Genres applicable for B2C Vertical Social Media:

1. Advertisements for paid ads on social

These are typically going to be a little bit longer than your normal social video, up to 30 seconds. They should get straight to the point on what you’re selling, so put the product in the very beginning of the ad. This way, if people believe that your product is relevant to them, they don’t swipe right past it.

Strong messaging and all the typical product video sales tricks should be applied to these types of videos. Often, a good strategy is to use a user-generated feel at the beginning of the video yet halfway through show professional-looking product and service shots from cinema cameras. 

This strategy can help avoid them swiping right away by keeping it a user-generated feeling or feeling as if it’s coming from one of their friends, just long enough for them to gather interest in your product or service.

2. Social skits

Social skits are very much necessary if you are trying to build a following for your brand, product, or service. Think about it this way, how often have you ever clicked follow after viewing an ad? You might buy the product and still not follow the brand! This is why putting entertainment as a priority when you are looking for both organic viewership and attempting to create a following as a result of your social video campaign.

Skits can often be funny or informative, but they should be centered around something that your product or brand seeks to solve in the consumer's life.

Life hacks, problem-solving, and testimonials are oftentimes incorporated in these videos, which should be roughly between 8 to 15 seconds long

3. Unboxing and product videos

These have a user-generated feel and show a regular consumer unboxing and using the product for the first time, almost as if it’s a review and tutorial combined. Showing the product, and usage quickly and in real-time is a great way to generate interest in your brand, product or service.

These are the three main types of social videos created for vertical social media platforms and they work best on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook reels as well as the newer platform known as YouTube Shorts. Other emerging platforms that are great for this format include Rumble, Likee, Clapper And Threads. Believe it or not, the Tumblr app is also still very popular and has great deals on promoting content.

See the less below for new and emerging vertical video platforms.

For long-form videos, YouTube, Vimeo, LinkedIn, and Facebook for desktop remain the leaders in reaching audiences organically. If you are simply looking for a platform to embed a video on your website, we highly recommend Vimeo as it does not serve ads that compete with your advertising efforts, however, it is very unlikely that people will discover your product in the same way they will on YouTube.

YouTube has fantastic optimization capabilities when you use a combination of programs such as SEMRush and Tubebuddy. Brainiac concludes optimization hashtags and descriptions in all of the social video orders and helps you strategize the best way to have a great chance of reaching the right audience, with the right content, at the right time.