It is becoming the norm for any type of video content to include some sort of reference to publishers’ or features’ social media. Popularised by YouTubers, are these little animations promoting someone’s social media effective or not? To find out the answer, it needs to be thoroughly analysed.

Social Media Icon Animations

It’s a common thing to promote within online videos, which is why this trend of social media promotions is fairly successful with many others doing the same thing in their style. However, would viewers care enough if they see it everywhere all the time, would this make it a less effective social media marketing strategy?

What Are Social Media Icon Animations?

‘Social Media Icons’ are typically used as a marketing tool when creating a video and posting it online. They usually last around ~3 – 6 seconds with the purpose of promoting the person’s social networks to drive traffic to other sources, keeping interest high. They typically work well in all variations of videos, such as Brand Videos.

Since this industry is moving very fast, people are finding new, fast and sneaky ways in promoting social media channels. It was only 2 years ago when it was popular to reference the social media via vocals, but within this past year, it’s more prevalent on the viewers option.

The Friendliness Of Promoting Social Media This Way

When you look at the skippable advertisements on YouTube for example, according to IPGLab, 65% of skippable ads are skipped right away and over 80% skipped instantly on mobile devices, meaning over half of people don’t have an interest in what you have to say.

Since the format is different, social media icons hold greater power than other means of advertisement. You can argue that it has a bigger benefit as the viewers are there to watch the video, which is where the plug would appear, rather than being forced to sit through a 30 second or skippable ad.

This is why you can use your video tools to promote your social media effectively and with ease.

The Privilege It Has

As mentioned before, viewers are there to watch that video, so you’ve already got the privilege of them more than likely following your social media if they want to come back for more.

It’s worth mentioning that video content creators are catching onto the fact that people skip past their little promotional segment, which is why a lot of creators are finding new and interesting ways in marketing.

This is why they simply have an animation saying to subscribe, or follow another social media and say nothing. They add sound effects on top too to bring attention towards it and give them the options if they wish to do so. The reason for this is because it’s not considered as ‘annoying’ to standard viewers, after all, sitting through multiple people saying very similar things must get tiresome to watch.

Giving the option means that your viewers are more likely to see it rather than skip it, giving it a high click-through rate. Since they are typically shorter to sit through over having someone voice over, it gives it a less reason to skip, especially if there is potential content in the background they could miss.

The Instagram Tag Tactic

This is a common usage amongst many YouTubers as they are aware that their audience is well up to date with social media, meaning they know what this icon is referring to. Knowing your audience and what they’re able to recognise allows for some creative promotional methods.

Most people use this when a new person comes onto screen, introducing them so you know their name but also promoting their instagram if you wish to view it later. It gives the viewers an option to get familiar with who the person is and what they do.

For Platforms That Don’t Have Returning Viewers

It is also worth mentioning that if you are doing videos that don’t have returning viewers, like tutorials or animated explainer videos, then promoting your social media like the Instagram Tag method in such a niche way would not be recommended, it does not hit as many people as an intended audience.

Icons like these show which social media it is referring to, promoting your business or identity on another platform without taking too much room on screen.

Since it’s only here for a short period, you don’t have to mention it yourself, but it may be worth saying to give that social a follow as there may be some other stuff you like. Keeping speeches like that short and to the point are your best bet for types of videos like these.

Conclusion

All in all, Social Media Promotional Icons give no reason not to include them within your video content online. If you are able to transfer at least some of your viewers to your social media, you are on the right track in building a following for a future of increased sales for your business. It’s all down to your understanding within your audience if it’s effective for you.

Understanding your audience allows you to throw in these creative touches, getting more people interested. If you are aware that your audience sticks around and that is your primary viewership, then you are able to use community references to promote your social networks.

If you don’t have a viewership that returns and you rely on new viewers constantly, it would be worth going for the small, flush, short and stand out animations. It allows you to plug other ways of seeing more potential content they like, rather than subscribing to a channel they most likely won’t return to.

We offer more than just social media animations. Check our full digital video production page for more info.