What is Video Marketing?
Video marketing is the use of video material to support promotional, sales, and branding strategies. Creating movies about your company, employees, customers, and goods may offer a dynamic and interesting element to your entire marketing content.
The videos you create can be uploaded and shared on a variety of channels. Use visuals, audio, live performers, on-screen text, music, animation, or a combination of these elements to attract the attention of viewers and convey a message.
Video marketing has become one of the most popular strategies for businesses to gain a foothold in a congested industry. Furthermore, worldwide video consumption is massive. Statista estimates that more than 3 billion individuals worldwide watch digital video material at least once a month. That’s a large potential audience you don’t want to overlook!
Types of marketing videos
There are several types of marketing videos. Which ones you select to include in your video marketing campaign will be determined by your company’s products or services, marketing objectives, target audience, and budget. The following are some of the most popular types of video material.
Commercials
Paid commercial advertising is the original type of video marketing, and it remains an excellent choice for reaching a large audience. In addition to television, commercial advertising spaces are accessible on streaming services and video platforms such as YouTube, where you may control how viewers interact with your ads—whether they are clickable or skippable.
How-to videos
A how-to film teaches customers how to use a product or service. It provides step-by-step instructions or hands-on demonstrations to assist viewers comprehend the product’s capabilities and benefits. These videos engage and educate the target audience, increasing the brand’s trust and credibility.
A how-to video’s goal is to familiarise potential customers with a product and give them confidence that it will suit their needs by offering practical information in an easy-to-understand style. How-to videos enable brands to engage with customers, demonstrate their expertise, and enhance consumer awareness of their products or services.
Explainer videos
These movies are intended to explain complex concepts, products, or services. They frequently incorporate visuals and animation, and can be uploaded on your company’s website, shared on social media, or featured in a sales presentation to assist boost consumers’ comfort and confidence in your brand.
Behind-the-scenes videos
Behind-the-scenes videos provide insight into the creation, methods, or people involved in a product or brand. These videos offer an insider’s perspective, highlighting the human aspect of the business and making potential buyers feel like they’re part of the brand community.
The footage frequently includes production insights, employee introductions, and the opportunity to share a brand story. This form of material humanises a brand by increasing authenticity and relatability, which can boost consumer trust and loyalty.
Behind-the-scenes video marketing can emotionally engage customers by providing a unique and fascinating narrative that fosters a sense of connection with video watchers.
Product demo videos
These films show the features, functionalities, and advantages of a product or service. Many video marketing tactics employ these videos to demonstrate how a product operates or how its features might suit customers’ demands.
Product demo films are often intended at customers who have expressed an interest in the product and are looking for additional information. They may also target clients who have already purchased a product and are searching for tips on how to get the most out of it.
In these videos, footage of the product is frequently combined with voice narration, on-screen text, and views of people using it. These instructive movies are an excellent method to boost customer satisfaction and turn attention into sales.
Customer testimonials
Hearing from delighted customers can be a powerful video marketing technique. This form of video material offers genuine and relatable endorsements (also known as social proof) that increase your brand’s credibility and trust. These videos can be used on your website, on digital platforms like as Facebook and YouTube, and as paid commercials in both online and conventional broadcast media.
Personalized messages
You may wish to incorporate a personal touch into your marketing efforts. Personalised message videos might be a unique and memorable method to accomplish this. If you own a small business, you can include a little thank-you video in each order’s email confirmation. Consider sending your best clients a personalised video message at the end of the year. In reality, it is now feasible to create personalised message films automatically, complete with the customer’s name in a video voice-over or onscreen text.
Event videos
You may also use video to provide your clients with a virtual front-row seat to live events such as conferences, workshops, and product announcements. Event films may make the viewer feel as if they’re present, providing a company with a real and engaging approach to engage with customers and develop a feeling of community.
They can also be an effective strategy to stretch your video marketing budget. Filming an already occurring event can result in significant cost savings during the film creation process.
Video Marketing and SEO
One of the most useful tools for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is video marketing. Videos boost shares, likes, and backlinks to your business’s website, all of which can improve search engine rankings. Posting your films on your website and giving them pertinent tags with keywords and phrases will increase traffic. Additionally, keep in mind that YouTube is owned by Google, the top search engine in the world. For this reason, you should closely align your video marketing approach with your SEO (organic search engine optimisation) strategy.
Benefits of video marketing
Although developing high-quality video content requires more time, effort, and money than other forms of marketing, the results are worthwhile. A successful marketing video, whether it’s an instructional video on how to use a new product or a personalised film thanking your top clients, may help your brand attract more customers, keep them engaged for longer, and increase its overall marketing efforts. Continue reading to discover about some of these benefits.
Improves search engine ranking
A smart video marketing plan can help your brand rank higher in search engine results. Search engines such as Google prioritise diverse and entertaining information. High-quality video content has the potential to keep consumers interested for extended periods of time, which is factored into search engine rankings.
Furthermore, videos with significant SEO keywords in their titles, descriptions, and transcripts help search engines identify and locate relevant material, directing customers who search for those terms to your videos.
Videos, including AI Overviews, can now display in search results pages, encouraging users to click through to your content. When videos are shared on social media platforms, they link back to the original content, which helps with search engine ranking. The more consumers connect with your videos (by loving, commenting, or sharing), the higher your brand’s search engine discoverability.
Increases engagement
Videos are more entertaining than text or static images, so viewers stay interested for longer. Video marketing can not only draw clients’ attention to your company, but it may also boost total engagement when shared via text, email, and social media.
Builds trust
Integrating video into your marketing approach builds trust by establishing a more intimate connection with your customers. Customers may see the people behind the product or service through videos, and the use of music and attractive imagery can enhance the emotional experience.
Informative films, customer testimonials, and behind-the-scenes encounters can all help to boost trust in your brand’s knowledge and reliability. These movies can communicate messages more effectively than text or still images alone.
Enhances brand awareness
In an overcrowded market, a video marketing strategy can assist capture consumer attention. Videos are ubiquitous on social media, and their dynamic nature allows you to use storytelling to engage your audience. Once this link is made, viewers are more likely to share these movies directly with others or through their social media profiles.
The more viewers your brand films receive, the more effectively you may improve your company’s identity, brand recognition, and customer awareness.
Boosts sales
The ultimate goal of any firm is to grow its sales and profits. Video marketing can help by appealing to customers in a captivating and engaging manner. Being able to witness a product in use or watch a video introduction to the company’s founder can be the final push needed to close the deal. Because video is easily shareable, satisfied consumers spread the news to others, making it one of the most successful organic ways to reach a new audience.
Challenges of video marketing
Video marketing strategies present both obstacles and benefits. Being aware of these and planning ahead will help you prepare your strategy, budget, and timetable for success.
High cost
If you decide to use videos into your marketing strategy, you should be sure to develop high-quality videos that accurately represent your business. This can be costly.
Although video production costs more than other marketing tools, the return on investment makes building a video strategy worthwhile. And as technology progresses, production prices can fall. The following are some of the factors to consider while creating your video budget.
Professional equipment
While practically everyone has taken a brief video with their mobile phone, to create amazing movies for professional use, you should shoot the content on a high-quality video camera. Your video may also require equipment such as microphones and lights. Much of this equipment is rentable, but professional equipment is rarely available at a low cost.
Location and set design
Unless your marketing films are totally animated, you will need to consider where they will be filmed. You may need to rent a temporary filming location or engage a professional set dresser to ensure that the location is production friendly, safe, and visually appealing.
If you’re recording a behind-the-scenes video of your production process, you’ll most likely use your current area. Even in your own workplace or industrial site, you may need to make space, lighting, and safety adjustments. Also, make sure to delete any confidential information or items in the backdrop, such as product prototypes!
Talent
Unless your film focusses solely on your staff, client testimonies, or event participants, you may need to hire for professional on-camera talent such as actors or spokespeople. Even if you merely require voice talent, hiring a professional (and factoring the cost into your budget) will improve the quality of your finished project.
Production crew
If you’ve ever been on a professional video shoot, you might be amazed by how many people it takes to create just a few seconds of footage. From the director to the camera operators to the hair, makeup, and costume specialists, the number of people who must be employed and compensated can quickly mount.
Licensing fees
If your film includes copyrighted material, such as music or photos, you must obtain permission to use it and pay any applicable licensing fees. Another alternative is to use music in the public domain or to have an adequate music budget and obtain the necessary permissions, which may often necessitate paying for legal services to secure the rights.
Production
You are probably aware that there will be charges associated with creating your video material. The budget should include staff, equipment, space, and any required permits or insurance. However, keep in mind that extra charges, such as crew lunches and dressing facilities, may be required.
And, because filming videos always takes longer than planned, plan for many takes and sometimes even overtime. You don’t want to discover out you don’t have enough video to create high-quality material.
Post production
The effort does not end with the recording of video footage. The following phases are known as post-production, and they include editing, sound design, and other components necessary for delivering a polished, professional video. It may need to be cut, the resolution sharpened, and the sound altered so that viewers can hear voices over background noise.
Although there are numerous free video editing software applications accessible, you’ll most likely want to invest in professional software and pay for the services of a professional post production specialist to assure the best results.
Animation, graphics, and special effects
If your video has any additional creative aspects, you should budget for them as well. Many marketing movies include components such as animation to illustrate complex concepts, visuals to highlight a product’s features, and even special effects. These can improve the quality and utility of a film, but they can also considerably raise the expense of software, equipment, and specialists with specialised abilities.
Lack of technical knowledge
Producing polished, professional videos typically necessitates talent and technical knowledge. Professionals study for years and devote a significant amount of effort to staying current with the latest equipment, software, and practices.
Unlike other marketing activities, video may not be something your marketing team has prior expertise with, and it is unrealistic for them to learn these abilities rapidly. If you intend to make video marketing a continuous element of your entire marketing plan, you should consider recruiting employees with specialised training and experience in this area, or finding an outside vendor whose work matches the mood and message you want to convey.
Keeping up with platform changes
The need to adapt grows in tandem with the advancement of video creation, uploading, and hosting technology. Social media platforms continually adjust their algorithms, features, and policies, which can lead to decreasing visibility and efficacy.
Your marketing department must devote time and effort to staying current with these developments and making required adjustments to ensure that your video strategy continues to reach and engage your target audience. Make sure to monitor developments and stay current with evolving criteria to ensure that your video marketing strategy is as effective as possible.
Six steps for creating an effective video marketing strategy
Once you’ve decided that video marketing is ideal for your company, you’ll need to develop a well-designed marketing strategy to ensure that your videos are high quality, well-planned, and tailored to your specific needs. When creating your plan, follow the steps below to ensure that you don’t overlook any critical details.
Step 1: Determine your goals
It can be tempting to get directly into the manufacturing process. But don’t rush—defining your digital marketing campaign’s goals is critical to ensuring that every step of the process is directed towards the desired end.
For instance, do you want to raise brand awareness? Rather than stuffing your movies with content, you might want to keep them short and simple so they can be simply shared. Consider using humour or an emotional aspect to draw people in and make them unforgettable.
On the other hand, if you’re presenting a new product line and want to highlight its features, you may create a series of explainer movies in a professional, educational style. Consider conducting some research at this point—looking at the social media and video platforms where you might upload your work to determine what style, duration, and format work best.
Step 2: Define your audience
After you’ve settled on your video goals, consider who you’re trying to reach. If you want to grow your customer base, consider creating creative, memorable brand videos that offer viewers a sense of your company and its objective.
If you expect your target audience to be largely mobile users, your video content should be optimised for smaller screens and lower bandwidth requirements.
Step 3: Set a budget
Next, figure out how much money you can spend on every part of your marketing video, from concept and screenplay to hosting and distribution. In addition to the obvious costs of production, performer compensation, and song rights, you may need to budget for social media and video site placement if the videos are part of an advertising campaign. It’s also a good idea to budget for unanticipated costs such as reshoots or additional editing to ensure you’re obtaining the greatest footage.
Step 4: Produce quality content
Make sure you understand how much it costs to film and produce high-quality content. whether you’re employing an outside vendor, acquire multiple estimates and check at their previous work to determine whether it fits your tone, style, budget, and quality requirements. Don’t shortchange filming time or necessary equipment. Even if you’re on a tight budget, try shooting fewer or shorter movies rather than compromising the quality.
Step 5: Plan your release schedule
Naturally, you want everyone to view your explainer films, video commercials, or other digital marketing content as fast as possible. But develop a strategy for when you’ll send or post them. Perhaps you should schedule their release to coincide with an event or promotion. If your explainer videos are about a new product, posting them right before it is released might help build anticipation.
Step 6: Analyses the metrics
After your videos have been released, you can get useful information to aid with your future video marketing efforts. Consider data such as the number of views and the engagement rate—the number of people who responded to a video by clicking on a link or sharing it. If you have multiple videos, evaluate parameters such as video length and CTAs to determine which one was the most effective. Then, when you develop future content, you may employ the components that received the most positive feedback from your audience.
You may also want to consider demographic information and which digital platforms were most successful. Most social media and video platforms have features to assist you collect information and obtain insights. You may also do your own follow-up research with customers or use a focus group to identify which ad types or video content were most effective with viewers. Once you’ve gathered all of this useful information, you can develop future video marketing strategies, plans, and budgets to make your videos as effective as possible.
How to create effective, high-quality videos
Content is at the heart of any video marketing effort. You want your video advertising, personalised videos, and other digital marketing content to be of the finest quality and yield the best results. Here are some points to consider to assist you create the greatest brand story possible while making the most of your video marketing efforts and money.
Consider using an expert
Unfortunately, your considerable experience filming family vacations or pet antics likely does not provide you with the expertise required to produce high-quality videos for your firm. Although many of us have modern smartphone technology in our pockets, professional equipment produces the greatest results.
There are times when you desire a more homemade look, and you may be able to save money by shooting some in-the-moment footage for quick social media updates. However, even for these, it may be wise to hire an expert to ensure that the technical elements are correct before releasing the final product.
Create compelling content
There is a significant need for video material. However, this implies that your product or service is vying for viewers with a large number of other videos. Here are some tips to help make your content more intriguing, shareable, and memorable.
Storytelling
Every amazing video contains a story. In the context of video marketing, this does not necessarily imply something fake or involving a bad person. Rather, it is about conveying your brand’s story or message in an organised and compelling manner.
Consider capturing readers’ attention at the start of the video, getting them invested in your message, and then leaving them with a satisfying ending and a call to action. Your marketing video could feature people who are first-time consumers utilising your service, someone with an issue that your product can solve, or even an engaging and inspiring story about your company’s creation and progress.
There’s a reason why stories have been around for thousands of years: they captivate our attention, make connections, and leave us with a memorable ending that stays with us and compels us to share it with others.
Writing
A strong script is essential for any video. This is particularly crucial if you’re showcasing the characteristics of a new product and want to be brief while yet being educational. However, knowing what you want the film to show will assist ensure that you acquire the proper footage, even if you want it to look like an in-the-moment tour of your manufacturing facility.
Visual appeal
Since video is primarily a visual medium, make sure the style and visual appeal of your work align with the aesthetic of your brand. Additionally, you should record your films at a high enough resolution to display well on a high-definition computer screen.
On-screen talent
You won’t have to worry about who will be on screen if you’re creating an animated explainer film or a series of video advertisements that solely highlight your company’s products. However, most videos have at least one person in them. Content that feels polished can be produced by using a spokesperson, actor, or other professional who is accustomed to being on camera.
Remember that being in front of the camera could be unfamiliar or unsettling for the founder, staff, or clients of your business if you wish to use their film. Give them enough time to unwind and perform multiple takes so you can use the finest one. To assist everyone appear their best and to accommodate the particular lighting and colour requirements of the video, think about employing someone to handle their hair, makeup, or outfit.
Keep an eye on consistency
You should have a consistent brand identity for all of the different kinds of films that you may use in your video marketing campaign. Cohesive components, such as typefaces, colours, and visual design, support reliability and brand identification.
Aside from visual components, establishing a recurring tone for your films will help you differentiate yourself. Make sure that every one of your marketing videos conveys the same message about your company, whether it be through humour, touching nostalgia, or technical knowledge.
Limit the video’s length
Your digital marketing films’ ideal duration will be determined by their intended use. A new product’s demo video will be lengthier than a single client testimonial, which may only be a few seconds long. Additionally, the duration of videos that can be broadcast on certain social media or video platforms is limited. But generally speaking, the greatest strategy to ensure that viewers remain interested and involved is to keep videos brief and to the point.
Don’t rely on audio
Although your video marketing should include quality audio, like as voice-over, music, or dialogue, keep in mind that video is essentially a visual medium. With audio to back up your message, the pictures should enthral your audience and tell the tale.
Call to action (CTA)
Naturally, you want your viewers to enjoy your films, but you’re also creating them to further your marketing objectives. Tell viewers what to do, whether it’s to share a touching film with their friends to increase brand awareness or to encourage them to get in touch with you for more details about an insurance policy!
Your call to action (CTA) could be a direct request to visit a website or call a number, or it could be a link that they can click to share the video on social media. Additionally, you may be requesting that they buy a product or sign up for your company’s newsletter. Whatever you want your audience to do next, make sure it’s obvious and easy.
How to make sure your videos are seen
A portion of the people who watch your videos may be organic traffic, or visitors who find your material on their own without the aid of sponsored advertising. When consumers are searching for pertinent content, make sure your video’s description, content, and other elements are optimised to help it appear at the top of search engine results.
Video title optimization
The title of your video is among the first things viewers will notice when they find it. A clear, attention-grabbing title that appropriately sums up the substance of your marketing film is essential. Keep it brief and consider include keywords that potential customers would use. When titles with more than 60 characters appear in an organic search, they can be truncated or too long to attract attention.
Are you unsure of the best title to use? Use A/B testing to test a few different ones and determine which gets the most clicks. Even yourself can be used as a test subject. Look for videos on topics you’re interested in, or perhaps even videos made by people in your field. Check out the titles that catch your eye and the ones that make you click on them right away.
Description and tags
To assist visitors find your material, make sure your video descriptions are succinct, engaging, and contain pertinent keywords. To reach as many people as you can, you can mix things up by utilising both broad and specific tags. Use both general terms, like bookshop and coffee shop, and more specific ones, like the name of your town or neighbourhood, for instance, if your film is showcasing the new coffee counter at your independent bookshop.
Thumbnails
A thumbnail is a still image that appears before a video starts playing. You have the option to select which image from your video will serve as the thumbnail when you produce and publish video content.
This picture ought to be of excellent quality and pertinent to the video’s subject matter. Usually, a straightforward graphic with readable text and good images works best. Aim for a unified thumbnail style throughout your brand by experimenting with several thumbnail options to determine which ones get the most clicks.
Transcription, subtitles, and translation
Another way to increase the discoverability of your movies is to make them as accessible as possible. You can include audio transcriptions, which aid search engines in comprehending the text and providing users with the information they seek. Additionally, as search engines frequently give multilingual material a higher ranking, adding translations for transcriptions or subtitles makes your information accessible to speakers of other languages as well!
Video marketing trends
Since the early days of black-and-white television commercials, video marketing has advanced significantly, and the technology used to create and deliver video material is always improving. Here are some upcoming developments for a local video platform.
Live videos
You may stream videos live on a lot of services that let you share videos. You can interact with your audience in real time via YouTube Live, Facebook Live, and Instagram Live. They can be invited to a special virtual holiday party for your loyalty program members, a live Q&A session with your company’s founder, or a front-row seat to the debut of a new product.
Brand loyalty is increased by encouraging consumers to watch live events and perhaps even get involved by leaving comments and liking content.
360-degree videos
360-degree films, also referred to as immersive or spherical videos, give viewers a full perspective of the space surrounding the camera, enabling them to explore in any direction. These videos immerse viewers in the action, giving them control over the camera angle and a genuine sense of participation.
Specialised cameras with numerous lenses and post-production editing processes are used to generate 360-degree videos, which offer a completely immersive experience. You can think about using this kind of film to give customers a tour of your production facilities or to showcase a new retail location.
Interactive videos
You don’t have to watch your marketing videos passively. Through choice points, clickable hot spots, and even branching narratives, interactive films allow viewers to actively interact with your information.
In order to keep viewers interested and involved for extended periods of time, they might also incorporate gamification components like scoring and prizes. Videos and other educational materials are especially well-suited for this format. Additionally, you can use social media marketing campaigns’ interactive features, which let viewers click straight from videos of particular products to your e-commerce site’s buy page.
Virtual reality and augmented reality
In the end, a large portion of your video marketing might be fully immersive. An audience can enter a computer-generated environment through virtual reality. Imagine giving your consumers the opportunity to visit a virtual store from any location and experience the products for themselves.
In contrast, digital content is superimposed on the physical environment in alternate reality. With the help of your augmented reality marketing videos, customers could be able to navigate a real-world setting while witnessing the people and locations around them come to life. What would a new paint colour do to the walls in the living room? Visualising the outcome of alternate reality video marketing is simple.
Video is a dynamic and useful tool for developing your brand and increasing sales, whether it’s used as a paid advertisement for your neighbourhood business, a yearly highlight reel of your company’s accomplishments, or a component of your social media marketing. To boost your brand impact right now, choose the best method for you, create a plan, and begin using video marketing.
conclusion
By using the power of visual storytelling, improving SEO, and offering a more engaging way to showcase products and services, a well-executed video marketing strategy can help businesses increase brand awareness, engage with their target audience more deeply, and drive significant growth. This will ultimately lead to increased conversions and customer loyalty across various digital platforms.
