all-in, storified ads and all! Make your intro inviting, your outro impactful and everything in between worth watcher's time. That includes alluring CTAs too! 

Subtitles: Closed Captions Are More Important Than Ever

Subtitles are so much more useful than we give them credit for, especially in the vertical world, because people tend to consume this kind of content on mute. So make sure your videos are poignant and easy to follow even when they are played with no sound at all. 

This is a good habit to build when creating and uploading your vertical content no matter which platform you are focusing on. If people can't *hear* what's said, they certainly can *read* what's there, so give them a chance to do so! Uploading closed captions alone will glue more eyes to your content. 

Verticalizing Youtube

If you thought that Youtube gets most of its views from a laptop or desktop, think again. The latest data shows that more than 70% of YT views come from mobile phones, and you can bet your bottom dollar that almost all of those are vertical too! 

So what do you do to give that special oomph to your youtube videos? Well, if you already have a good script prepared, everything edited and ready (with subtitles naturally) to go live, it's the perfect time to perfect possibly the most important thing in the whole story. The first thing that will be observed by somebody looking for something to watch:

Thumbnail! Make that little picture enticing (use expressive faces if possible) with a few words sprinkled in, just enough to tickle their imagination and show them what a treat they're in for. On that note: 

Show Lots of love for Hashtags & Captions

These two can make or break your video's success. Both FB and YT work like search engines, so how you package your content on these sites will make all the difference. If the thumbnail pulled people in, a well-thought-out little would seal the deal: use the first 25-30 characters of the title to your advantage.

Do not forget about tags (the first one is the most important!), captions (especially those few words at the beginning) and hashtags (both general and specific) when "configuring" your posts on any platform.

Verticalizing LinkedIn

Here is where everything B2B lives and breathes, so you have to be extra careful if your product storytelling is focused on other businesses. Besides, this is a perfect place to boost your employer brand, since it's the platform of choice for any busy professional. And you know how busy professionals browse their favorite social media platform? You surely can see the answer = vertically. More than half of them. This would be a perfect place to flaunt the success of your storified microstore (tastefully of course), share your executive experiences and educate yourself and others on matters important to you! 

Storifiyme Vertical Conclusion

Your budget doesn't have to be astronomical, but you do have to be creative when tackling. Whenever in doubt, remind yourself, you're here to: 

• Create interesting videos (it seems obvious but we can't stress this enough)
• Use the power of thumbnails (wisely, don't stoop to the clickbaity levels)
• Make hashtags and captions count 
• Make them CTAs pop and lead everybody to your storified landing page
• Experiment and have fun with it! 

Remember: the best way to peoples' hearts is through engagement, and you'll get there the fastest with visual storytelling, that's mobile-friendly, vertical, and in the best-case scenario comes dressed as a video. If you already have a few ideas that you'd like to try out, don't hesitate to bring your web stories to another level. If you're not sure - storified professionals are here to help!