The introduction of video as a medium of marketing is an engaging way to inform your audience about your services and products. You’ve probably seen videos come up more and more on businesses’ social media pages, video platforms, and websites. Although it’s become clear that video is becoming more mainstream, the idea of participating in video marketing can be daunting.
You might have anxiety about whether or not video marketing is a good fit for your company, whether or not you want to be on video, and if you really have the time or resources to put into video marketing. Although the idea of delving into video marketing can seem overwhelming, participating has proven very accessible and simple to begin.
Common Questions About Starting a Video Marketing Strategy
1. “Is video marketing a good fit for my industry?”
Video marketing has become commonplace for many businesses regardless of the industry as we have been transitioning into the digital age. Just like having social media pages has become an expectation for businesses, as it is important to have an online presence, it is becoming expected to include video in marketing tactics and online platforms as well. Video is not only an engaging form of media that accurately displays and explains information no matter the industry, video also gives a variety of creative ways to convey a message. Video is a great way to engage your current audience while growing and reaching new customers across verticals.
2. “Do I have the proper resources or equipment to start video marketing?”
Traditionally, videography and media production has been an expensive, specialized, endeavor. However, with technology becoming more common and accessible, getting into video marketing does not require the extensive budget and resources that it used to. Smartphones have made huge strides in the past few years in becoming viable options for shooting video and photo, quality rivaling professional equipment. Especially when just starting out, all you need to start video marketing is the phone in your pocket, and you can easily upgrade your setup with an affordable tripod and Bluetooth microphone. Though video marketing does require some resources, the required investment is minimal and the outcome of the videos has the potential to be exceptional.
The video hosting platforms are also open to all. Creating an account on YouTube, Wistia, or Vimeo can be quick, and uploading your final file to the platforms is simple. They will even guide you through the steps of optimizing your video, adding titles, keywords, and targeting so your video can be found in search.
3. “Am I comfortable being on camera?”
Being in front of the camera can take some practice, and it will take time to become fully comfortable. It can be comforting, however, to remember that you are in control of how you present yourself. You likely won’t be presenting yourself live, so you can take your time, shoot as many takes as you’d like, and get creative with editing. If you are really uncomfortable with being on camera, there are also ways to work around it.
You can have members of your team (who are willing) take turns in presenting the content. Face-time can be limited by using graphic videos. There are other engaging ways to display content, like Whiteboard animation. You can take “B-roll” (background or supplemental shots), or candid footage of the team in action, and voice-over key information. Over time, you will become more comfortable presenting yourself in front of the camera, and you will find a style that works best for you and your team.
Can Video Marketing Really Help Me Gain More Customers?
According to the Cisco Annual Internet Report, “By 2022, 82% of the whole internet traffic will come from videos.” We are already seeing video more and more; on social platforms and websites, and an increase in platforms created specifically for video. The truth is that video has already started taking over with no end in sight. Video marketing can provide solid assistance in moving your leads through the buyer’s journey and marketing funnel. Explore these stages to use video marketing:
Awareness Stage to Attract New Leads
Video marketing can serve as a low-obligation introduction to your company. You can show your personality or an overview of your services to help grow your audience and attract leads you wouldn't have without video. Share these “Awareness stage” videos on your social media channels, on your home page, or embedded in blogs -- all the places a prospective buyer may be skimming your content.
Consideration Stage to Nurture Your Prospects
In this stage your visitors want more information about a topic or your service that is digestible on their own time -- they are not ready to talk to you, so your content has to talk to them. Providing informative videos that break down your information will help your customers understand your process before you even speak for the first time. Video marketing is so engaging because of how many different ways it can be used to convey a message. It doesn't have to just be someone speaking, there can be footage showing visual representation, there can be graphics and keywords with a voice-over, and/or there can be graphs and other visual and audible aids to best present the message. This engages the audience and better draws them in and compels them to watch more, and engage more with your company.
Decision Stage to Move Your Audience Toward Action
As we all know, information is power. In this stage the information you provide has to be the most compelling to move your viewer to take action -- to click the button for a consultation, or a free demo, whatever is your final stage of getting the viewer to interact directly with your sales team. Video marketing is known to efficiently and effectively inform, which is great news for both your team and prospective customers. Using video for decision stage content will help your viewers clearly understand next steps, and make decisions.
Delight Stage to Provide Continual Value
Engaging and delighting your current customers is an important part of the buyer’s journey that many businesses forget. Keep talking to your customers through video - either entertaining them to keep them engaged with your company, or informing them about innovations and upsell opportunities to keep them interested. Continual information delivered through engaging video content benefits your company as well as your customers, making strategic video marketing a worthwhile investment of time and energy.
Added Benefits of a Video Content Strategy for Marketers
Builds Brand Trust and Customer Loyalty
Putting faces to the company brand name will create and build trust with your customers. As a viewer, it is reassuring to see and hear from the people that you’re considering working with. Friendly faces conveying clear and engaging content is the perfect way to build trust with your audience and create a relationship with prospective customers. This will show that your team is approachable, and make the prospect feel welcome to contact and ask questions.
Grabs Attention
Including videos throughout your website will catch the eye as an image does, but provide much more than an image can. You can customize the preview image to be engaging and informative. Video marketing leaves a ton of room for customization and creativity, and can further establish branding with your signature style.
Easy Social Shares
Creating videos will give you tons of marketing content to work with. You can use the same video on a variety of different platforms -- such as loading the file directly into Facebook or LinkedIn to play natively. Or you have the option to shorten the videos (such as a 1-minute version for Instagram) and customize the content for each individual platform.
Opportunities for Educational or Entertaining Content
Incorporating video in your online presence can be both informative and entertaining, and it is not limited to marketing alone. Fun and entertaining videos can help convey a certain attitude and happy mood to your audience, which builds trust and helps gain followers so that when you do post educational content, you're having a larger reach than before.
Higher Conversion Rates
Using videos on-site leads to higher conversion rates. Showing representatives of your company and associating faces to the company builds trust and heightens engagement. Videos also make the information much easier to follow for the customer, so they leave your site more informed and prepared to make moves.
Complicated Topics Can Be Simplified
Sometimes reading about a topic you don’t understand can be daunting. You might scan the page, see a bunch of unfamiliar terms, and scroll away, feeling overwhelmed and confused, not willing to put in the work at that moment to become informed. The information can be more easily and clearly conveyed through video by pairing scripts with visual aids such as graphics, charts, and graphs. Additionally, reading long-form content can often be a tiring process. Videos are more engaging, easier to understand, and build trust with the customer more effectively than the written word can.
Stand Out From Competitors
You can create a style and mood that is engaging and specific to your company, and use that to stand out against your competitors. You can test out different forms of video, figure out what engages and grows your audience, and then continue to develop relationships with your audience from there.
Versatile Content
There are so many ways you can use content gained from creating videos. If you shoot and create the content for one video, the content can be used in a variety of ways over and over again.
SEO Benefits
On top of all the engagement benefits, including videos on your site that customers are compelled to finish will guarantee longer amounts of time spent on each page, which can drive up your analytics and the amount of time a customer will spend on your site.
How Can You Attract People to Watch Your Videos?
Using compelling thumbnails (preview video images) on your site will entice the customer to want to watch your video. Include preview text or headlines so the viewer knows what they are about to watch, and your messaging can draw in the customer right away. You can assess the analytics and see if the time spent on pages increases, and if there are generally more visitors to the site or that particular page. You can see views on the video as they may (and should) come from a variety of different sources to understand if your efforts are successful.
Tips On Getting Started With Video
The best advice we can give you is to start out simple. If you or someone on your team has the equipment, then utilize your resources, but if not, use the highest quality phone you have. Smartphones do a great job of capturing content on their own, but to increase audio quality you can invest in an affordable microphone to either attach to your phone or to the person speaking. From there, cutting together is simple and can be achieved through many free or affordable applications accessible on a mobile phone or computer, including video editing software built into your device.
Make sure to shoot in landscape orientation, ideally using a tripod to stabilize your device, or at least propping up your phone with stable items while you’re filming. At the end of every video be sure to include a call-to-action for the viewer, including contact information and the website address, to make it accessible and easy to get in touch with your team.
Implementing a video strategy can be one smaller facet of your longer-term inbound marketing tactics to attract, convert, close, and delight your customers as you seek to grow your business. LAIRE is equipped with a team of digital marketing experts who can ensure that your video content is of the highest quality to get your business found. Take the next step in developing your content strategy by downloading our free workbook below.
