5 ways to use video to have conversations

By Megan O’Neill
Best practices

From time to time, we invite industry influencers to write a guest post on our blog. We turned to our friends from @Animoto to share their tips on Tweeting video.

Conversations are what Twitter is all about. Your customers and potential customers are having conversations about trending news stories, shared passions, and topics related to your industry. Video can be a great way to join these conversations — and start new ones.

Here are five ideas for incorporating video into your Twitter strategy to elicit responses, start new conversations, and stand out in existing ones.

Stand out by using hashtags

You’re likely already using hashtags when Tweeting about certain topics, events, or holidays. Video is a great way to stand out within those conversations. The movement associated with video differentiates it from text-only and image Tweets and can help you help you capture attention in the feed.

Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots and Shoots used hashtag conversations to get the word out about different actions kids can take to help with the various causes they support. They used video to join existing conversations using hashtags like #makeadifference#InternationalPrimateDay, and #WorldAnimalDay

Surprise and delight with a video response

Want to really make your customers or followers feel special? Try responding to a Tweet with a video instead of just a text response. Taking the time to create a video — even if it’s just a quick clip shot on your phone — can be a fun way to show you care and are invested. Want to keep the conversation going? Include a follow-up question along with your video Tweet.

Use video to ask a question

Have a question for your audience? Ask it in a video. Similarly to standing out in hashtag conversations, a video can help your question stand out in the feed. At Animoto, we recently opened up a conversation with our audience around video ideas, using a video. When people responded, we got back to them with a video too.

Turn conversation highlights into a video

If you’re trying to build your presence on Twitter but aren’t getting much engagement yet, video can be a nice way to get the ball rolling. Instead of starting your own conversation from scratch, try compiling highlights from an existing conversation and creating a video. You can share the video back into the conversation, tagging the folks you’ve highlighted. Here’s an example of this type of video in action:

Share breaking news

When news breaks in your industry video can be an effective tool for joining the conversation. With video, you can respond to news or an event with a video up to 2 minutes and 20 seconds, giving you time to do and say more than you can in a 240 character Tweet.

When creating your video, start it with some enticing text, such as “BREAKING NEWS,” to capture viewers attention, and be sure to include enough information to set the context for viewers that haven’t yet heard the news.

Whether you’re trying to join an existing conversation, start a new one, build a following, or share some news, video can be an effective tool for sparking engagement. 


This post was written by Megan O’Neill, Senior Content Marketing Manager at Animoto. Animoto makes it easy for business owners to create professional videos for social media.

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