Video marketing is on the rise today. According to a HubSpot survey, 81% of businesses use video marketing and about 65% of those who don’t, plan to start doing so soon. This proves that including videos into your marketing strategy is essential. However, the popularity of this tool makes it more challenging to stand out with your videos. To succeed with this marketing tool, you have to get creative when designing your clips, promote them through the right channels, and involve the influencers.
1. Choose the types of video that will work best for you
- What message do you want to communicate?
- Which type of video does your business truly need?
- Which type of videos appeal the most to your audience?
- Who is your target audience?
- What kind of video should you make?
These are some of the basic questions you need to answer in order to determine what types of video content you need to create for your marketing campaigns. The most popular types used by businesses are:
- An explainer video in which you explain what your business is about or what your products or services are. Explainer videos are invaluable for any brand as they are your main tool for communicating valuable information to your customers. Make them simple, short, and fun. This kind of content will help increase your brand authority and make your customers trust you more.
- A vlog is a great tool for diversifying your blog content. This kind of video is great for ‘humanizing’ your brand and building a strong personal connection with your audience. You can use vlogs for showing behind the scenes, event, and company culture videos.
- Product review videos, as well as testimonials, are necessary to prove the quality of your products or services. It will be best if those are genuine and created by people who actually got to test the products. You can integrate asking for review videos into your marketing strategy. For example, offer discounts for future purchases to those who submit the videos.
2. Make branded videos
Your customers need to know that the amazing video they watch was created by your business, regardless of the type of video. You might create inspirational clips that have little to do with your actual company and products. But they have to clearly show that your brand is behind the piece.
The best way to do this is to add branded elements, like a logo. However, when working with video marketing, you can use a better strategy of creating and then using a unique animated character. Make it a part of your brand starting with introducing the character in the animated explainer video. In fact, creating a series of short videos with it might be a great marketing move if your audience appreciates this type of content. Use the story of Simon’s Cat brand for inspiration.
When dealing with branded videos, you need to focus on consistency of quality and branding. Make sure your video production company has experience of working with such projects. If you use several; types of video content, make sure to brand all of them appropriately. For example, animated videos featuring your ‘mascot’ can be created by a professional team and fully branded.
However, ‘behind the scenes’ videos you post on your blog and social media, the ones you shoot on your smartphone, should only have your name and logo in the corner. For such videos, consider ordering a short professional intro that you will later reuse for all your content.
3. Use the influencers in your video marketing strategy
Connecting with popular vloggers can be a great opportunity for your company. They can create product reviews or otherwise endorse your brand in their own videos.
The trick to succeeding with influencer marketing is to choose the right kind of people. The influencers you work with must be the ones popular with your target audience. However, they must also be aligned with your brand’s mission and principles. For example, if you’re targeting vegans, you shouldn’t work with someone who has a history of endorsing fur.
4. Promote your videos everywhere
Don’t forget that while your video content is definitely special, it’s still content and needs to be promoted through a variety of channels. This means that posting a clip on your blog and YouTube channel isn’t enough. You should break it into smaller clips and share on social media. This includes both in posts and in the ‘stories’ format where possible.
You also should consider making short clips for targeted social media ads. Be sure to include your branded animated character in those, so it can start gaining attention and recognition from prospective customers. If you use a short introduction video on your landing pages and Facebook account page, be sure to include your branding as well.