Since the beginning of the pandemic, video has become an essential tool to tell your brand’s story and create a connection to your customers that is more personal than photos and written content. Most social media platforms have built in video components but it is tough to know how to use them, as they all have different features and specs.  Below is a list of tips and guidelines on common video platforms that work well for small wineries.

• Research indicates that video is the highest-converting medium for social marketing campaigns.
   
• Facebook/Instagram (FB/IG) stories can be either a single photo, single video (up to 15 sec) or they can be a series of up to 10 photos and (15 sec) videos with a max file size of 4g and a minimum of 500px wide.  Recommended video resolution is 1080 x 1080. 

• IG Reels can be up to 60 seconds, both can have text, sound, graphic overlays, and animations that can be added before the content is uploaded, or limitedly within the app.   

• IGTV & Reels video dimensions are 1080 x 1920 pixels, FB Watch has an aspect ratio of 16:9, 9:16, or 1:1 for square.

• Reels has built-in music and sounds you can use without copyright infringement, the other platforms do not.  

• FB/IG stories can be scheduled within the desktop app, Reels can only be scheduled through mobile.  

• FB/IG stories appear on the profile page and in the newsfeeds of FB/IG, to view reels you have to toggle the app to another feed.  

• IGTV is a separate app, you can post videos up to 10 minutes long with a 1-minute preview that you can link to a post in the newsfeed for discoverability.  

• Facebook watch is separate from the newsfeed but still lives within the app and can be toggled to in the menu bar.  The videos can be up to 240 minutes with a 5-15 second preview.  

• Both FB watch and IGTV have auto-generated closed captioning that can be edited.  

Image: iStockphoto.com