Gone are the days when online marketing only meant writing great articles and long-tail blog posts with highly targeted keywords.
Videos have taken over the internet and it is only going to get bigger as we go into the future.
With the rise of vloggers and content creators, it is clear that the online audience loves to watch videos instead of read a lengthy blog.
And wonder why this is so? Videos are easy to follow, highly engaging, and easy to share among peers.
Video marketing is simply promoting a product via video format. You can make a video on the benefits as well as demonstrate the utility of the product by leveraging the video format.
This creates engagement and boosts buyer traffic for your brand online.
Video marketing is effective now because it is emulating a person talking to you directly, in a way. Video marketing is trying to simulate a face-to-face presentation on a mass scale, so it’s much more efficient than other forms of online marketing.
10 years from now, maybe there will be a new technology that can simulate face-to-face presentation better, perhaps like a pre-recorded interactive holographic image that can respond to your questions in real-time, who knows?
When that happens, video marketing will begin to lose some ground. But until then, it will continue to be one of the top trends in the marketing space.
In this article, I will tell you what video marketing is, how to use it, and why you should use video marketing in your digital marketing campaigns.
What is Video Marketing?
Video marketing involves creating, organizing, and using videos to promote your business and its products to your target audience.
The goal is to keep prospects engaged with your brand in an entertaining, accessible, and consumable way.
Today, every business wants to create a benchmark and be different from its competitors. We do witness the curve of change growing higher when it comes to flourishing marketing trends and techniques where video content marketing takes the driver’s seat.
Before we venture deeper into exploring this rising trend – video marketing, breathe and give a thought to this: If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much more valuable will a video be?
Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook, videos rank at the top when it comes to best engagements. Is it creating brand awareness, building customer rapport, or promoting products?
Video marketing serves every marketing objective. After all, there is a reason why 87% of online marketers leverage video content marketing.
How to Create an Effective Video Marketing Strategy
Creating an effective video marketing strategy requires planning, organization, and time.
#1. Decide an Audience and Set Goals
Every marketing effort has to begin with research. This information will guide your campaign and boost the chances of converting users into customers.
Ask yourself the following questions to set the stage higher for a successful video marketing strategy:
#1. What target market are you hoping to reach?
#2. What kind of content is your target market most likely to react positively to?
#3. Where are your audiences spending the most time online?
#4. What are you hoping to get out of your marketing campaign?
Consider your marketing goals. Maybe you want to boost brand awareness by getting your business’s name in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Perhaps you want to introduce a new product to the market by targeting a certain group of people.
Defining your goals and understanding your target audience will create the foundation for a killer video marketing strategy and experience.
#2. Maintain Steady Branding
Even if a video marketing strategy is out of character for your brand, you should remain on-brand. Your existing audience will be more receptive to this familiarity.
New viewers will also be more likely to further interact with your content if they see consistency.
With so many working parts in a video marketing strategy, you can display your brand via multiple technical aspects including:
#1. Script tone and language
#2. Video length
#3. Background music
#4. Camera angles
#5. Intros and exits
Make an effort to maintain on-brand without sacrificing creativity.
#3. Decide Between Outsourcing or In-House Production
Once you have a sharp understanding of how you want your video marketing strategy to look, it’s time to begin production.
Small business owners usually struggle to choose between saving money by producing their videos or ensuring quality by hiring professionals out of their in-house team.
While there is no clear-cut answer that applies to every situation, there are some important factors to consider:
#1. How much money do you have to budget for marketing
#2. Your capacity to produce in-house
#3. The level of quality your audience is anticipating
#4. What professionals in your industry are charging for the job
Both in-house and outsourced video productions come with their pros and cons, making it difficult to choose a clear winner. The right answer will be based on your business’s current needs and budget.
#4. Improve Videos for Each Platform
Formatting is a usually overlooked consideration for a video marketing strategy.
People instinctively film horizontally because they are used to watching movies and television. But social media platforms and mobile devices have set in motion the need for vertical formats.
Improving the format of your video marketing strategy for the platforms on which you are advertising can lead to more interaction and boost the chances of conversion.
The landscape is the outstanding horizontal format most commonly used for video marketing on television, YouTube, or desktop.
Portrait, or vertical, formats are okay for videos you want to be shareable on mobile devices. The vast majority of social media websites, such as Facebook, Tik Tok, and Instagram, are geared toward this format.
#5. Track and Measure Your Video Success
You need to track and measure the results of your video marketing strategy to discover its performance.
Here are some important metrics you can track:
#1. View count
#2. Engagement rate
#3. Social sharing
#4. Interaction (i.e., comments, likes, subscriptions, clicks)
Why You Should Use Video in Your Marketing
#1. Boost Web Traffic
Using keywords related to the industry helps optimize videos for search engine algorithms, driving organic traffic from search engines like YouTube and Google, and social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, where users actively search for relevant content related to their interests.
#2. Increase Conversions
With engaging visuals and audio cues incorporated into videos, you can quickly grab the attention of people who may not otherwise read long blocks of text.
Additionally, by including calls-to-action (CTAs) at strategic spots throughout your video, you can encourage people to take certain actions, such as downloading an eBook directly from within the video or signing up for a newsletter.
#3. Reach Decision Makers Immediately
Decision makers often don’t have time to read through long emails, so presenting them with a short informative video is much more successful for getting their attention and communicating key messages quickly.
Plus, with powerful video analytics, know precisely when identified viewers have watched and for how long.
#4. Better Credibility and Trust
Video offers you an excellent opportunity to build trust and credibility amongst your audience. You can offer valuable information to prospects in an easy-to-digest video format.
Types of videos you can create include:
#1. Product descriptions
#2. Instructional videos
#3. Customer spotlights
#4.How-to videos
Videos present beneficial content to your audience for free and can position your business as an authority in your industry.
As an industry leader, people in your corner (niche) will be more likely to come to you first for information or to make a purchase.
#5. Video Marketing Improves Other Marketing Strategies
A video is a dynamic form of marketing that is easily paired with other marketing strategies.
For instance, if you are already posting instructional blogs, you can produce the same material in a video format to share next to them.
Similarly, if you have built up an extensive email list, you can start integrating video marketing into your email campaigns to compound their success.
#6. Boost Revenue
Video marketing can be used to create targeted ads and persuasive product videos that can help drive sales and good conversion.
By creating high-quality content that resonates with viewers, businesses can boost their revenue through enhanced brand awareness and engagement.
Types of Videos for Your Marketing.
#1. Product Videos
Product videos provide the perfect solution when you find yourself trying to come up with new ways to show viewers your product features in a way that’s not only accurate but also fascinating and understandable.
After all, you need to overcome the fact that potential customers can’t engage with your offerings directly.
These videos allow you to showcase your products in the best possible light, while also getting viewers on board with the idea of converting but only if you understand how to leverage the style to do so.
A product video makes it easier for buyers to understand the purpose of a product, how they can use it, and why it’s beneficial to them. Authentic videos also help to establish a sense of trust between buyers and brands.
It’s all about conveying relevance to potential customers.
#2. Customer Spotlight Stories
Sometimes the most effective way to convey value to prospects is to let your current customers speak for you.
Online reviews have proven successful in convincing people to take action but don’t stop there.
A customer spotlight features one of your customers telling an inspiring story about how your product helped improve their life.
When put in video format, it can help:
#1. Reveal the impact of your business’s support.
#2. Explain the effectiveness of your products.
#3. Emphasize your brand image
#4. Highlight the category of people you serve
Displaying these testimonials on your site’s homepage and social media is a powerful way to spread the word about your business and when it comes from someone else who has used your product, it seems more reliable.
#3. Small Brand Story
Telling your brand’s story is an efficient way to connect with customers on a personal level. Rather than only seeing you as a cold and lifeless business entity, customers can see the human element behind the brand.
While it’s easy to throw together a few paragraphs about your brand’s background, video is much more accessible and effective than a giant block of text.
Your story video can be as simple as you talking about the inspiration behind starting your brand, what you are offering your potential customers, and what your plans are for the future. Tell a story that’s unique to you and your brand.
As visual creatures, humans are instinctively attracted to and responsive to videos. With a good video marketing strategy, you can capture and hold the attention of a wide pool of prospects.
If you add a video to your brand’s website you will need to ensure you have hosting that can handle it.
Conclusion
Video marketing is one of the successful ways to build an online presence and can be leveraged in a variety of situations, such as for brands awareness creation, product demonstrations, and more
Video marketing is also an efficient way to build a brand and help your customers understand your products and ultimately attract new customers into your funnel.
This article underpinned the meaning of video marketing, its benefits, type, and strategies to conduct successful video marketing campaigns.
