We’ve all done it. We’ve opened Instagram on our phones, looking for Important Business Content, and a video’s caught our eye. 45 minutes and 20 scrolls later, we’re so far down the rabbit hole, the Mad Hatter himself couldn’t pull us out. 

That’s because video content is highly effective at grabbing our attention and making us want to consume more. 

So the question is: does your business own a piece of that attention? Here’s a quick run-down of the main video marketing options available to small businesses … 

YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world – but more importantly for your business, it’s a Google product. That means YouTube videos regularly appear directly in Google search results. Optimise a video well enough, and it can claim prime real estate on page one of Google for a relevant search term, sitting above many of the organic web results.

Your goal with YouTube is to create a searchable library of content your ideal customers are actively looking for. Think about the ‘how to’ questions your customers ask you, and answer them in your videos.

Setting up a channel is free, and don’t worry about shiny production values. A clear, well-lit smartphone video with decent audio that answers a customer’s burning question will outperform an expensively produced piece of waffle!

LinkedIn Live

Going live on LinkedIn gives you real-time visibility with a professional audience – followers get notified when you go live, and the broadcast appears in the feed as it happens. Plus, the recording stays on your profile afterwards, continuing to pick up views and engagement long after you’ve signed off. 

LinkedIn only rolls out the Live feature to accounts that are at least 30 days old and have at least 150 followers. 

Good formats for Linkedin lives include Q&As, industry commentary, behind-the-scenes content, or a regular monthly slot your audience can rely on. 

TikTok

TikTok’s real superpower for small businesses is discoverability. Unlike LinkedIn (where you’re largely talking to your existing network) or YouTube (where people find you through search), TikTok’s algorithm actively serves your content to people who’ve never heard of you. A brand-new account with one great video can reach thousands of relevant viewers overnight.

The format rewards authenticity over polish – short, personality-led content with captions performs best. This is the platform for your quick tips and hot takes. Definitely don’t try to put your 20 minute conference talks on here (spoiler alert: they’ll die!).

Instagram and Facebook Reels

If you’re already active on Instagram or Facebook, Reels are the lowest-friction way to dip your toes into video because you’re just adding a new content format to a presence you’ve already built.

Reels are short-form vertical videos, typically under 90 seconds, and both platforms actively push them to people beyond your existing followers. Meta’s algorithm heavily favours Reels in terms of organic reach, which means a good one can land in front of a much wider audience than a standard post or image would. 

The style that works best is similar to TikTok: punchy, authentic, and built around a single clear idea. The added advantage here is that one Reel can be published on both Instagram and Facebook simultaneously, so you’re getting double the distribution for the same piece of content.

“Sounds great but I don’t have a full time videographer, so …”

If shooting four of five separate videos every week sounds like too much work (and fair enough!), the good news is you don’t have to!

The magic of video editing means you can take the same raw footage and then splice and dice it for different channels. And you won’t be surprised to hear us say that AI can massively streamline this process: check out our piece about how AI can help you make epic videos.

If you’d like some more help figuring out your digital marketing strategy and how video can play a key role, then get in touch, or come along to one of our digital skills masterclasses.