If you’re looking for a video marketing guide, you’re not alone. 79% of video marketers who aren’t using video content plan to build a video strategy in 2022. And 99% of those who already use video are planning to use it more.
There’s no strategy like video marketing for educating, generating leads, and converting customers.
Brands need a video marketing strategy — this idea isn’t new. What has changed is how important video has become on every platform and channel. So what do you think you know about video marketing, and what do you want to learn?
Video production is more cost-effective and easier to accomplish than ever. Today you can shoot in high-quality, 4K video, even with your smartphone.
But between strategy, equipment, and editing software, video marketing is still pretty complicated. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about video marketing strategy or use the links below to jump to a specific section.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is using videos to promote and market your product or service, increase engagement on your digital and social channels, educate your consumers and customers, and reach your audience with a new medium.
How to Create a Video Marketing Strategy
1. Choose your target audience and find out where they spend their time.
The popularity of video and user-generated video content means that you need to target a specific audience with each video. If you don’t already have strong buyer personas, start creating them now. If you already have a set of buyer personas, make sure to update your personas to include the most recent video research.
2. Connect with stakeholders to align on a plan for the video.
There are typically a lot of players when making a video. How can you ensure they’re all aligned?
Create a questionnaire using Google Forms or SurveyMonkey and pass it along to the stakeholders of the project. This way, you can ask the same questions of everyone and keep their responses in one place.
At this stage, it’s important to agree on a clear set of goals. Is your video marketing to increase brand awareness? Sell more event tickets? Launch a new product? What do you want your audience to do after watching the video?
3. Set a timeline and budget for your video.
Think of video as a shorter, quicker, and less expensive version of your favorite film. While a video needs fewer resources to succeed, it can still be a time-consuming and expensive process. You can save time and money with planning and project management.
Create a clear timeline for every step of the process and plan for occasional delays. Even a small video production relies on the skills of many different people. So, you want to make sure that even with unexpected challenges and changes you can still deliver your video on time.
Before you start making your video, think about where you’re going to broadcast it. YouTube SEO is becoming as important as website SEO. source Think about what people on that platform are looking for. You’ll also want to consider:
While videos are often used for advertising, a video doesn’t just promote itself. Some platforms have built-in vehicles for promotion, while others will need you to put in some time and effort to get more eyes on your video content. This list of video platforms can help you decide what platform is best for your video campaign.
5. Develop messaging and choose the right types of video for your personas.
It’s important to communicate a message with your videos. If you’re not sure where to start, use one of these examples of marketing videos to inspire your video strategy. If you’re not sure what kind of message is best for customers at different stages in the buyer journey, align your video messages with the flywheel.
With your budget, skills, and resources in mind, think about the creative roadblocks that might arise. Do you need a designer to create lower third graphics? Are you going to create an animated video or a live-action video?
6. Decide which metrics you want to track and how you will measure success.
Before you dive into production, you need to define your video goals and find the best metrics to help you understand whether you’ve accomplished those goals.
You can default to using the metrics available in your platform of choice. But this can make it difficult to figure out if your video strategy is performing over time. It can also make it difficult to measure the effectiveness of multichannel video strategies.
Instead, choose several key performance indicators that correspond with your video goals. This list of matrics is a good place to start if you’re not sure where to start with tracking your video marketing.
12 Types of Marketing Videos
Before you begin filming, you need to decide what type of video you want to create. Check out this list to better understand your options.
1. Demo Videos
Demo videos showcase how your product works — whether that’s taking viewers on a tour of your software or unboxing and putting a physical product to the test.
Learn how to use video in each stage of the buyer’s journey.
2. Brand Videos
Brand videos are typically created as a part of a larger advertising campaign, showcasing the company’s vision, mission, or products and services.
The goal of brand videos is to build awareness around your company and to intrigue and attract your target audience.
3. Event Videos
Is your business hosting a conference, round table discussion, fundraiser, or another type of event? Produce a highlight reel or release interesting interviews and presentations from the gathering.
4. Expert Interviews
Capturing interviews with internal experts or thought leaders in your industry is a great way to build trust and authority with your target audience. Find the influencers in your industry and put these discussions in front of your audience.
The video above is more than just a surface-level interview, it’s a deep dive with industry experts offering concrete takeaways for viewers. Don’t be afraid to get tactical with your interviews — your audience will grow from your hard work.
5. Educational or How-To Videos
Instructional videos can teach your audience something new. These marketing videos can also build the foundational knowledge they’ll need to better understand your business and solutions. Your sales and service teams can use videos like this as they work with customers.
6. Explainer Videos
This type of video can help your audience better understand why they need your product or service. Many explainer videos focus on a fictional journey of the company’s core buyer persona who is struggling with a problem. This person overcomes the issue by adopting or buying the business’s solution.
7. Animated Videos
Apple created this animated video to share its carbon neutrality goal.
Animated videos can be a great format for hard-to-grasp concepts that need strong visuals or to explain an abstract service or product.
8. Case Study and Customer Testimonial Videos
Your prospects want to know that your product can solve their specific problem.
One of the best ways to prove this is by creating case study videos that feature your satisfied, loyal customers. These folks are your best advocates. Get them on camera describing their challenges and how your company helped solve them.
9. Live Videos
Live video gives your viewers a special, behind-the-scenes look at your company. It also draws longer streams and higher engagement rates.
According to Google in 2021, 85% of people have watched a live stream in the last year. And live-stream interviews, presentations, and events encourage viewers to comment with questions.
10. 360° & Virtual Reality Videos
With 360° videos, viewers “scroll” around to see content from every angle — as if they were physically standing within the content.
This spherical video style allows viewers to experience a location or event, like flying down a hill with Olympic skiers.
Virtual reality (VR) allows viewers to navigate and control their experience. These videos are usually viewed through devices like an Oculus Quest 2 or a Valve Index.
11. Augmented Reality (AR) Videos
AR videos add a digital layer to what you are watching.
For example, you can point your phone’s camera at your living room and AR would allow you to see how a couch would look in your space. The IKEA Place app is a great example of this.
12. Personalized Messages
Video can be a creative way to continue a conversation or respond to someone through email or text.
Use HubSpot Video Hosting or Loom to record yourself recapping an important meeting or giving personalized recommendations. These videos create a delightful, unique moment for think about the purpose of the music. Do you need background music or something with reayour prospects and can drive them deeper into the purchase journey.
Now that we’ve covered the biggest video hosting platforms, let’s drill down into best practices for social media.
Expect viewers to watch your videos without sound.
Did you know that Instagram was the first social channel to show silent, auto-playing videos? This type of video is popular on social media because it makes it easy for viewers to watch videos when they are in public.
Here are a few best practices you can use to make silent videos engaging:
- Start with action to grab your viewer’s attention.
- Videos that feature people speaking are great for landing pages or your website, but try to stick to visually stimulating videos for social media.
- Add text or include captions so that viewers can follow along with or without audio.
Short videos are best.
The most popular videos on social media vary in length by platform. While some strategies call for a longer video, shoot your video in a way that makes it easy to break into more bite-sized pieces. This will help you get more traffic and engagement from your video marketing.
Grab attention fast.
When you’re posting to social media, your video content is competing with a lot of information on the screen. If your viewers are watching from their mobile devices, there’s even more competition. So, it’s a good idea to get into your content quickly and to make it clear what your video is about in the first 8-10 seconds.
Shoot video that works on many different screen sizes.
As you shoot your video, be sure to compose each shot for a range of screen dimensions and shapes.
For example, your audience can watch a widescreen video on their mobile phone while scrolling on Facebook or LinkedIn, but the same video might cut off important visual information if it’s posted as an Instagram story.
Facebook Video Best Practices
In 2016 Facebook emphasized video content with a dedicated video tab, and the platform’s focus on video has grown from there.
Using video on Facebook seems to give brands greater reach in the newsfeed. This is probably because they emphasize viewer engagement in their algorithm. And according to recent Biteable research, their video ad test got 480% more clicks than a still image. This shows that audiences are currently more engaged with videos on the platform.
Brand awareness videos that are light-hearted and entertaining tend to perform well on Facebook. They also offer a detailed best practices guide that outlines how to succeed with video on the platform. It includes recommended video length and priorities for mobile viewing.
Their goal is to better surface videos that are most relevant to the viewer. This means that creating the right content for your audience is more important than churning out videos to keep up with what’s popular.
It’s also a good idea to upload videos directly to Facebook because their algorithm considers a user’s previous video-related actions when determining what videos to show them on later visits.
Instagram Video Best Practices
Instagram’s latest strategy is prioritizing video and social selling. This makes it a perfect platform to launch your latest marketing video.
To impress viewers on Instagram, offer your viewers something they value. IG’s content best practices recommend videos that are consistent, original, and full of personality.
There are four different video formats on the platform:
Reels
Reels are 15-30 second videos that you can edit with in-platform tools including:
- Timed text
- Filters
- Timer and speed controls
This IG video format also lets users add sound to their videos from an in-platform audio library.
Stories
Stories are 15-second videos, or 15-second sections of a longer video, that disappear after 24 hours.
You can also save Stories to your profile. Stories give brands a chance to post direct links that make it easier for people who see your products on Instagram to start shopping.
Instagram Video
Instagram video replaced IGTV in 2021. These videos can be as long as 60 minutes, which gives you a lot of room to experiment.
Instagram offers live video too.
Instagram is also the most popular social media platform for influencers. You may want to work on some collaborative videos if you want to make the most of Instagram for video.
Daily video views on Twitter increased 95% from 2020 to 2022.
Brevity is a core factor on this popular channel. So, when teasing a blog post or piece of content on Twitter, always keep your video short and to the point.
Short clips that are easy to consume tend to perform the best. According to Twitter, short means 6-15 seconds. They don’t recommend you make videos longer than that.
If you want to get a little more experimental with using video on Twitter, you can try making custom videos to engage with your audience. Personal, one-on-one response videos are a smart way to make your brand more human while building personal connections with your followers.
Some other recommendations from Twitter’s team include:
- Try pinning your video to the top of your profile for some added exposure.
- Show your logo and keep a permanent placement in the upper-left or upper-right corner of the frame
- Open your video with your products and services
LinkedIn Video Best Practices
LinkedIn users love video and video has been a focus on the platform since 2017. This is a professional platform and users spend a lot of time networking and searching for jobs. Keep that focus in mind as you create videos for LinkedIn.
For example, if you have a time-saver or just learned something new that might help other people in your network, video is an effective medium for sharing that knowledge.
Industry news is another relevant topic on this platform. If you have thoughts on a recent announcement or news article, let people know what you’re thinking in a video.
And if your company has some news like a great recent hire, a video can offer a personable take that you can add to a press release.
If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out these ideas:
- Showcase new technologies in video format
- Offer tutorials on how a new physical product works
- Broadcast from industry conferences and events
TikTok Video Best Practices
TikTok hit 1 billion monthly active users in 2022 and the most popular app in the U.S. in 2021. While this app started as a spot where Gen Z teens could learn the latest dances, it’s become a force for users of all ages.
Trending content with a high number of views gets priority with TikTok’s algorithm. Frequent posting, humor, and authenticity are key on this platform.
If you’re interested in advertising as well as organic posting, they have a helpful guide for top niches like gaming and ecommerce.
Pinterest Video Best Practices
Pinterest added video to their platform in 2016 and added live streaming in 2022. This app loves creativity, and they recently launched Creator awards to emphasize this focus.
If you’re not sure if Pinterest is the right platform for your audience, take another look. Product searches increased by 20x in 2020 on the platform, and 75% of surveyed users say they’re always shopping.
So, promote a new blog post, engage with your audience, or even drive viewers to a landing page with Pinterest videos.
To drive traffic on Pinterest, create videos that encourage viewers to act, whether it’s saving a pin, reading a blog, or buying a product. Don’t forget to include visual cues for your brand and to create consistent and visually stunning videos for your pins.
Live Video
Live features on social media let users post live video streams of what they’re doing at that very moment.
And live video is more popular than ever. According to Statista, live streaming is the video content of choice for over 30% of viewers.
Most social media platforms offer live video streaming, including Facebook and Instagram. To get the most out of live video, make sure you’re maintaining the same production values for your live video as your pre-recorded videos. High-quality live videos will set you apart from other videos on social media.
For example, If you’re recording live video footage on the go, keep in mind that background noise is easily picked up by microphones. You may want a more controlled environment if you’re recording a more serious or professional broadcast.
Here are a few more tips to make your live videos stand out.
Think about timing.
Keep in mind that your live video will be broadcast from the platform itself, so that’s mostly where you’ll be promoting your broadcasts. Do some research on your target audience to find out when they’re most engaged with your posts.
Even if some of your followers miss out, most apps
will save your videos to the app by default. You can delete them manually if you want to but they’ll usually be available for viewing by your followers after your live stream ends.
Come up with a compelling title.
Your title should describe what your video is and why people should either tune in now or replay your stream later. Adding the word “exclusive” to your title lets users believe they’re seeing footage no one else has seen before. This can make your video more exciting for potential viewers, so they’re more likely to tune in.
On many platforms, people who are watching your stream in real-time can comment and “like” the broadcast.
Other viewers can see these comments and the number of likes your video has. Acknowledge or respond to these comments on the live broadcast to encourage engagement. This makes the experience feel like more of a two-way conversation.
Experiment and keep an eye on your data.
Be sure to experiment with different ways of using live video and what types of content your audience likes most.
Most platforms will offer data that you can analyze to figure out what works.
About Our Video Marketing Agency
Modus Film is a video production company based in Kent and London. Our services are nationwide and our video marketing agency can help you make some ground breaking content. If you want to discuss this further contact us or better yet see how video marketing can transform your current marketing mix. We are now fully PPE compliant. Plus we carry on working!
Do You Need to Talk to a Marketing Expert?
As video marketing experts we are specialists in all forms of video marketing. Here at Modus Film, we have completed many projects for our clients that have required us to define a digital strategy with really great results. If you want to speak to a specialist email hello@modusfilm.com or call us on 01233 273 273.
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