Individuals consume content in different ways daily. Video is one of the options that entrepreneurs use to share information and its popularity is on the rise. The reason is partly that people love videos, which is why most of them spend much of their time on such content. As such, video marketing is no longer the preserve of big brands with huge budgets.
On the contrary, videos are a critical component of performance marketing for every enterprise with an online presence. That is why business owners are leveraging the capabilities of video content — it is the go-to place to gain sales online, build a brand, and generate leads as well. You also need to understand that video marketing covers your marketing strategy from top to bottom, and according to CISCO, video traffic will represent 82% of all global consumer internet traffic by 2021.
So, as an entrepreneur, you need to consider how you can make video work in your favor. This is possible by prioritizing creative content as well as strategy and consistency of publishing. As a result, your videos will get attention and engagement, which will ultimately promote business success. Here are some insights on how to create a video marketing strategy.
1. Define Your Audience
An assessment of your current customer base will help you understand where your clients spend their time online, their profiles, and whether you are addressing their pain points or not. That acts as the foundation for identifying the individuals you should target and knowing how you will communicate your message through video.
You also need to consider your competition at this stage to find out if you have a loyal following and how you can differentiate yourself when targeting the same people your competitors are focusing on. Researching why both existing and potential clients need what you offer is also advisable. Once you identify your audience and trace where they spend much of their time online, run your videos there.
For instance, if your audience spends much time on LinkedIn and YouTube, you need to analyze the style of video that works best on these platforms to develop the right video content for such individuals.
2. Focus on Nailing Down Your Video Marketing Goals
First and foremost, your videos should be short, and the message needs to be precise. In that case, you should devise one goal for every video asset. The reason is that you will be creating tons of videos going forward for publishing every week. That suggests that you will have enough time to share with your viewers all the interesting and smart ideas you have.
You also need to consider whether your video will focus on announcing a big piece of news, branding, promoting a particular sale, or lead generation, among other things when deciding on your goal. After that, you will be able to establish the kind of video marketing that will prove effective in getting your message across.
3. Identify the Right Tone of Voice
Every organization is unique. As such, you need to think about what you want viewers to remember about your firm at the end of the videos you create. The answer should become your reference point when you begin the process of creating a specific video. That way, you will ensure that each viewer remembers your entity specifically.
Remaining in the minds of your audience is possible when you clarify the tone and style of your entity’s communication in the case of video marketing. For example, you can opt for a playful tone to remain on trend and helpful at the same time. In turn, viewers will not only remember your brand, but it will also ensure that every element of the videos you create in the future is fun and gives value as well.
4. Create Your Content
A lot goes on behind the scenes, and that is why creating content is not the first thing you do when developing a video marketing strategy (even though this information is what will appear in your campaigns). Once you get to this point, you should prioritize the clearest and highest-quality content possible. Below are the elements worth considering when creating video content.
a) Sound
Quite often, viewers watch video ads on silent, and that is mainly on Facebook. However, when that is not the case, a good track can enrich your video. So, you should view sound as an enhancement to every video content you create. When the music you choose for your advertisement is in line with the message and imagery of your video commercial, it can impact consumers emotionally, and it will stick in their minds longer.
That implies that you can opt for music that plays to the tone of your video or take your sound in the opposite direction to inject a sense of humor. The contrast, in this case, can become video magic, making it something that viewers will recall going forward.
b) Footage
Consider the platform you will be publishing on, your audience, and the available library of footage. Imagine you are watching the video with no sound and text to find out whether it elicits emotions on its own. Over and above the dynamics, you should also consider the look and feel of the persons or environment in your video to ensure that they are relatable/aspirational for your audience.
c) Text
Note that successful video marketing depends on the first three seconds of each video ad. For that reason, you should focus on writing a piece of copy that makes every viewer say, “tell me more.” Also, do not overload yourself because too many ideas are the deathbed of any content item. As such, micro-copy is the ideal option, and you can start by posing a question that addresses the needs of your target audience.
5. Prioritize an Engaging Video Caption
Mostly, viewers read a text within a video first and immediately bounce to the caption after that even before a video runs to the end. Additionally, the caption on a video for social media can make or break a post. For instance, when posting on LinkedIn, the platform recommends writing a descriptive title for your video to make it easily searchable.
6. Run Your Video Marketing Campaign
Videos can expand the reach of your brand and generate more clicks, and that is partly why they are more effective than images. You are also likely to experience an increase in in-store visits when you run video marketing campaigns. So you need to learn how to run ads, and Facebook is an excellent place to begin because it allows you to use the conversion optimization feature.
Conversion optimization focuses on ensuring that your videos appear in front of the target audience who may have an interest in your operations.
7. Test, Compare, and Test Again
Numbers may not be a thrilling part of the video marketing process for creative artists, but they are paramount. You need to track your sales, reach, and clicks for each ad. You should also consider A/B testing one element of your caption or video and run the test once again. On the other hand, testing two videos against each other can help you identify the messaging that yields the best results when it comes to ROI and engagement.
Over time, tracking your business trends and what appeals to your audience will not be a problem as you create more videos.
Conclusion
It is not unusual to find people ignoring graphic ads. The solution here is to create video ads that individuals will watch and even share. Developing something that viewers enjoy watching and are willing to share across the web is what is necessary at the end of the day. If you need more information on creating a video marketing strategy, contact us today!