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Video marketing can be described as the process of using video to raise awareness, create engagement, and attract sales to your brand or business. Video marketing is part of digital marketing.
Video marketing has become a widespread skill, and it is now a must-have skill for businesses, brands, and marketers. Video marketing became mainstream at the beginning of the last decade {2010}. However, it was about four years later that video marketing became accessible to people on smaller budgets.
Now, video marketing is attainable for every business. This is because there are various online tools known as video makers and social media.
Before, the cost was one of the key things which prevented access to video marketing. Nowadays, there are chances of making and creating a studio-quality video online in 15 minutes without needing any creative skills or a huge budget.
Another major factor that has fueled the upsurge of video marketing is its demand on social media.
With social media, there have been discoveries that video gains more engagement compared to text and image-based posts.
Why do Do Businesses need to market with the video?
The web is filled with various video marketing statistics. All these statistics say the same thing, which is- video is the future of marketing.
- The software company Hubspot discovered that 78% of people view videos online every week, and 54% watch videos every day.
- Research conducted by Google shows that 6 out of 10 individuals prefer to watch online videos compared to watching television.
- On YouTube, statistics show that users view more than 1 billion hours of video every day on the platform.
To catch up with this growing demand, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have become “video first” and made new video-friendly placements like “live” broadcasting and “stories.” Simultaneously, the demand for video-based platforms like Snapchat, Youtube, and Tik Tok has expanded and become predominant in online video consumption.
In total, developments like this mean that video is now simple to create than ever, and it is also more common to watch than ever. Also, it has been discovered that people actually watch video marketing.
Hubspot discovered that 72% of its customers prefer to learn about a product or service through video.
The software company also discovered that close to 50% of internet users search for clips relating to a product or service before going to a store.
Another software company, Unbound, discovered that a video on a business landing page could boost your site conversion rate up to 80%.
These statistics prove that video marketing is important and valued by contemporary consumers. Videos also help your business to rank better on Google.
In addition to this, the video also gives your business or product more exposure, a result which has to do with the size and contrasting nature of video previews.
The digital agency Insivia states that a website is 53 times more likely to get to the front page if a video is included in it.
A Facebook executive stated that Facebook would be an entire video platform and no text by 2021.
Cisco, the networking hardware company, mentioned that by 2022, online videos would make up more than 82% of all internet consumer internet traffic- which is 15 times higher than it was five years ago.
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Video Marketing Goals and Targets
One of the first steps of any video campaign is to decide on the area of your goals and targets. The best way to define the importance of any video marketing is by defining its place in what is known as the marketing funnel.
The first thing at the top of the funnel is Awareness. The process of introducing your brand or business to more people in order to start a long-term marketing relationship is known as awareness. It is very good if you have a high value on sales or contracts.
Awareness videos are very crucial in growing the audience for your brand or business. Making an awareness video means setting the targets which are related to the discovery of your brand and not sales.
The next thing on the funnel is Consideration. If you want to increase the relationship with prospects and create interest, this style of video use in doing this is referred to as “consideration” content. This style of video is worthy if you want to establish a relationship that isn’t based on discount prices.
Consideration video works best based on the area of expertise and will assist if you are an expert in your field. Consideration video is also very useful in growing and gaining subscribers on YouTube and followers on other channels. Some of the essential metrics while making a consideration video is click-through rate and followed view length.
The Click-through rate reveals how many people were engaged enough to switch from your brand’s video to your website or other content. Also, as a secondary metric, view length assists in validating the level of engagement of your viewers.
Lastly, at the bottom of the funnel is Conversion. Conversion is the pointy end of the marketing funnel, and this is when relationship-building usually pays off. In a situation whereby you’re just meeting your customer for the first time, sharp prices or unique selling points are very helpful here.
For conversion videos, the essential metric is sales. Another crucial metric is keeping an eye on the click-through rate. If people are clicking and not buying, you may have a disconnect between your brand or business marketing and your actual product.
Defining Your Audience
Defining your brand or business target audience helps you to understand who you’re talking to and what they’re interested in.
One of the ways to address this is to make single or multiple personas of your ideal customer. An ideal customer can be described as a customer who is the best fit for your product.
An ideal customer is also the kind of individual that will get the most benefit out of your brand’s product or service. There are ways you can identify an ideal customer, and you can search through any data you have on customers and identify patterns. Things like age, location, and gender are some of the easiest things to gather.
Planning your Brand or Business Approach
To be successful with video marketing, it is advisable to have an organized approach and make use of the right tools. An easy-to-use video maker, social media calendar, and right scheduler are some of the things that will help in managing your workload.
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Types of Marketing Videos
The following are types of videos that will help you and inform your brand or business evolving strategy
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are one of the huge categories of online video content. Explainer videos are used to describe and explain anything and everything, this type of video can be used to explain how your brand’s or business service or product works. It can also be used to explain a concept and how to do something.
The main aim of most explainers about a business or service is conversion. Explainer videos are sometimes embedded in a landing or homepage, or they can be emailed to customers. This type of video can also be on social media.
The type of explainers that relate to how to do things are frequently created and are used in between marketing funnel. These types of explainers are suitable to be posted on social media, inserted in blogs, and also distributed in newsletters.
Ads and Promo Videos
Video ads come in different forms and are most utilized at the beginning and at the end of the marketing funnel, at the ‘awareness and ‘consideration’ stages. Video ads are highly targeted, and in most cases, these videos talk straight about a brand, commerce, product including service.
A video ad will mostly share a brand’s visions, values, or origin story to gain interest at the ‘awareness stage.’
While at the ‘conversion’ stage, an effective video ad will have clarity about your brand’s value proposition and will include a strong call-to-action, for example, ‘Shop now’ or ‘Contact us to make an appointment.’
Some common sub-types of video ads are usually something like ‘sales with discounts’ with ‘social influence and testimonials.’
Social proof and testimonials
This type of video leverages your brand’s or business’s existing customer base to prove that your brand is trustworthy. Social proof and testimonials videos are mostly placed in the middle and bottom of the marketing funnel aimed at either ‘consideration’ or ‘conversion.’
The best thing to do is to include your social proof video with the number of customers, awards, and other business successes, which shows your commerce or brand is trustworthy.
In your testimonials, it is best to use a selfie view clip from customers, or you can make their text testimonials into a video. All that matter is that these testimonials are believable and relatable for your target audience.
Social proof and testimonials are best suitable for landing pages and social media.
Listicle and editorial videos
Listicle and editorial videos are categorized into the end of content marketing or video marketing. This type of video is aimed at engaging viewers with information that is current.
Editorial videos normally explain a concept, including teasing a huge piece of content, and it can be a blog post or a full-length video. A listicle, on the other hand, is almost the same thing as an editorial, but it presents editorial content in a list.
Listicles and editorials are generally located in between the marketing funnel at the stage known as ‘consideration.’
The videos assist in building a bond and also give your brand a better definition.
Editorial contents can be test-run in the newsfeed on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Infographics
Infographics are usually subcategorized on the editorial content on social media. Infographic is located in ‘consideration’ in between the marketing funnel.
Infographics are a tremendous way to show that your brand is an expert in your specialization.
Sales Videos
The aim of a sale video is located anywhere in the marketing funnel, and it can be in ‘awareness or ‘conversion.’
Sales videos come in the form of explainer videos. It is, most time, a melange of different video types. Also, sales videos are normally not longer compared to the other types of video marketing, which leaves space for infographics, social proof, and testimonials, including explainer videos.
Awareness type of sale videos is made with first-person content showing a team member helped in creating a bond, while ‘Conversion’ content contains well-convinced animated text and good-looking infographics, with footage of what your brand is selling.
Budget Video Content Creation Equipment
Equipment needed for Video Production
As a brand of business that makes use of video marketing, and if you happen to be producing your own video by yourself, you need to get equipment like a camera, lighting, and microphone.
However, it is possible to shoot quality videos at home without spending much.
Camera
A camera is a very crucial piece of equipment that you need in shooting high-quality footage, and it is even very much helpful if you have an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S. If you want to use your smartphone as a camera, you will need to consider using a third-party application which gives you modern control when it comes to over exposure and white balance. This creates more consistency and gives your video the professional touch it needs.
While shooting on a smartphone has several limits, and if you are shooting every now and then, getting a real camera establishes a granular control.
A webcam recorder
In the absence of a smartphone or camera, shooting with a webcam is another option to consider. Some webcams can give you the quality that high-level smartphones and lower-spec cameras possess. However, a webcam is a considerate option if you just began shooting videos or if you have a small budget.
When using a webcam, most time, you have to keep in mind that the webcam doesn’t have built-in storage. This is why there are very affordable. With this, it’s wise to install software on your computer which will record the stream coming from the webcam.
Lighting
While lighting has, over time, been underestimated. Because one can see clearly with the eye doesn’t translate to it looking crisp during filming. Solid lighting helps to illuminate the face during shooting from different angles, which gives a natural look with depth.
To get the best lighting during shooting, it is advisable to settle with a two or three-point lighting rig to rely on natural light. With this, there’s consistency in between shots, and it also saves you from being dependent on natural lighting.
If you happen to be setting up a studio for the first time, there are a lot of options when it comes to finding the right type of rig for perfect lighting.
Microphone
With the perfect camera and lighting, what comes next is a microphone. The right type of microphone records your voice clearly, and the wrong kind of camera muffles up your audio. Almost all smartphones and cameras come with built-in microphones. However, it is advisable not to rely on the built-in microphones because, most of the time, there are of poor quality.
A standalone camera is the best option because it gives you control over sound direction, which is ideal since you only want to record your voice during shooting.
In-built microphones are very directional and attract noise from all directions.
Budget Video Content Creation Equipment
Some topics to cover in your Video Marketing
To choose a suitable topic to cover in your marketing videos, you have to bear in mind that the chance of success of your video marketing depends on your audience’s interest. Here are some helpful tips for finding the right kind of topics to cover in your video marketing
- By asking your personas the kind of videos they are interested in watching
One of the ways you can develop content ideas to having conversations with your brand’s target personas imaginatively. Try to figure out what these personas are into, what they are interested in learning about, or what they wish to be informed about. Next, try and discover a fresh eye within your production budget.
- By searching for popular video topics used by competitors
Secondly, your brand or business can look at what competitors are doing. How do you do this?- By spending time surfing their websites and social channels to have a glimpse of what they are offering.
Search for trends in your competitor’s video content. There is a huge chance that you will see the same topics over and over again. This allows you to pick and make use of the same topic or by creating something entirely different.
- By getting videos ideas with SEO keyword research
Keyword research is an intelligent way to address a topic idea. It informs you of the type of topic certain people have an interest in and the level of their interest.
To be successful with this, there is a huge selection of SEO tools to pick from. You can spy on your competitors; to do this, you can try using search engine optimization like Ahrefs or SEMRush. Tools like this make you see the specific keywords/topics that are at the forefront of boosting traffic on your competitor’s site.
Search engine optimization research tools are very good for gaining alternative high-volume variations of the keywords that your competitors are using on YouTube or Google. With this, you can conclude on the most common topics to cover in your video marketing and the most effective titles for discovery by search.
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