Video marketing has become one of the trendiest and most efficient content marketing strategies businesses employ today. Recently, video content has proven to serve the increasing desire of customers to see the human side of companies. Nowadays, consumers prefer video messages with their visual and auditory features. This year, 2022, it is predicted that an average person will spend 100 minutes online watching video content.
- What is video marketing?
- Why should you adopt video marketing today?
- What can video marketing do for your business?
- How can you create a video marketing strategy for your business?
- What kind of videos can be used to promote your products and services?
- How can you optimise your videos for SEO?
- Steps to Optimising Your Videos for SEO
Due to its numerous strengths over other content forms, video marketing is reported to generate more revenue growth for organisations that use it. Yet, some businesses are still hesitant about adopting video marketing as a tool. The common fear is that; video takes time, requires enormous funding and demands high tech equipment.
If your business is part of those yet to adopt video marketing in your strategy, this article is for you.
Also, it will explain and guide you on why and how to use video marketing not just to beat the competition but boost your company's visibility and revenue.
What is Video Marketing?
Video marketing is using videos to promote your products, services or brand. For example, it could be showcasing how to use your product, what goes into your service delivery or marketing your service or product to your target audience.
Why Should You Adopt Video Marketing Today?
Video marketing is one of the best ways to connect with your customers and audience, regardless of distance or product. The more genuine and authentic your videos are, the more appealing and relatable they will be to your audience. Gone are the days when people needed to dress superfluous and deliver an official, well-rehearsed speech for video. Now, your audience wants to see you talk to them naturally. That way, you sound more engaging. Even if your business doesn't require your face, showcasing your product or service in video content will attract your customers to buy.
Here are some of the latest statistics on video marketing
Hubspot found that 78% of people watch online videos every week, while 54% watch videos every day.
Google's research shows that 6 out of 10 people would rather watch online videos than television.
YouTube states that its users view more than 1 billion hours of video each day on the platform.
With these and more statistics, it's evident that video has helped most businesses reach their marketing goals.
What Can Video Marketing Do For Your Business?
Videos won't be trending if they weren't yielding results for businesses and brands. Here's what you get if you adopt video as a marketing strategy for your business.
Reduced Website Bounce Rate
Did you know that embedding a video on your website page improves your website's bounce rate? The longer the time customers spend watching your video, the lower the bounce rate on your website.
Furthermore, research on the differences in bounce rate for pages with and without video shows that pages with video had a lower bounce rate (11%) than pages without video. Also, pages with video had a higher conversion rate.
Even if it is just you talking or showcasing a product, there's a great chance your website is in for sustained attention. The more people stay on your website watching a video, the more likely they are to stay longer and search for related videos, especially if your video is an interesting one.
According to research by Forbes, the average user spends 88% more time on a website with video than one without video. Moreover, videos on your websites and blogs make your website more engaging for your visitors.
Increased Conversions & ROI
Imagine selling to your customers while entertaining them? Video helps you achieve that. Due to the entertainment feature of video, customers are more likely to click on your landing page and respond positively than when it's just text.
Videos are also helpful for email marketing. Emails with videos embedded in them have a higher click-through rate, especially when mentioned in the subject line. Why? Because videos build trust. It offers more detailed and descriptive information about your product or service. Providing your customer with the information they need to make a decision clears every doubt in their minds.
Better Search Engine Ranking
No doubt, Google loves video. And, the more time people spend watching your videos on your website, the lesser bounce rate you experience.
Recently, as Google prioritises pages with video content, you can jump on this algorithm to boost your page ranking. With Video marketing, it's easier to rank on the first search page than with text because of the traffic and low bounce rate your website generates.
Videos provide more analytics to measure your video marketing strategies, which can help your team make informed decisions for your business. Think about video platforms like Youtube and Vimeo that appear on search. With a well-optimised video, you're sure to be found easily for the keywords you aim to rank.
Deeper connection with your audience
Video connects more with the human brain because of its visual attributes. People can connect with the movement, sound and emotions your video evokes faster than texts. According to research, your brain can process video messages 60,000 times faster than text messages. Moreso, videos create room to tell your brand story better, bringing life and evoking the emotion your customers can connect to. They often engage and comment on your videos in real-time, becoming loyal customers who end up sharing your stories with others.
Increased Brand Visibility
When was the last time someone shared a video with you? Not long ago, right? Video content proves to have more shareability than text-only content. When people see a video they like, they are quick to engage or share the video with their friends or colleagues. Think about how brands went viral. It's just with a click! Your brand can gain increased visibility by using more shareable video content for your customers. When prospective customers view your video, they are more likely to visit your website, social media page, or any other platform to find more information about you.
How Can You Create A Video Marketing Strategy For Your Business?
Except you want to create videos for the archive, you will need a marketing strategy for every video you make. And since you're reading this, it's obvious you are not creating videos for your gallery.
Video, like every content, needs a marketing strategy to achieve your business goals. If not, how would you rate your video content as worth it or not?
Here are the steps to creating a video marketing strategy for your business
- Define your marketing goals and KPIs.
- Define your target audience and persona
- Decide on the platform and style
- Develop the content plan.
- Create a project timeline and budget.
- Post across channels
- Create a monitoring and analytics system
Define Your Marketing Goals and KPIs.
The first step in your video marketing strategy is to decide what you want to achieve with your video. Your goal will help you create the right kind of video for the right audience. Do you want to create awareness for your business? Are you more interested in conversion, sales or retention? Your goals will also affect your KPIs and how you track them.
Define Your Target Audience
You obviously wouldn't want to create videos nobody watches. So one way to avoid that is to create videos that appeal to your target audience. Like other content marketing strategies, you will need to define your target audience clearly. Defining your audience gives you an idea of what channel to use, what kind of video to do or what style to adopt in your presentation. If you don't yet have a buyer persona, identify the consumers for your products or services. Find out their interests, demography and why your product or service serves them well.
Decide on the Platform.
After defining your audience and goals, you should be well informed on what platform to use, your video length, and what style of video you would adopt. For example, a video targeted at the audience in the awareness journey would likely be an educational video that enlightens the prospective customer about the brand.
Develop the Content Plan.
Like every other marketing strategy, an effective video marketing strategy would need a content plan that blends with the audience's goals. The content plan includes:
- Developing the story idea
- Scripting/ editing the script
- Identifying the required equipment/ location
- Gathering the right talents for production and post-production
Create a project timeline and budget.
Whether it's a selfie video or a more sophisticated video, you will need to decide on the project timeline and budget. Take into consideration all the steps involved, the planning, production and post-production and set aside the cost of production. Your budget is determined by many factors, from the type of video to the equipment you may need. However, remember that your audience seeks an accurate delivery. Many successful videos are as simple as a selfie video. You can record a video using your smartphone as long as it is clear and delivers the message. However, what you intend to achieve will determine how sophisticated your equipment will be.
Post across Channels
You must have identified where your video will perform best at this stage. Keep in mind the dimensions peculiar to each platform to make your video appealing to your audience. Your video can be on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Tiktok. Each channel has a different audience interest; that's why your audience research is necessary for selecting a channel. For instance, to create a deeper connection with your audience by sharing daily experiences, you can take advantage of shorter videos like Instagram stories. Your video might be telling the same story but in different formats across channels.
There are other video hosting platforms like Youtube and Vimeo. These are video sharing sites that accommodate longer video forms. Youtube is the second largest search engine after Google, making it an excellent platform to leverage for SEO purposes. Recently, Youtube has adopted Youtube shorts, allowing up to 60 seconds of recording using your camera for your audience. Think of it as your Instagram and Facebook stories, but they stay longer in your channel than your Instagram stories.
Create a Monitoring and Analytics System
The last step in your strategy is creating an effective monitoring and report system. Without analysis, you will be unable to report the progress of your video in line with your marketing goals. What are your metrics? Are they views, likes or impressions? Are you more interested in the engagements, comments, watch times, downloads or shares? Your analysis will reveal if your video meets your metrics.
In reviewing your analysis, you will identify gaps, areas to work on and content your audience appreciates more. Evaluation guides you on what to do better and helps you understand your customers' needs and feedback on your products and services. You will also be able to analyse your video's SEO strength. Each platform has different methods of reporting analytics, so you must understand the channels before using them.
Read more on how to create amazing marketing videos.
What Kind of Videos Can be Used to Promote Your Products & Services?
Creating videos requires mapping out a content strategy tailored to your marketing goals for your business. Your marketing goals and audience will determine the type of video content you can adopt. So, let's dive into the various video content you can use for your video marketing strategy.
Explainer Videos
Ever bought a product and wondered why it doesn't have a manual? Well, explainer videos serve as the manual for your products or services. Using videos to illustrate and explain how your products work clarifies issues for your customers. Explainer videos are handy for companies selling complex technology products. Think of it as a 'how to blog or DIY tip in video form. They tell your customers that you had them in mind creating the product. Explainer videos are great conversion tools for your customers from the consideration stage.
You can embed your explainer videos on your landing pages, emails, websites or across your social media pages.
Client Testimonial Videos
A prospective customer is likely suspicious of your product or service and seeks validation or a reason to quit. Finding a client's testimonial on your page will build his trust towards your business claims.
A client's testimonial is like a recorded 'word-of mouth' report about a product or service. It's one of the most effective marketing strategies ever used. According to research by Marketing, customer testimonials rank highest among the top three most effective types of video content.
Here, your happy customers share their experiences with your services and products and how they helped solve their problems. Customers are more likely to believe your claims after watching an existing user's report in real-time, triggering sales.
Behind the Scenes Video
Nothing is as authentic as sharing an unscripted video of your company's production process. From idea development to meetings, production, packaging, delivery etc., showing your customers these unseen processes makes them trust you, appreciate you better and build loyalty. Be sure to make it entertaining while displaying the processes.
Event Videos
One way to build likeability on social media is by promoting company events. If your organisation is heavy on events, sharing your events videos will be a necessary video marketing strategy. Also, live streaming on social media is one of the ways to build your relationship with your customers. You can share bits of your recorded events or go live across your platforms.
Brand Videos
With brand videos, you're able to explain your company's mission, goals and values to anyone who views them. You can place your brand videos in the 'About us' section of your website, your channel's intro page or embedded on your social media bio section.
Instead of giving what might seem to some as a boring story about your company, use brand videos to encourage them to read.
Educational Videos
Educational videos can come off as product videos explaining your service, product and its features. Think of explaining the features and benefits of an app to your audience. Educational videos could highlight your services or products and their benefits to your customers. Sometimes, you can create videos that discuss new trends or developments in your industry and how that affects you or your customers. With that, you're on your way to establishing your brand as an authority in your industry.
Educational videos are mostly snippets shared on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn- depending on your audience.
How Can You Optimise Your Videos For Seo?
Video marketing is not about creating videos for your business. It's about creating discoverable videos that meet your marketing goals. Nothing is more discouraging than creating videos that no one watches or your target audience never gets to view.
To make your content discoverable for your audience across platforms, you will need to optimise each video you post.
Video optimisation is positioning your video to rank high on search engines for the keywords you set. Every video can be optimised, especially those shared on your website and Youtube channels.
Steps to Optimising Your Videos for SEO
Create Videos Within Your Business Keywords
Optimise your video by researching keywords your customers search for and tailoring them to your business. For example, if your customers are exploring how to use a product you sell, it will be necessary to focus on creating content that solves that need. When doing SEO, bear in mind the keywords you want to rank for, research topics related to them and see how you can tweak them for your business. Tools such as Google Keyword Planner. Moz or Semrush. Google search can help you decide where you can begin with your video. However, consider your goal while researching.
Use Your Keywords in Your Title.
Your customers will find your videos if your title matches their search intent. So ensure you add your target keyword to your title. With that, your viewers know what the video entails and may decide to watch. For instance, if your video talks about using a camera you manufactured, ensure you add the specific camera you are marketing in the title. That way, people interested in your product can find it easily in search.
Create a Catchy Thumbnail
People see the pictures before they click or watch a video. Use catch thumbnails to attract your audience in seconds. Thumbnails work for both social media, website and video hosting sites. If your thumbnail is uninteresting, it will be lost in the myriads of videos online. A catchy thumbnail gives your audience a reason to stop while scrolling through their screen. You can use bright and complementary colours, bold texts, and pictures to express your desired intentions.
Use Captions and Transcriptions
Although video deals with visuals, texts are essential, especially for SEO purposes. Google can not watch your video but will read your transcripts or texts. Also, most viewers watch videos without the sounds on. So using captions will make for an engaging and all-inclusive video for your audience. Attaching an SRT file for captions will help search bots identify your video content and push it to your ideal customers. Transcriptions will increase your video's visibility in both video and text-based platforms.
Another piece of advice is to write an optimised description for your video. Use your target keyword in your video description. Platforms like Youtube require you include a description of what the full video entails. Adding captions will build visibility when your audience searches for your keyword term.
Find your niche-based ranking keywords and add them in your tags and meta description across all platforms with such options.
Use Relevant and Strong CTAs
Most businesses record videos without prompting the customer to the next action to take. Your CTA is your way of telling the customer what you expect them to do. Your CTA has to align with your marketing goals. Calls-to-action is not only for text-based marketing copies. Do you want them to click a link, visit your website or comment on your video? Ensure you use a clear call to action that will prompt your customers to act after watching your video.
Read a related blog on how to optimise your blog post.
Video marketing isn't just a trend; it is now a tool for your business. With the right strategy in place, you can skyrocket your online business visibility while building a loyal customer base. All you need is to understand what form works for your business and target audience. With Tedbree, you can create a solid video marketing strategy through one of our playbooks and stand out from your competitors.