All too often in the marketing world, there are countless phases and fads that seem to suddenly appear, as if from nowhere. And then just as soon as they have appeared, they are gone again. As a business owner who is looking to get maximum results from their marketing activities, it can become difficult to know which “latest trend” is worth seriously considering and investing your time and precious dollars in and which will soon become yesterday’s news.
One such “marketing trend” that seems to have now cemented its place as a necessary part of any successful marketing strategy, is video marketing. On the whole, video marketing has continued to go from strength to strength in recent years and that growth is only expected to continue.
What exactly is video marketing?
In its simplest form, the title says it all. Video marketing is the concept of using video or moving images, to market your brand or products to an intended audience. And it is proving to be a highly effective concept at that!
It really is hard to miss the rise and rise of video marketing in our everyday lives. You may not necessarily have consciously noticed it, but without even thinking about it you are likely to be watching countless videos each day. Whether it’s on YouTube, in your Facebook or Instagram feed, via a good old Google search or on a website. Video has become a standard part of our online experience. The mere fact that it has seamlessly infiltrated our day-to-day, speaks volumes to its effectiveness.
Any time that a brand or business is using a video to communicate with its audience, that’s video marketing. The purpose and content of those videos can range from informative how-to videos and product demonstrations to emotional and engaging stories and fun and entertaining content.
While there are some guidelines that can help with creating optimal video marketing content, there are no real rules about what it must have, or do, or be. What is successful for one brand or product will very likely not be for the next. And so, it is important to track the effectiveness of your various video marketing efforts in order to be able to direct future efforts and strategies in the right direction.
What can video marketing do for my business?
Perhaps the biggest benefit of video marketing to businesses is how easy it is to generate extremely captive and engaging content. Consumers much prefer to watch a short video as it means they don’t have to work hard to process and interpret what is being presented to them. If you look at the effectiveness of a single image or picture versus a short video, the results on organic reach and subsequent consumer engagement are astounding.
Because of growing consumer willingness to engage with this particular medium, with video marketing, you can get your brand and message in front of more people and generate higher levels of customer interaction. You can see real-time results and actions/reactions for your campaigns through social media comments and shares, increased traffic to your social pages or websites, and of course increased enquiries, leads, and sales. Which business would not want that?!
You should look to use video marketing to raise brand awareness, educate and inform your audience and build meaningful connections with prospective and current customers. By implementing an effective video marketing campaign in your business, you can be sure that you are keeping your brand and profile competitive and relevant in the current marketplace. Video marketing also presents a great opportunity to really set yourself apart from the crowd, when compared to other content marketing initiatives.
Tips for optimising your video marketing strategy
We’ve looked at what video marketing is and established that there are definitely lots of benefits to having it as part of your marketing arsenal. So now it’s time to start thinking about making the video. What are the important things to consider and what should be included in your video marketing content?
- Make a connection/tell a story: perhaps one of the reasons that video marketing has been so successful is that it makes it very easy to quickly develop a very strong connection with your audience. Use your video to tell an engaging story that relates to your brand or product, as opposed to mundanely delivering information. Have the branding and product focus as secondary to the story.
- Be authentic: In telling your story, be sure to keep your video authentic so as to continue to build on the connection and not to alienate the viewer. This can include the production values as well as the actual subject matter and content that is being delivered. Demonstrating authenticity and genuineness has much more effective cut-through and resonance with viewers rather than over-produced and highly technical pieces of cinematography.
- One thing at a time: As with most marketing strategies, keeping the message clear and simple is usually the best approach and this applies to video marketing too. Don’t overcomplicate things or try to add too much content.
- Watch the length: Shorter videos generally have better conversion rates. Be mindful of who your audience is, and the relative attention spans they might have or average length of videos that they tend to engage with, as well as the optimal video length for the platform that you are intending to share it on.
- Don’t forget a call to action: You’ve spent some time and effort in curating your video to have just the right impact. Whilst you don’t want to jam your brand or product down your viewer’s throat (or eye socket!) it is important to include a call to action at the end to gently prompt the engaged viewer to take the intended next step.
- Go to the right place/s: Find out where your target audience likes to hang out online and watch their videos and get your video in front of them. It might take some trial and error to find the right platforms and avenues for your videos. Just because YouTube and Facebook are the popular giants in this space, doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right fit for each and every product and video.
As a business owner in the present day, it is more important than ever to keep up with the ever-changing and emerging marketing and social media landscape. The robustness and proven success to date of video marketing in all its forms is a strong testament to its benefits and capabilities.
Contact us at Clarity Marketing and Communication to discuss developing a successful and effective video marketing strategy for your business.