Let’s face it– short-form video trends don’t leave a ton of room for overtly plugging your brand. Today’s brands know the value that comes from churning out TikToks and Reels, but there’s a balance between entertaining and promoting that is tricky to find. In this post, we’re covering how to create brand videos on Instagram and TikTok. You’ll learn how to remain authentic and entertain/educate your audience while promoting your brand and its products.

It’s All About the Content Mix

Scroll through most of the top brands on TikTok and you’ll notice they share a similar content mix that focuses on industry-specific entertainment. You’ll see a transparently branded video every once in a while (like this GymShark creative fund one) but most of the time, brands stick to providing entertaining and educational content relevant to their brand. Even that GymShark video promoting the creative fund featured an entertaining skit. Most of Chipotle’s content features either people eating at the restaurant, joking about it, or relevant fun facts/hacks. The Washington Post only posts videos sharing news via funny skits. 

Here are some examples:

Chipotle combined its iconic ingredients with a fun zodiac calendar, creating a branded and engaging post. 

The Washington Post adheres to its brand mission of sharing informative news, while adapting its video strategy to fit the entertaining, short-form video vibes of TikTok. 

Red Bull posts videos of athletes doing the most, fitting their “Red Bull Gives You Wings” motto. Many of the athletes wear Red Bull-sponsored merch in the videos, adding a subtle hint of branding. 

GymShark posts entertaining videos for gym rats of all shapes and sizes. 

At the end of the day, branding is all about authenticity. You have to stay true to what you know interests and benefits your audience. Each of these top-performing brands posts content that meshes well with all the short-form videos going viral while staying true to the brand’s niche. 

They don’t change what they post about, but rather the vehicle they share that information through. They are sharing the same messages (eat at Chipotle, Red Bull Gives You Wings, news stories, and gym jokes), just in a format that vibes well on TikTok and Instagram Reels. 

While not necessary (so long as you’re adhering to brand identity through your video concepts), there are subtle moves you can make to add visual brand elements to your videos without dropping in a logo. Think about ways to add your brand colors to what you film, wear branded clothing, or use your products in the skit. 

Our Brand Video Strategy

At Planoly, we focus on sharing helpful tips relevant to our audience. 

Here’s an example all about batch filming content:

We stick to the same title format on our cover photos. Other than that, we don’t worry too much about visual brand elements in our videos. It’s all about creating content that will help you guys crush your social media game.

Ready to start creating brand videos? Use our Reels Planner and our Video Planner for TikTok for a stress-free scheduling experience.