Hi y’all Surfpreneurs. Without long introduction just kicking in very fast 😬
This is what you’ll find in this article:
Relevance of videos on social media for surf businesses
Two categories of videos for social media
Important things to keep in mind for your social media videos
Types of video content for surf businesses
So, hey ho, let’s go.
Relevance of videos on social media for surf businesses
Sooo, video is said to be the type of content with the best ROI (Return Of Investment). It is not without reason that Instagram launched IGTV to become a competitor to Youtube as videos are the most consumed media type nowadays.
That’s why videos are generating more awareness and more time spend watching it (while a photo is over-scrolled within a glimpse). As a result video content is classified as more relevant by the algorithms, shown more often to the users and gaining higher reach through that. So, looong causal chain containing lots of benefits that the video format brings for surf businesses.
Just to put some numbers* as topping: Video posts on Facebook have a 135% greater organic reach and generate 12 times the shares of photos.
So, convinced you should integrate videos in the content mix of your surf business? Ok, let’s go on.
Photo by Kon Karampelas on Unsplash
Two categories of videos for social media
It is important to differ between two categories of videos:
Promotion videos
= the ones you would use for advertising, image videos of your surf business.
Actually clear but still mentioned here: Keep an eye on quality and relevance! Spend some time (and probably some budget if you’re not a video maker yourself) on the concept and production of a high class video for your surf business introducing your mission, hospitality business or product (btw, for 90% of users product videos are helpful in the buyer decision process*).
Also, for this type of video really think of the Call to Action at the end of it. This could be “Get your [product] now [via this link/#linkinbio]”, “Book your stay with us [via this link/#linkinbio]”, “Find more information [via this link/#linkinbio]“ and so on.
Content videos
= the ones that are part of the regular feed content of your surf business and therefore might be a bit more playful like presenting challenges, you and your team “behind the scenes“ or fun videos.
The brainwork here really goes into thinking about what your target group is really interested in or entertained by and to put this content into worth-watching-videos.
For this type of video a certain approach to its quality should be given but doesn’t have to have the ambition to win an Oscar 😉
Photo by Donovan Silva on Unsplash
What to keep in mind
For both categories of videos for your surf business on social media there are some things to keep in mind:
Most platforms, esp. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are used mobile, meaning you rather shoot your video in a vertical format to make use of the whole smartphone screen (exception: Youtube).
For the same reason (used mobile and while being on the move) it can be useful to include subtitles if there’s much information in the audio. Many viewers are checking their feeds while being in public transport or other public spaces where they are using their device in silent mode.
First five seconds are crucial about wether the video about your surf business is successful or not. This is the time span within which users decide wether the content is relevant for them to watch or to scroll further/skip the video (that’s the reason why on Youtube for instance you can skip ads after five seconds).
Make sure in advance what the specs (length, format, size of data) for a promoted video are on the specific platform (e.g. on Facebook the maximum length of the video is two minutes).
So here is also a little overview for the requirements of each of the most popular platforms as they are all working a bit different:
short („snackable“) and entertaining videos
vertical format
live videos (panels, presentations, events, Q&As)
short videos for the feed (max. 60 seconds possible, but rather keep it even shorter up to 30 seconds)
vertical format
appealing visual style & quality
behind the scenes, introducing the team, interviews, stories
longer videos for IGTV with in-depth information
Youtube
longer videos
horizontal format
tutorials, how tos, video series
Types of video content for your surf business
Ok, now you know why you should have videos on social media for your surf business and what to keep in mind. So, next question: What could be the content of your videos? So, there’s a looot of ideas. Ready, steady, go.
Behind the scenes/business culture
An example to make the social media profiles of your surf business more vivid: Let’s say you’re leading a surfcamp. Sure, you can show the place from all its corners and perspectives. But you can also add some content to give your place a more human, approachable layer by also showing the team during meetings or while preparing lunch (as we’re talking about social media an avocado toast for lunch somewhere at the sea would work best 🥑😄).
This type of content about your surf business also can be really helpful for employer branding to show potential employees why working for and with you might be the right choice.
Vlog
Vlog is the short form for video blog. This is similar to the behind the scenes, but a bit more spontaneous showing random insights. It can be just the sunrise at the location of your surf business, your day off chillin’ in a hammock (which I hope you have a lot of material for, haha), the sweet lil’ dog which is strolling around the place or any fun situations which might be worth to be captured.
Indispensable for this one: a crew member who always has his/her phone ready to put the record button.
Tutorial/ How to
Surfcamps educating about paddle or pop up techniques, shapers showing how to repair a board or swimwear brands presenting how to properly warmup: Just think about what the expertise of you and your surf business is and how you can create a benefit for your social media followers out of it by publishing a suitable tutorial.
Q&A
This one can help to create engagement with your followers and therefore create relevance. You can either use the „Live“ feature of the platforms (where users can put their questions just in real time), the „Ask a question“ feature of Instagram’s stories or direct messages to gather all the questions and later answer them in a video.
Influencer Coop
Ok, it’s clear that as a young Surfpreneur you probably don’t have the budget to pay an influencer from the high score list to promote your surf business on social media. But maybe you’ve somebody in your network who has some relevant reach on Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat or TikTok. Or it turns out one of your customers or guests is influencing the world wide web. Or you know someone who knows someone whose cousin’s sister in law… 😅 However, just think about if there could be someone who can help to boost the reach of your surf business on social media and let him/her takeover your account for one day or week… or even forever.
Not that you just get the whole creativity and experience on making videos of that person. He/she can also promote this takeover on his/her own wide-coverage account which with a bit of luck will make their followers also your followers. Ka-ching!
UGC (= User Generated Content)
I bet of most of you have many lucky clients and guests who put some videos on social media and tag your surf business. So always check and monitor what new content about your business was put online by others and ask for their permission to use their video also for your social media account (also nice for customer loyalty). Et voilà, you got some content for your surf business’ social media channels and nice contact with your fans.
Funny videos with the potential to go viral
Ok, I have to admit this is a challenge for which you definitely have to be lucky enough to be or know somebody with the talent for excellent jokes and comedy. So keep the eyes open for such a person within your team or network.
If I was such a person I could give you a veeery good example now. But nothing else than a cat on a surfboard comes to my mind, haha.
However, if you hit the jackpot and come up with a really funny idea, it might go viral and therefore will bring worldwide fame and awareness for your surf business on social media.
Another (reaaally simple) thing I can also recommend with gettin’ creative about your video content on social media is to search some ‚gurus‘ aka other accounts that you pretty much think are doing as you would like to with your surf business and get inspired by them (no copying though😉).
Ok everybody, I hope this was anyhow useful for you. If you have any further questions about videos on social media for your surf business, don’t hesitate to post it in our Surfpreneurs Club group where me and all the other members can help and exchange thoughts and experiences... and maybe funny videos, too. See & read you there😬✌️
Brought to you by Sophie Krause
Writer and marketeer being addicted to chickpeas, loving everything outdoors (but especially the ocean) and wishing her zodiac sign was turtle. Sophie is collaborating with Surfpreneurs Club as writer to inspire others (and also herself) with the unique & exciting stories of all the great people you will (kind of) meet here.
Interviews with surf entrepreneurs
