Twitter Doubles Down on Video

2016 is the year of video on social media. Facebook started the movement and other social networks soon followed suit. Twitter allowed you to have video but only up to 30 seconds. That all changed this week. Now you can post videos up to 140 seconds long. Maybe this is to match the character count. That is two minutes and 20 seconds of video.

Why is Twitter doing this?

They have said since the start of 2016 there have been a 50% increase in Tweets containing video. I have noticed some increase but not a big movement on Twitter. Usually most people would post a link to their YouTube videos. Rather than post to Twitter. In the past when I posted video it was something very short. I did notice a bit more interaction with the posts. To the credit of Twitter they have one of the easiest editors for video. That is one to trim the video to fit the time limit.

What the new limits will do? 

First, it will make Twitter more attractive place to put your video. If you are like me, and had videos 1-2 minutes. To edit it for 30 seconds would take a lot more time than it’s worth. Editing video takes a long time to get it right. If you have tried you know. The shorter the video the longer it may take. I constantly want to get the right parts of video in something that short. I try a ton of combinations. Now you can take your video and put it directly on Twitter without any editing. It’s also opening the door up to more people.

Is it difficult to add video? 

Twitter makes this process very simple. Just upload the video as you would a photo. A window will show up (if you’re on the Twitter website) and you can edit the length of the video. After it’s edited, if you need too, simply fill out the Tweet as you would for a regular Tweet. Then post. The analytics button on the Tweet will show you the post impression, views and shares. It should also show up under your Twitter dashboard under the Ads.twitter.com.

How will this affect your business?

First it gives your videos more exposure. Your followers may not want to go to YouTube to watch a video. They may want to do it right in the Twitter app. The more people who see your video the better the chance you could get new followers or customers. If you have videos under 2 minutes and 20 seconds, it doesn’t hurt to put them on Twitter. It’s free just like Instagram. I will update how videos do on Twitter in the near future.

 

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

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