The Easy Way to Grow Your Business With Video

It’s no surprise that video is the number one way to both build relationships and grow your business on social media these days. 

Connecting with someone in person is always a faster path to know, like, and trust than even the most engaging written posts on social media. 

And although video is one-sided and can’t therefore replace the in-person connection, it’s definitely second best.

Video allows you to experience the creator’s personality, and lessens the chance for misinterpretation that can occur with the written word.

The Problem With YouTube

By far, the number one video platform on social media is YouTube. But many small business owners steer clear of YouTube for three valid reasons.

First, it’s beyond their current technical abilities. Sure you can record yourself on camera and just upload the raw footage to YouTube with no editing, but it’s hard to keep the viewer’s attention for too long that way, And then there’s the pressure to keep up with the fancy, more engaging videos your competitors are cranking out.

Second, you likely don’t already have a following on YouTube like you do on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest, so you’d be starting from scratch. 

Finally, YouTube can be time-consuming, especially when you’re new and trying to get the hang of it and attract an audience.

Simple Video Alternatives

YouTube is a great platform, but if it’s solidly on your “maybe someday” list right now, you can still get in on the video craze and very effectively use video to grow your audience and build real relationships with them.

And you can do it with both Instagram and Facebook stories. 

Instagram and Facebook have leveled the playing field when it comes to using video for your business. You don’t have to worry about being compared to the “big guys” who have fancy cameras, in-home recording studios, and professional editing capabilities.

In addition, there’s zero learning curve and you’re posting video in a place where you already have some kind of a following.

Not only will your stories give you the advantages of connecting with video, but they also give you a better chance of being seen on both platforms, since they appear at the top of the page rather than buried in the never-ending feed.

Facebook v. Instagram: Who’s Better?

One advantage of YouTube is you can share your video on multiple social media networks if you wish, which is not the case when doing Facebook and Instagram stories. 

This means you’ll have to make time to do stories in each place, or choose one. The easy answer is to start wherever you’re most comfortable, wherever your biggest audience is. 

The best answer is probably to experiment and see where you’re most comfortable and where you’re getting the best interaction. There are advantages to both platforms, but the biggest factor is where people are finding and engaging with you.

Instagram Advantages

Instagram stories are definitely more popular than Facebook stories, which means people engage with them more. So even though Facebook has more users, you may find more interaction on Instagram. 

As a platform, Instagram is simpler, and includes options to post GIFs in your stories, and to add links to your stories once you have 10,000 followers (which is not as far away as you might now think!).

Another really nice feature of Instagram stories is the opportunity to create Story Highlights. On both Instagram and Facebook, your stories are shown for 24 hours before disappearing. 

The Instagram highlights feature allows you to make certain stories permanent, thereby creating sort of a highlight reel that’s featured under your bio on your profile. This gives your video more of the permanence of a YouTube video.

Facebook Advantages

The fact that Instagram stories are more popular may also be seen as an advantage for Facebook. 

Unlike your Facebook newsfeed, which is more crowded by the day and increasingly hard for small business visibility, you’ll be one of relatively few if you use Facebook stories.  This gives your stories a better chance of being viewed.

If you have a Facebook group, you can also create group stories, which gives your group members the opportunity to be interactive in the story too.

Going Live

Another great confidence-building option is to go live on Facebook or Instagram. On both platforms, your connections will receive a notification when you go live. 

The main difference in the two platforms is that on Instagram your live videos become part of your story, and can therefore only be seen for 24 hours, although they are given priority in the stories section. 

With Facebook, your live video is seen in the newsfeed, and is therefore permanent. You can also share your Facebook Live to other groups or pages, just like you can any written Facebook post. 

Again, choosing whether to go live on Facebook or Instagram comes down to where your audience best connects with you, and in some cases, how permanent you want your live video to be.

Need Help Using Video in Your Business?

At Kids Party Characters we love video. It’s a great way to showcase some of our unique costumes, and to reach out to other moms and show them that Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs is no different than they are.

If you have questions about how to use video in your business, or if you don’t have a business and would like to talk through the realities of setting up and running a successful business from scratch, Cheryl is offering free mentoring sessions to help get you started. 

Book a chat with Cheryl here and she’ll answer your questions and give you no-nonsense advice on what it really takes to get started.

Cheryl’s created a great “business in a box” opportunity with Kids Party Characters that allows you to have your own business with an exclusive territory in which to book parties, as well as the right to use our 200+ costumes and all of the other tools Cheryl’s used to grow her business to six figures.

This opportunity also includes step-by-step training from Cheryl on how to best set up your business to quickly get into profit. Check out the details here, and bring any questions you have to your call with Cheryl.

Finally, be sure to connect with Kids Party Characters on Facebook for daily updates on our magical parties, our best parenting tips, and our favorite strategies for working from home as a busy mom.