How To Get Started With Video Marketing

Video is an incredibly potent content format. It is largely considered a must-have for a successful digital marketing strategy. Yet, many marketing teams underdeliver when it comes to video marketing. Thus, they don’t get to enjoy the tremendous benefits of video content.

This discussion will explore how to get started with video marketing to ensure that your strategies prosper instead of a flop.

Why Video Marketing?

• If you haven’t come across any of the jaw-dropping stats related to video marketing, consider some of the following:
• YouTube is the second most popular website in the world and users spend billions of hours every week consuming user-made video content.
• Video content integrates easily into Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and any other social media platform.
• Mobile users watch the majority of video content and they are very likely to share videos with friends.
• Consumers are increasingly relying on videos to assist in the purchasing process.
• Businesses that develop video content grow revenue faster than those without.

To recap, video content is voraciously consumed and shared, especially on mobile devices, which leads to better revenue and marketing performance.

Start With A Plan

Given the powerful advantages offered by video content, it’s easy to want to start right away. But, you need to develop a plan first. It will save you a lot of time, money, and stress in the long-term. Plus, if you don’t have a plan in place, it is nearly impossible to track the progress and measure your results!

Your plan should include the basic details:

• When will content be created? With video content, you want to set dates for filming, editing, finalizing and posting.
• Where will content be posted? Are you going to rely solely on YouTube? Or will you post videos to social media accounts instead?
• Who will be responsible for video content creation and marketing? You may decide to hire outside help or find creators to collaborate with.
• What types of videos will you create? There are a wide range of video types, like how-to videos, brand films and others.
• Why are you creating video content? Your video advertising needs to be led by a specific and measurable goal. This will ensure that every piece of content you film and publish helps drive your marketing to the same point.
• How will videos be created and edited? This is an important decision. You can invest in higher quality filming/editing equipment, or rely on what you already have — smartphones can shoot great video content.

When you are able to answer these essential who, what, where, when, why and how questions, it becomes much easier to generate video ideas that are focused on achieving your marketing objectives.

Types Of Video Content

You’ll find yourself answering the “what” question frequently. Coming up with good ideas is at the core of consistently growing your video strategy. There are several types of video content and each one can be used to complete certain objectives.

Brand Films: Your audience wants to get to know you. They want to see what makes your company special beyond its products and logo. What does your company dream about? How does it envision its future? Who are the people that make your company what it is? 

Films that capture the essence of your company will help you grow your brand awareness, while also establishing connections with customers that go much deeper than prices and products.

Educational Videos: This is easily the most popular video type because it encompasses how-to guides, tutorials, general information videos and many others. People like to learn new things, especially in a short amount of time. A quick 2-3 minute video to discuss a complex topic associated with your products or industry can be a great marketing tactic.

For more complex issues, demonstrations ranging between 10 and 20+ minutes can also be impactful.

Product Videos: Customers want to get up-close-and-personal with your products, especially if there isn’t a store available to do so in person. Product videos help bridge this gap, while also providing details about every feature and aspect of the item in ways that even the best salesman can’t match.

If you want your videos to result in direct sales, this is a perfect content type.

Testimonials: Prospective customers that are in the consideration and decision phases are more influenced by testimonials than your best product videos. People that are on the fence about making a purchase want to hear about the experiences that others have had with your brand and its products.

Don’t forget to leverage the powerful voice of your past customers!

Milestone Videos: Long-term customers care about your successes and they want to know when you’ve reached important milestones. Remember, they are a part of this journey too! Milestone videos are a great way to update customers about the latest updates for your company and even offer thanks for their participation.

Tips For Video Marketing Beginners

Here is some closing advice for anyone that is dipping their toe in the video marketing pool for the very first time.

Do what you know: There are infinite ways to approach the same video. Don’t try and do what you think audiences want. Instead, take the angle that is most like you or your company’s personality. If you’re goofy and entertaining, then bring that to your videos. If you prefer to remain instructional and informative, then take that approach.

Listen to comments: When you start creating videos, you’ll receive feedback. This is advice that you should listen to, within reason. Try and make adjustments that suit your audiences. You still won’t be doing what you think the audience wants because you’ll have evidence to back any adjustments to your strategies. No thinking required!

Don’t worry about quality right away: Your first video isn’t going to be perfect. In fact, your first 100 videos are probably going to have issues. But, customers aren’t looking for perfection, they are just looking for engaging content! So, don’t obsess over quality and minor details. The best way to start seeing results from video marketing is by posting videos. Over time, you can refine the quality.

Conclusions

Video marketing opens up a lot of opportunities and it can directly improve your revenue. But, it can be an entirely new environment for marketers. Don’t let the stress of entering a new type of content strategy deter you from the benefits of videos.

The best advice is to start with a plan and then put that plan into action. Don’t worry if your first video doesn’t hold a candle to what your competitors are doing. As your video strategy grows and improves, so will the quality of each video you publish.

Execute your strategy and correct the fine details in the long-term.

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