Beginner's Guide to Video Marketing
Everyone is creating videos, sharing videos and most importantly, watching videos. From teens on TikTok to brands creating multi-million dollar video advertisements, video is truly everywhere and an incredibly powerful medium for business communication.
In this blog post, you will discover how to get started with video marketing at the beginner's level, from developing a strategy and deciding what video types to produce to distributing and optimising your video content online.
First things first, what is video marketing and why is video marketing effective?
Video marketing is a digital strategy that leverages the power of video to attract, engage and convert an audience into prospects or customers. It is incredibly versatile and can be used in various ways, including promoting an event, product or service, showcasing customer testimonials and elevating social strategies to the next level. And, its success is proven! According to industry experts, around 80% of video marketers claim that video has directly helped to increase sales.
Sounds good right? Here are the steps you need to get started…
Step 1: Fine-tune your video marketing strategy
One of the best ways to start thinking about video marketing is to simply begin creating video content. However, it’s also critical to consider the wider strategy driving your use of video, so you can think in terms of business goals and deliver certain expectations to your customers.
The videos that you create will depend entirely on your video marketing strategy, which is why your strategy should always address the following questions:
- What are your main goals for video marketing and how will these develop over time?
- Who is your target audience?
- What type of video content is most likely to engage this audience and fit with your brand?
- What is your video marketing budget?
- How will you measure the overall performance?
The answers to all of these questions will vary from organisation to organisation, based on your individual business goals and the types of services you offer within your target market.
To show the real value of video marketing for your organisation, aim to set goals for your video initiatives that indicate how video contributes to your company’s wider strategy and key performance indicators.
Step 2: Decide how to distribute your video content
When it comes to popular online video distribution channels, you can’t go wrong with your own website, but it’s far from your only choice. Popular places to use video include:
- Sales assets
- Press releases
- YouTube
- Social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
You may have the power to use all of the above channels, but remember your chosen distribution channel should always be guided by your target audience. Uploading videos to a channel that your target audience doesn't visit regularly makes your efforts futile. You wouldn’t use somebody’s work email to promote a video about a potential new skincare product now, would you? Ensure that you do your research and are as selective as possible at this stage.
Step 3: Match the type of video content you create to your distribution channel
Every type of video serves a different purpose and is suited to a different distribution channel. This is why matching the kind of videos you create with your distribution channel is indispensable to the success of your video content. After all, you wouldn’t choose to create longer explainer videos if your desired distribution channel was TikTok, for example.
When it comes to video types, there are lots to choose from and various video styles that you can create within each, making for nearly endless combinations.
Brief and attention-grabbing videos:
- Advertisements
- Product / event videos
- Social content videos
Longer and more informative videos:
- Explainer videos
- Case study or customer testimonial videos
- Thought-leadership videos
- Live and pre-recorded webinars
- Vlog-style videos
And then there are the video styles:
- Mini-documentary
- Animation
- 360-degree (immersive) video
- Livestreaming video
- Text-overlay video
- Narration
Every type and style of video has its pros and cons. Some videos will be better suited to your target audience than others, but the video type you choose will also depend on your budget, specific marketing goals and business values. It’s all about finding the right video type and style to suit your business and your target audience.
Step 4: Prepare, produce and edit videos that will impress
Once you have decided the nitty-gritty details of who, what, where and when, it’s time to get creative and start producing your video content. The videos you produce should be created with your target audience in mind and aim to be as engaging as possible, a lot of which is down to the production process.
Successful video content takes time and forward planning to get right. In order to avoid mistakes and over-running on time and budget, try splitting your production process into three key areas:
- Pre-production: This includes concept ideation, scripting and storyboarding to develop clear and dynamic processes for your video team to work with. This step will allow for more efficient use of your team’s time and resources and ensures that your intended message is accurately conveyed throughout your video.
- Production: Pre-planning is critical in the production stage as your video quickly comes to life. Ensure that your videographers have the right equipment for video production and are entirely briefed on the plan for your video, and know it well. Create a time scale and make sure to approve your shots as you go along. If you’re hiring a video agency, don’t be afraid to get involved. The quality of shots you take in production will affect the final outcome, so make them count.
- Post-production: Once any required footage has been shot or sourced, let the video editors, animators and sound engineers add the magic. Ensure that any editing features are well suited to your distribution channel and target audience, and identify strongly with your brand identity. Try to familiarise yourself with every phase of this process to guarantee the best and most effective final product possible.
Need help with end-to-end video production? Read more about our video production services here.
Step 5: Optimise your video for search
Google increasingly includes videos in search results, even when searches do not explicitly request videos. And, when videos appear in the main results, they tend to sit near the top of the page.
It only stands to reason that having video content increases your chances of appearing high on the search engine results pages. To stay on top of the game, videos must now be part of the equation when thinking about SEO for your website.
Your video marketing strategy should always include planning on how to optimise your videos in search rankings using video analytics. This way, the video content that you create will attract more traffic and receive a greater return on investment.
Need help with your video SEO strategy? Request an SEO audit here.
Final tips and tricks
So, there it is, our beginner's guide to marketing. You’re now ready to dominate the world of video and reap the benefits of video marketing for yourself.
To round off this guide, here are our ultimate dos and don't for video marketing:
Don’t make your videos too long
We live in a ‘scroll culture’ where human attention spans are short and the competition for consumption is fierce. Keep your videos as short and snappy as possible to retain your viewers' attention.
Don’t make it too ‘salesy’
Appearing too generic and ‘salesy’ will discourage your viewers and make them think that their issues and challenges are not being listened to.
Do include CTA’s
Be clear with your audience and make it known what the next steps are. Don’t leave your audience unable to convert after watching your video. The more information they receive during the video the more likely a viewer will move further along the sales funnel.
Do be consistent
Your video content should always resonate with your brand image and values. Whether you're sharing video content for the first time, or developing a long-term video campaign, try to be consistent so not to confuse your audience.
Video Marketing Webinar
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