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From business videos to social media videos, the digital era is filled with all kinds of video content. You don’t need statistics to figure out that video has taken over the digital realm. Try scrolling through various social media platforms and you will surely find a lot of them throughout your feed.

Businesses who’ve observed the trends are realizing that it is imperative to adopt a video marketing strategy. Unfortunately, not all businesses have the good sense to figure out the kind of content that best suits their brand or their consumers.

Why is it important to create a video tailored to your target audience’s needs? And how can you do it? Let’s discover the best video marketing practices today.

 

The Power of Video

 

As a marketer in an overly competitive digital space, you might often find yourself chasing the next big thing. You might be quick to embrace the latest trends and to incorporate them into your marketing strategy without really knowing their potential impact on your brand or on consumer behavior.

 

I know I said you don’t need statistics to see the impact of video marketing in 2018, but just so you know I’m not making this up, let’s look at those numbers. Here’s some data to convince you to make video the center of your marketing strategy:

  • 85% of prospective buyers would love to see more brands practice the trend in 2018.
  • 72% of prospects say they’d choose video over text if both types of content are available at the same time.
  • 83% of your prospects are willing to share video content that they enjoyed watching.
  • 95% of consumers prefer watching explainer videos to learn about a product.
  • 81% of consumers were enticed to buy products or services after watching business videos.
  • 69% of consumers were convinced to purchase software or application by promotional videos.

The numbers were published in Wyzowl’s annual State of Video Marketing Survey. A total of 570 marketers and consumers participated in the latest survey. It was conducted in December of last year. If those numbers have yet to convince you of the importance of video, here’s more:

  • 97% of marketers who used video helped them spread awareness of their product
  • 76% claimed it boosted sales.
  • 47% said it reduced support queries.
  • 76% stated it increased traffic.

 

Creating an Effective Video Marketing Campaign

 

Now that you know the importance of video, you might be eager to film a video and to run your campaign. Jumping right in without assessing the best way to reach audiences and without figuring out the type of content they want to consume is perhaps the biggest mistake you can make.

No matter how awesome your video is, it won’t be as impactful if it can’t reach your target market and if the content you created isn’t to their liking.

So that we can avoid all of that, let’s plan an effective campaign. Here’s how you can do it:

 

1. Identify your target audience.

 

Knowing who your ideal consumer is will make it easier for you to come up with a concept for a video campaign, or for any project for that matter. Identifying your target market allows you to create a message that will appeal to them.

Also, trying to reach as many consumers as you can cost a lot of money. Targeting a select few is more cost-effective as it permits you to allocate your campaign budget towards audiences who have the highest profit potential.

Keep in mind that while the target market and audience is often the same, there can be cases where they differ. For instance, brands who sell only men’s products have male end users. However, there might be certain products that are largely purchased by the wives or girlfriends. In such cases, you can devise a strategy that appeals to both the target audience and market.

There is an ongoing revolution in the business world, which you might want to be a part of. Each year, we see more and more brands embracing female empowerment and gender-neutral advertising. Perhaps you can be one of the catalysts for change.

Here’s an example of a gender-neutral ad from Coke:

2. Make the most out of free software.

 

A video production is neither the cheapest nor the easiest marketing tactic you can utilize to engage audiences. But don’t worry too much about your investment. It will be worth it in the end. As stated in the latest study published by Wyzowl, out of the 81% of businesses who now use video to market their products or services, there are 78% brands who saw incredible ROI on their campaigns.

You don’t need a big budget to come up with a compelling video. Compared to other strategies, you can actually produce an amazing campaign on a low budget and still see great results.

You can leverage free editing software. You can even film with your smartphone. Look at several influencers on YouTube. They use a smartphone to vlog and they still have hordes of followers.

It is the content that consumers are after. According to recent studies, the quality of the video itself, as well as its design, isn’t as important as the content conveyed in it.

These days, you can acquire free stock photos and videos online. If you don’t have a budget for video production, then turn to platforms that offer free videos, photos, clip art, and even music. You can pick out the elements you need and edit your own video.

Videos, as I said, don’t have to be expensive. But they do need to be sincere and authentic. Consumers crave for that authenticity. That’s primarily why millions of people visit YouTube every day. They turn to video influencers they can trust to find out more about a brand they just heard of or a product they are hesitant to try out.

But don’t worry. Your marketing strategy doesn’t have to revolve around these social media superstars. You can produce your own promotional videos because they, too, can get consumers to trust you. Customer testimonials, explainer videos, and expert videos are a few of the formats that can help you gain their trust.

Here is an example of an effective B2B video from HubSpot:

 

3. Gate your content or add a CTA.

 

Gating is a direct way of lead generation as it informs prospects that you will be giving away free content if they give you their information in exchange. Using tools such as Wistia’s Turnstile, you can add a form at the beginning, middle or end of the clip. The form serves as the gate for your content. Once they fill it in, they should be able to view your video.

How can you ensure prospects will stay and watch the video before the form pops up? Teaser videos! Make the most out of the first few seconds of the video. Start by making a promise. Inform them that you will be showing them exclusive content once they fill out the form.

Calls-to-action are another method you can use to generate leads. You can use YouTube annotations to add CTAs in specific moments throughout the video.

Don’t forget to add a URL so prospects know where they can learn more about the brand and what it has to offer.

4. Add a video to your landing page.

 

Any marketer would know that converting leads can be such a painful process sometimes. You put in so much work to entice potential clients, but no matter what you do, they won’t take the bite. Why is that?

Your content probably isn’t engaging enough for your target audience. Consumers are into content they can relate to, content that can answer their questions, and content that can get them to trust you. And let’s not forget, they want content that’s easy to consume. That’s why video has become so crucial to marketing. It trumps other marketing strategies because it appeals to a variety of senses.

A promotional video on a landing page, one that tells the story of your ideal consumer’s journey with the product or service, can certainly catch the attention of potential consumers. It can also encourage them to linger longer on your site. The longer they are exposed to your content the better chance you have of getting a conversion.

Research shows that adding a video to a landing page can boost conversion by 80%.

 

5. Paint a story.

 

A video ad doesn’t really give you a large amount of time to share an elaborate narrative. Nevertheless, even a 5-second clip is enough time to engage audiences if you know what to take advantage of.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that video has turned into such an important marketing tool. After all, we are biologically designed to avoid cognitive strain. That means it is in our nature to choose visuals over chunks of text. We are drawn to video simply because it’s easier to consume and it’s arguably more enjoyable. Plus, it can trigger all sorts of emotions.

So, how can you paint your story? The key is subtlety. Despite the advent of content marketing, you can still find a lot of sales clutter online. These aggressive techniques aren’t exactly the market’s cup of tea, so it’s best if you avoid them.

Your video shouldn’t make viewers feel like you are asking them to buy from you. It shouldn’t feel like marketing at all. To be able to connect with your audience, you should take advantage of the emotive power of video.

Ask yourself: How can your product or service make your consumer’s life so much better?

Here’s Dove’s empowering message to its consumers:

 

6. Determine the platforms where you want to market.

 

Which social media platform does your ideal audience frequent? Let’s start with that. Find out where they are spending their downtime so you know how to reach them.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to pick a single platform. You can run your campaign on a few social media hubs or all of them, just as long as your chosen platforms allow you to deliver what your audience wants.

It all goes back to what works for your target market. If you’ve identified that, you can use it on the channels you’ve chosen.

Lowes Home Improvement has been doing those one-minute do-it-yourself videos since 2013. They used to market on Vine which, at that time, was the latest social media hub. But when Facebook came out with a new feature called the 360 technology, they jumped right in and did what they do best – brief DIY videos.

The brand also started running fun campaigns on SnapChat and Instagram Stories when the said features launched. Here’s one of their videos for SnapChat.

Here are a few numbers you should look into before deciding the platforms for your video campaign:

  • Nearly 1/3 of people on the internet are on YouTube – that’s over 1 billion users.
  • 500 million individuals turn to Facebook to watch videos every day.
  • 82% of people on Twitter watch videos on the platform.
  • 10 billion clips are consumed by Snapchat users every day.

7. Take advantage of the latest tech.

 

Taco Bell has produced some of the most creative video campaigns in recent years. Remember their funny taco-centered posts on Facebook? They were such a hit that one of their best even generated 21 million views in just 30 days.

Much like Lowes, they, too, produced social media videos on popular platforms like YouTube and Facebook. But they also embraced new platforms, dabbled in the latest tech and made the most out of it. They tested the limits of real-time video. They came up with a six-minute movie on Snapchat that introduced their Spicy Chicken Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos.

You have probably heard this before, but don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Each year, there will be new trends, new channels, and new technologies – all of which can help you move your business forward if you just try. Become a trailblazer and set yourself apart from your competition.

Yes, your campaigns won’t always generate the results you imagined. Nevertheless, these failures should bring you closer to figuring out what your audience wants. If you don’t have much of a budget to do these experiments, then start small.  When a concept starts to click, produce a variety of videos leaning towards that kind of content and share it online.

 

8. Measure ROI.

 

Video marketing has become a go-to tool for B2B marketers. But like other strategies, marketers must ensure that they see a positive ROI on the cost of the campaign. If you don’t do so, you could potentially waste your funds.

Here are a few steps you need to make to measure the ROI of the campaign:

  • Set realistic goals from the beginning. A goal makes it easier for you to measure ROI because you know what to measure.
  • Ensure that your content is aligned with what you want to achieve.

By measuring ROI, you can determine if your campaign is effective in reaching audiences and if you’re getting the most out of your money.

 

9. Make it mobile-friendly.

 

You’ve identified your audience, figured out what they wanted, and where they hang out online, but you still aren’t seeing the results you want. How could this be?

Well, consumers are always on their phones or on their tablets. They may be frequenting the platforms you’re on, but you may have been unable to reach out to them effectively because of failing to make your videos mobile-friendly.

Here are a few tips for optimizing your video for mobile:

  • The video player should fit the size of the mobile screen perfectly.
  • The video thumbnail should make audience’s want to click that video.
  • Make the most out of the first few seconds. Be explosive or else they will go away and watch something else.

 

10. Create a stellar description.

 

You made a video campaign so you don’t have to bombard clients and prospects with so much textual content. Now, why do you have to make a description?

You will need a keyword-rich description to optimize your video for search. Of course, the keywords need to be relevant to the actual content. As usual, the description has to explain what your clip is all about so Google’s search spiders can understand what to do with it.

It helps if you remember that if Google provides you with a box you need to fill out — fill out the form. The information that they require should help your content rank better.

 

Conclusion

 

Creating content you can film, uploading it to the internet, and sharing it on all your social media channel sounds pretty easy. But that’s not all there is to video marketing. Don’t be rash. Take time to do your research properly and to create content that is magnetizing. Just keep in mind what you’ve learned, and you should be able to come up with a stellar video campaign.

Are you ready to start creating your video campaign?

To jumpstart the process of creating an efficient video marketing plan for your business, contact us here

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