13 Social Media Marketing Benefits for Your Small Business
Are you taking advantage of everything social media has to offer your small business?
Want to lighten up your social media marketing game? Try making funny videos with your team!
Sharing short, funny videos on social media can boost your follower engagement (people love to be entertained!), humanize your brand, showcase your company culture, and make your business more memorable.
And you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to make videos — if you have a smartphone, you’re set! In fact, spontaneous videos you film around your office with your phone can be just as effective as more polished ones. Whether you share your videos on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or another social platform, the key is to make a genuine connection with your audience.
Here, we’re sharing 8 funny social media video ideas you can adapt for your business. Try adding one, two, or all eight to your social media strategy, and see if they don’t help you build stronger connections with your followers!
Poking a little fun at yourself makes for great entertainment and makes you seem more accessible and authentic to your followers. Film a video of you and your team pointing out funny things about your job, your company, or your industry.
A great example is the recent “of course” trend on TikTok and Instagram. In these videos, individuals and companies alike share lighthearted stereotypes about their jobs by finishing the sentence, “I’m ____, of course I ___.” For example, “I’m in marketing, of course I spend hours a day scrolling social media,” or “I’m an editor, of course I mentally correct the grammar of every email you send me.”
As you might imagine, these videos can be hilarious. Here are a few video examples to help you brainstorm ideas for your own video:
Speaking of poking fun, turn the tables on your coworkers by roasting them or impersonating them (all in good fun, of course!). Highlight the personality quirks your team members have: organized vs disorganized; morning person vs NOT a morning person; phrases they say often; and so on.
Remember: keep it light and fun, and make sure the team members you’re making silly fun of are on board!
Here are a few examples to give you a laugh and get your ideas flowing:
Ask your team a few funny or random questions and record their answers. This gives your followers a chance to get to know your team members beyond their day-to-day roles.
For example, if you have a veterinary clinic, ask your staff which breed of dog they’d be most likely or least likely to own and why; or which animal they most relate to and why. Or, make your questions completely random, asking staff about their favorite foods, desert island book picks, what their younger selves wanted to be when they grew up, etc.
Here are a few great examples to get you started:
To give both your followers and your team a good laugh, play some good-natured pranks on your officemates and record their reactions! Think Jim pranking Dwight on The Office.
Here are a bunch of funny examples:
Side note: At this point, you might be wondering, “But what does any of this have to do with my business?”
Here’s the thing: people LOVE behind-the-scenes videos that show your personality and the relationships among your team members. While perhaps not directly related to what your company does, these kinds of videos show that you can have a little fun as a team…and that makes you more relatable to your followers.
Next, take part in a viral challenge or host a competition with your team members. Have a dance-off (bad dancing preferred), do a “don’t laugh” challenge (try to get a coworker to laugh), or do a “who’s the most likely to...” video.
Our team did a hot salsa eating challenge a while back as part of a fundraiser. When we raised a certain dollar amount for the charity, three of our team members had to eat the hottest salsa we could find and record their reactions. 🥵🌶️
This kind of challenge can be a good way to raise some money for a cause or just have a little fun and make your audience laugh!
Take some inspiration from TV, movies, or music for your social media videos.
For example, take the intro compilation and music from The Office (I know I already mentioned it, but it’s classic!) as inspiration for a staff intro video that features your city, your office, and your team (like this one).
Or adapt a movie plot or aesthetic to your office or industry. If you have a landscaping company, for example, take some inspiration from the movie Dune (“Does your lawn look like this?”). Check out these other examples for more fun ideas:
In addition, using trending songs, sounds, or voice overs can help boost the reach of your videos and get them in front of new eyes. Take some trending music and create a music video of sorts, like these hilarious examples:
A couple of quick notes about using music and other potentially copyrighted media on social media: Due to copyright restrictions, the songs available may be limited on some platforms, like TikTok. And in general, make sure to give credit where credit is due — tag the creator, musician, etc.
Keep a finger on the pulse of viral trends, and hop on them as quickly as you can. Trends move fast, so strike while the iron’s hot!
Taking advantage of trends like dance challenges or the “I’m __ so of course I __” trend we mentioned earlier can not only get more eyes on your videos and expand your reach — they’re also a whole lot of fun!
Here’s a perfect example of the recent “Car Girl” trend hilariously redone by the Milwaukee Public Library’s delivery team. It’s funny, relevant, trendy, and highlights a service the library offers. Brilliant!
If all else fails, compile all your outtakes from video recordings into a funny blooper reel! Think tongue twisters, falls or trips (assuming everyone’s ok of course!), missed lines, or even just an entire video of your team laughing at the hijinks.
This is a surefire way to make people laugh — who doesn’t love a good blooper?
Ok friends, three things before you bust out your phones, get creative, and make YOUR videos!
And now, there’s only one thing left to say:
Lights…camera…ACTION! 🎬
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