Video Marketing 101

Everybody is talking about video and audio marketing, but how do you utilize this current trend as a business? Before it’s too late, learn everything you need to know in this guide!

What’s Video Marketing?

First and foremost, people see video marketing as a new idea because of the rise of TikTok, Instagram, and other new forms of social media. However, the history of video marketing spans back longer than these platforms. Starting with TV commercials, the world moved online. This created the rise in videos used in email campaigns, websites, Facebook and other early social media platforms, and more.

Read More: Video Ads on Social Media: TikTok or Snapchat?

Read More: Could Triller or Instagram Reels Dethrone TikTok?

The reason everybody is talking about video marketing now is because of its rise in prominence. Even though video marketing has a long history, it has never been quite so ubiquitous. Businesses are creating videos because consumers are watching them, and this is integral to the whole process.

Before spending money, around half of all buyers online look for videos through YouTube, a product page, or another source. What’s more, nearly three-quarters of all marketers said they have plans to increase video production and marketing.

In this guide, we’re focusing on the marketing side of the process as opposed to production (since this is where most people go wrong!). Making and producing a video is easy enough, but choosing the right type of video, advertising, and meeting the needs of the audience is another challenge entirely.

Read More: The 12 Best Video Editing Apps for 2019

Benefits of Implementing Video Marketing

Firstly, you need to know why you should invest your money into this type of marketing. Here are a handful of compelling reasons:

• Businesses can experience a boost of up to 80% to conversion rates with a video on landing pages
• Year-on-year growth is nearly 50% higher for brands using video
• Marketers believe that video has the highest ROI of all content forms

Businesses need to implement some form of video into their marketing strategy because customers are looking for it. As we’ve already seen, a significant number of customers look for videos of products before spending money online. Videos allow customers to get a look behind the scenes and build a closer relationship with the brand.

The Basics of a Video Marketing Plan

How do you get started with video marketing? Don’t worry, you’re in great hands because we’re going to take you through a basic plan!

Step 1 — Identify Your Audience

You’re probably tired of hearing it, but you can’t do anything in marketing without understanding your audience. Where possible, create a buyer persona to target with all subsequent video content.

Who are you creating video content for? What are they like? What do they need? What are their pain points? How much money do they have? What are their interests and hobbies? The more you know, the easier it becomes to shape content towards them.

Step 2 — Create Goals

With the audience in mind, decide what you want to achieve from video marketing. While some people aim for engagement and exposure, others want to boost their followers on specific platforms. Other goals could be to get clicks, leads, sales, and revenue.

Step 3 — Set a Budget

With content, the main expense is normally the time it takes to make a video or write an article. However, the problem with video marketing is that it’s easy to get caught up spending days and days on just one video. You need to remember that time is an expense and videos should be made with efficiency — find the balance between quality and investment.

Types of Videos Content

If you’re like most, you probably got excited to start making videos, bought lots of equipment, and now have no idea where to start. You feel exposed in front of the camera and are nervous about sending videos out to followers. To start, decide what type of content you wish to produce. The following will add value to a video marketing strategy:

Testimonials

We know that people online listen to the views and opinions of others (even if subconsciously!). One Amazon product has 1,500 reviews and another has 27 reviews — most people won’t even see the second product. Social proof is strong, and consumers like to hear the stories of previous customers. If anybody can convince them to dig into their pockets, prior customers can.

Testimonials should address the individual’s original pain points, their experience with your product or service, how they found your company, and more.

Webinars

Some companies like to add value to their audience through webinars — while some go live, others pre-record and show their knowledge on a specific topic. For example, the video could show your product in detail or help consumers with a common problem in the niche.

Product Demonstrations

We’ve just touched on it, but a demonstration/tutorial is a great way to show your product in action. In the video customers can see the value your product brings and why they should spend their own money. In these videos, explain why your product is different (and better!) than those from competitors. Also be sure to answer common questions and keep the audience entertained for the best results.

Other types of video content include:

• Interviews with leading industry figures (or between employees in your business)
• Opinions and commentaries on industry news
• Promotional videos
• Behind the scenes at conferences and events
• Q&As

Videos are now everywhere online, and the video you produce depends on its placement and purpose. For example, you might need an introduction video for your homepage, a video ad, or another type.

Promoting a Video

Often, in video marketing 101 guides, we find that very few discuss the actual marketing side of things. Don’t worry, we have you covered.. here are some of the core components of marketing videos:

Consider the Video’s Home

Where will the video live? It’s pointless to produce a video without considering its purpose. While some videos are for ad campaigns, others are for websites, YouTube channels, blog posts, social media pages, or product pages on Amazon. When posting videos to YouTube, where do you want the consumer to go next? Do you want them to find other videos on your channel or to click through to your website? Sometimes, it’s better to have the video on the website because the consumer is already in the right place to purchase products/services.

Remember SEO

Just because you’re now making videos, doesn’t mean you can escape SEO (sorry!). While search engines can easily read articles and words, it’s harder for them to read videos. Therefore, you have a responsibility to make it easier for them. Consider the title, raw file name, tags, meta description, video URL, and even the transcription. We also recommend paying attention to the thumbnail, sitemap, and rich snippet.

Optimize all of these aspects for SEO and the right people find your video. Why make the search engine guess the content of the video when you can make it clear?

Read More: Title Tags: What Are They and How Do They Help Your SEO?

Placement

Websites with video get more clicks, more engagement, and more interest. Here are some general tips for placement on a website:

• Choose between playing on the page or a lightbox — there are pros and cons to both. With a lightbox, this becomes the focal point of the page and it grabs the attention of the viewer. On the other hand, it causes issues for sitemaps and mobile users.
• Always choose a position above the fold so that it grabs the visitor’s attention before they even move the page.
• Select a large play button but never start the video automatically (this frustrates users and they’re more likely to click away than watch the video!).
• Keep it easy for viewers to share the video if they like what they see.

Promote and Analyze

Once a video is live, you have two jobs left — promote and analyze. Don’t be afraid to share around social media, embed the video on your website and blog posts, and encourage sharing. Sharing a video is a strong way to get more views, but getting others to share is even more effective.

Thankfully, we have access to endless streams of analytics these days. Regardless of where you upload, use the appropriate analytics tool and review performance. Over time, you’ll get a picture of the best-performing content types, platforms, and even upload days/times. Are people clicking away after 20 seconds? Do people share one content type more than any other? The more you analyze, the better your videos become.

Conclusion

We hope you feel more confident after reading Video Marketing 101. When creating videos, remember to hook and excite viewers, go simple, include a CTA, and ask questions. When marketing videos, follow the advice in this guide. Good luck and have fun (don’t be nervous — videos are the same as articles, just with you talking instead of writing!).