4 Social Media Video Types to Boost Your Traffic and Engagement

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You’re dead wrong if you thought various social media video types couldn’t get you more traffic and engagement. 

According to research, 87% of marketers experienced increased website traffic from videos. 

The figure emphasizes how effective social media and marketing videos are in getting views and visitors. 

Plus, the more people you draw in with your videos, the bigger your engagement opportunities. 

However, you must vary your social media videos. 

After all, it takes more than learning from a guide to capturing and editing audio for video and posting the same video type over and over to drive traffic and engagement. 

That is why we’ve put this guide together.

Keep reading to learn the four social media video types you should include in your marketing strategy to get more traffic and engagement. 

1. Event videos

Videos are some of the best formats to promote and even host your online events, including your new product launching, webinars, virtual summits, and other brand activities. 

Follow these quick tips to create and host event videos across social media platforms. 

  • Make it authentic. Be transparent and real when communicating through your event videos. Doing so shows your authenticity, helping you foster connections with and engage viewers better.
  • Add storytelling elements. Think about your event’s goal and how your video can help you meet those objectives. Map how you want to convey your messages, such as sharing a customer testimonial, case study, or product development story.
  • Interview your attendees. Get your attendees’ reactions and engage them by interviewing them during and after the event. Ask questions during live video events that can spark relevant and interesting conversations.
  • Capture the highlights. Capture the memorable and climactic moments in your event videos. Use these to help guide your interactions with your viewers after the event. 

You can even use the highlights to share a recap of your event and include it in future marketing and promotional initiatives.  

If you’re sharing your event highlights as an Instagram Reel, include branded and relevant hashtags for IG Reels. Doing so helps get your content in front of your target audience.  

  • Create a buzz around your event. Continue evoking your audience’s interest even after your event. Leverage the momentum and keep the buzz going by sharing post-event communications, such as Thank You Facebook and Instagram posts.
  • Add a Call-to-Action (CTA). Include CTAs to direct your audiences to the next steps, including signing up for your email list or registering for your upcoming events.

A classic example is ClickUp’s productivity conference announcement via Instagram Reels. It includes a compelling “Register for Free” CTA. 

  • Keep your online events as short as possible. Keep your videos short and sweet if you want to hold your social media audience’s attention to promote your events successfully. 

Try to keep your event promotion videos between 60 to 90 seconds, webinars about an hour (more or less), and training-related content around 10 minutes.  

2. User-generated videos

Sharing videos brand-related videos created by your followers is always a crowd-pleaser.

After all, re-posting user-generated videos can serve as recommendations and reviews that can influence how potential customers see your products and services. 

The videos can also show how real-life customers use and experience your products and services, which helps engage your audience. 

Share User-Generated Content (UGC) across your social media marketing channels and other popular online publishing platforms

Warby Parker does this well by sharing Instagram Reels of customers using their Warby Home Try-On option. 

Fill your social media feed with original and unique content from other users, but remember to ask permission and give proper attribution to the original creators. 

When used strategically, UGCs can showcase your brand without being overly promotional or sales-y on social media. 

Leverage the videos to encourage engagement while building trust with your audiences. 

3. Product videos

Product descriptions are great for your website product pages, but not so much on social media posts. 

Instead of using plain text, create engaging product videos for social media audiences. 

Ensure your social media product videos convey your product’s benefits to potential customers. 

Besides the essential parts, throw in creative elements, add trending ideas, and reference popular culture (among others) to help make your product videos interesting and fresh. 

It can help draw more eyeballs to your videos and encourage audience interaction and engagement. 

Add links that lead viewers to your website or dedicated product and landing pages to boost your traffic. 

Other product video types you can create for social media are:

  • Explainer videos. Create explainer videos that tell your audiencDe what your product is all about. Include elements that show the common problems your product solves, putting it in the best light. Additionally, consider incorporating text-to-speech online to further enhance the accessibility and engagement of your video content.
  • Teaser and promo videos. Evoke excitement and anticipation in your social media audiences by posting teasers or promotional videos. The videos are excellent content formats to give viewers a glimpse of your product or its features.

4. Behind-the-scenes videos

What is one way to better connect and engage with your social media audiences? 

The answer: Make your audience feel like they’re part of your business’s inner workings. 

People like feeling like they’re in on a secret or insider thing. 

Use this to your advantage by sharing Behind-the-Scenes (BTS) videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms. 

BTS videos also provide opportunities to showcase the people behind your brand. 

It can help humanize your company, making it easier for potential customers to relate with and trust your brand. 

For example, sustainable clothing and home decor brand Kotn shares the making of its ceramic home collection on Instagram Reels. 

Share BTS videos on your other social media channels to drive engagement. 

You can keep your BTS videos light-hearted and casual or more formal and educational, depending on the emotions and actions you want to evoke from your audience. 

BTS videos show a more authentic side to your business, helping you foster trust with potential customers. 

Drive more engagement with various social media videos

Varying your social media video types can keep your content and feed fresh, unique, and engaging. 

It can also help your brand stand out from a sea of other companies, allowing you to generate more views and traffic from social media platforms to your website. 

Creating various video types for social media can take time and resources. 

However, investing in the right tools and developing solid video creation strategies can double your chances of succeeding.   

Author bio

Nina Walker is a web designer and psychotherapist based in Phoenix, Arizona, US. Passionate about digital marketing and content writing. In her spare time, she writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing.