Video Marketing strategies to help grow your business

 Video marketing was once seen as an optional extra for businesses. Now, it’s viewed as essential. Over the last few years, the changes have been profound, with companies developing their approach to marketing as consumer behaviours and expectations have evolved.

Consumers now increasingly expect to see video content from brands, whether they’re large or small. With social media becoming a predominantly video-based medium, and with the widespread adoption of handheld devices, video has never been more crucial.

While this opens up a range of possibilities for companies it also means that there is intense competition to get noticed. In order to succeed, brands need to develop their strategy.

HOW DO BUSINESSES USE VIDEO MARKETING?

Video is an adaptable medium with a number of ways in which it is being used by businesses. Here are some of the most common and effective ways in which businesses use video to help get their message across, build their brand and grow:

Advertising

With social media and the explosion in TV channels, it’s never been more affordable for businesses to advertise using video. Technology has made it possible for businesses with smaller budgets to create video advertising that looks as slick and professional as the large brands.

Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials are a great way to show how your products and services are making a positive impact. Find your most satisfied and loyal customers and let them talk about what your brand delivered for them. Customer testimonials drive conversions and help seal the deal with people who are considering your products.

How-To Videos

Sometimes known as tutorial or instructional videos, How-To Videos give customers valuable information about your products or help with a problem they may be encountering. It gives them valuable information that they can turn to when needed and helps to establish your trust and credibility.

Demo Video

A demo video gives would-be customers a look at your product, service or location in action. It lets them take a sneak peek at your products or your store without leaving their home. It can be a great way to familiarise a growing social media audience with what you do.

Product Reviews

Product reviews provide customers with information and perspective about your products. You can team up with content creators or experts in your field who have used your product and like it for an honest review. Increasingly, people turn to influencers and other people online to help inform their consumer choices.

Explainer Videos

As with a demonstration video, an explainer video showcases the product or service. The key difference is that rather than showing how the product works, it focuses on the value it can provide to customers. They break down the complexity of the product and highlight its unique value in a succinct and engaging way.

Interview Videos

Interview Videos are a conversation between two people. They may talk about the product or service, or the brand and business in general. Often, CEOs will be interviewed outlining future plans, or it might be an influencer interviewing someone in the company about the product or vision for the brand. This particularly works well with younger or insurgent brands who want to make an impact.

Training Videos

Training or tutorial videos go a step further than How-To videos. They provide a more detailed guide to specific products, helping to improve the user’s skills. They may use footage of real people to create a connection between the instructor and the user. Training videos help customers enjoy the optimal use of their products. Added extras such as training videos can help support your brand and build customer loyalty.

Personal Message Videos

If you feel passionate about your brand, your values and what you’re trying to achieve, then a personal message video can be a great way to communicate and connect. Personal message videos make a direct connection with your customers and a wider target audience.

Behind The Scenes Videos

Behind-the-scenes videos give your target audience a unique glimpse into your business. They can showcase members of staff, the production methods used, or some other aspect of your work. Many insurgent brands, particularly in areas such as clothing, have used behind-the-scenes videos effectively to create a sense of community and inclusion.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF VIDEO MARKETING?

Increasing numbers of businesses are using video in order to engage their audience. What was once the preserve of larger companies is rapidly becoming a key part of any marketing campaign.

As technology has driven down the cost of making and disseminating videos, a trickle of companies choosing to use video is rapidly becoming a flood. In fact, there’s never been a more important time to get started with video.

The benefits of doing so are compelling and here are just a few of them:

Video drives conversions

Video is an investment. According to research conducted by HubSpot when a video is incorporated into a landing page, it can increase conversions by 80%. An effective video has an extraordinary impact on customer behaviour.

Video keeps people engaged

When a website or a social media feed contains video people spend longer on it. This increases the chances of them exploring further and engaging with your other content. Video helps to provoke interest and attention.

Search engines like video

Search engines are growing increasingly selective in the websites they return. They are continually looking for content that engages viewers and one indicator of this is the time spent on a website. As video encourages visitors to remain on your site or social media feed for longer, it increases the chances of your content featuring at the top of search engine results.

After Google, the second most used search engine is YouTube. So if you place your videos on YouTube as well as your site, and also share them on social media it can have a dramatic impact on your search engine performance.

Video establishes credibility and builds trust

If you’re looking to establish credibility in your field, then nothing does it better than video. It allows you to connect with your audience and earn their trust. People find videos helpful when they’re making a purchase decision as it reassures them about your authenticity. When you create videos that support your product it helps to build a strong foundation of trust that can translate into sales.

Video adds value to your brand at the same time as it reassures your customers that you are providing a reliable and knowledgeable service.

Video encourages social media shares

Video is a critical part of the social media experience. When you make short, snappy and engaging videos that arouse interest and emotion they are much more likely to be shared.

Get it right and your video could ultimately go viral, delivering huge benefits to you and your company.  

The more engaging content you have the more likely this is to happen. Video can take on a life of its own on social media.

WHAT IS A VIDEO MARKETING STRATEGY?

Your video marketing strategy outlines and shapes how you will use video effectively to get your message across. Creating engaging video content is important, but if you have no idea about who it’s aimed at and how it will be delivered, then you might fail to enjoy the returns you imagined you would.

Your video marketing strategy should be developed prior to creating your video content. It will begin with an understanding of your target audience and what they might expect from video content. This will, in turn, shape the kind of video content that you create, and influence your decision about where the video content will be shared.

HOW DO YOU MAKE A MARKETING VIDEO STRATEGY?

A video marketing strategy will usually contain a number of key steps:

●      Get to know your audience

You may think you understand your customers, but often our own perceptions miss the mark. Before you begin thinking about creating video content you need to develop a thorough understanding of your audience and their expectations.

What type of content do they look for and what channels are they most likely to use?

It’s crucial to spend some time gathering consumer insights.

●      Set your campaign goals

What do you hope to achieve in your video marketing campaign?

It might be that you want to launch a new product or service, sales or website traffic. Perhaps it’s a combination of all three. Maybe you want to create greater customer loyalty and stronger brand identity.

It’s important to think through what you hope to achieve before you start creating your video content.  Your goals, as well as your audience expectations, will help to shape the kind of videos you intend to produce and the amount of money that you’ll spend creating them.

●      Have a realistic budget

Your budget needs to be realistic and should take into account your goals. Cutting corners can be counterproductive meaning that your content fails to hit the target. If your budget is limited you may need to scale back some of your goals and create more focused content.

When you work with a video production company they can help you maximise your budget ensuring that whatever you create delivers results.

●      Stay on brand

When you’ve worked out what you want to achieve and ensured that it aligns with the expectations of your audience, you can then create your video content. Working with a professional video creation company you can benefit from their knowledge and experience. They will be able to work through your ideas, think creatively and then turn ideas into video content that delivers.

It’s important that your video content remains on-brand throughout and that your message remains consistent. Contradictions in content across different channels can be confusing for your audience and send out mixed messages.

●      Optimise your video content for each channel

Each video should be optimised for its intended channel. For instance, an introductory video used as part of a Facebook marketing campaign, will be considerably shorter than a how-to guide on YouTube. Think about what you hope to achieve with each video and the demands of the channel where it’s to be shared.

●      Measure its success

Any video marketing strategy will contain a number of metrics by which the success of your video content can be measured.

Is it meeting its target and helping you achieve your goals?

How many times is your content being shared, and what is the conversion rate?

Are you getting more enquiries, engagement and sign-ups?

Are people asking specific questions about your product and what’s the feedback like on social media?

If some content isn’t delivering then this can be removed and replaced with more targeted and focused material.

A video marketing strategy helps to ensure that your video content is well-thought-out and targeted at the expectations and desires of your customer base. This helps to ensure that your video is engaging and effective.

EIGHT ENGINES CREATE VIDEO CONTENT THAT DELIVERS RESULTS

Wherever you are in your video marketing strategy, or even if you’re considering using video for the first time, Eight Engines can help. We make professional video content achievable for companies of all sizes and have a proven track record of delivering results.

Our marketing video service helps you tell your story in a truly bold way. Contact us today to find out more about how we work.