Video creation has long been for big brands and companies with a massive budget. But now every entrepreneur and small start-up is beginning to take hold of the power of video content, and for good reason. Video marketing has become the go-to way to build a brand, generate leads and gain sales online. And it’s a trend that’s built to last.

While videos used to be associated only as a branding medium for big companies, now it’s an essential part of performance marketing for every business with an online presence (aka everyone). According to a survey of 570 marketing professionals conducted by Wyzowl 85% of businesses regard video as an important part of their marketing strategy and 99% intend to continue to use video in 2018.

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What’s so powerful about video marketing is it covers your marketing strategy from top to bottom. Why? First, it’s essential to take a look at video viewership. According to CISCO, video traffic will be 82% of all global consumer Internet traffic by 2021. Whatsmore, YouTube just released that people are spending over 1 billion hours watching video each day. That’s billion with a “B”!  All you need is to grab 30 seconds of that precious time to make an impact on your business.

That said, simply knowing how much video is being consumed and thus you need to be using video to grow your business, is not enough. The essential element of making video marketing work in your favor is creative content, strategy and consistency of publishing. Your videos need to be ones that get attention and engagement and  you also need to approach it methodically with a performance mindset.

Nowadays, it’s easier than ever to shoot a quick Live session and Instagram Story for social media or go pro with commercial level videos. Having tools like the Promo video platform and WeVideo entering the market, democratizes the creation of high-quality video content and makes video creation only require a few minutes.

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So let’s dive into the step-by-step ways to create a video marketing strategy built for success.

Step 1: Choose The Right Audience

Have a look at your current customer base. How can you profile them? What pain point are you solving? Where do they spend time online? This is the foundation of who you’ll target and how you will communicate your message. If you still have not hit the audience you’re aiming for, consider profiling your target audience based on the ideal customer. Ensure that they are in fact in need of your product or service and that you meet this need in a unique way within the market.

This is also the time to look at your competition. Do they have a loyal following and if so, how can you differentiate yourself when communicating with the same pool of people?

It’s research time! Do some serious Googling, review surveys (or even better, send your own), read blogs about your vertical and engage in communication on relevant forums. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to current and potential customers about why they need what you’re offering.

After you’ve honed in on your audience, focus in on where they spend the most time online. That is where you want to run your video content. For example, if your audience is on Facebook, you’ve got loads of helpful features to support your efforts and creative freedom. If your audience is largely on Instagram or YouTube, you’ll want to continue your analysis to see the style of video that works best on these highly visual platforms. 

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Step 2: Nail Your Video Goal

Your videos need to be short and your message direct. Devise 1 (and only 1) goal for each video asset. Not to worry, you’ll be creating tons of videos and publishing a few a week so you’ll have more time to share all of your interesting and clever ideas with your viewers.

When deciding on your goal you first want to consider if your video is for branding, for lead generation, to promote a specific sale or to announce a big piece of news, among other things. Once you have settled on that, you can then clarify the content that will be most effective to get that message across.

It’s ideal to break your month down into categories. You want to execute 1 branding video per week that shows off your business to every customer and can be run as an acquisition or re-marketing asset. Then you’ll add in any special sales or promotions. This category can include a teaser video, a video for the sale itself and a final “last call” video right before your promotion is over. Next, you can add any special campaigns and/or offline event videos into your monthly plan. And finally, sprinkle in at least 1 video a week that is playful and is created specifically for the goal of engagement.

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Step 3: Devise Your Brand Language

No two companies are alike. Before creating your videos write down, what do you want the viewer to remember about your business after this video is over? Then as you begin the creation process, go back to your answer to this paramount question. Next, add another inquiry to your agenda; Will the viewer remember us specifically?

The best way to accomplish answering the latter question is clarifying the tone and style of your company’s communication. For example, you can look at MailChimp. They have a playful tone and are always both on trend and helpful. That’s what viewers should remember. This means that every element of a video they create should be fun and give value.

YouAppi conducted a research in February 2018 where marketers documented their video use across all platforms and for all purposes. What is most interesting is the increase in video creation for branding as shown with 65% of video created for business awareness. 

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Step 4: Create Your Content

You may have thought this would be Step 1, but no. While it’s the front-facing part of your marketing, a lot goes on behind the scenes before you can get to this point. Now that you’re here, focus in on the highest-quality and clearest content possible.

Footage: Think back to your audience, and the platform you’ll be publishing on and then peruse the library of footage available to you. Imagine you’re watching the footage with no text and no sound, does it elicit emotion on it’s own? Do you see a story developing? In addition to finding something dynamic, consider the look and feel of the people or environment in the video. You want to make sure that it is relatable and/or aspirational for your audience.

If you’re a playful and peppy brand, animated video could be the footage that grabs your audience. Powtoon offers quality animated content that can add a new twist on your videos or showcase a brand in a playful way. If you’re looking for high-quality film footage that runs from hilarious to emotional, with a dabble of wow, the Promo video platform has a diverse offering to showcase any brand.

Text: It’s all about a hook. Successful video marketing is held in the balance on the first 3 seconds of every video ad. Write a piece of copy that makes someone say “tell me more”. Too many ideas will be the death of any content item so no need to overload yourself. Micro-copy is the way to go. If you’re feeling a bit stuck, a question hitting on the needs of your target audience is a great way to begin.

Most of all, your video is never complete without a call-to-action as your final slide. You’re not creating video ads just for the fun of it, though it is fun, but because you want to lead your audience to do something. Clarify what you want them to do and exactly where they should go after seeing your add. The standard best practice would be adding your business logo, tagline and your website or link for that unique campaign.

Kmart nailed the video hook with their campaign “Ship My Pants” certainly leaving something to remember.

Sound: Yes, often viewers are watching video ads on silent, mainly on Facebook. But when they’re not, what a world of difference a good track adds to your video. A great tip from the Promo sound editor was, to conder sound an enhancement to every video. A recent study found that when the music in an advertisement fits the message and imagery of the commercial, consumers were significantly more emotionally affected and remembered it longer. Now, this means you can choose music that plays to the tone of the video, or for a bit of humor, take your sound in the opposite direction. This contrast can be video magic and certainly something to make sure you’re remembered.

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Step 4: Write Your Engaging Video Caption

Studies show that when viewing videos on social media, a viewer commonly first reads text within a video and then immediately bounces to the caption, often even before the video has run to completion. The caption on a video for social media can make or break a post. If posting on Facebook, the platform recommends choosing a descriptive title for your video that will make it easily searchable.

You may remember George Takei from Star Trek but now he is managing exceptionally written social media channels and has grown a massive following. How did he do it? He has mastered the art of a strong caption. His captions have a clear point of view, are littered with emojis (not a must but a great addition for many brands) and make elicit an emotional reaction, and better yet the motivation to comment and/or share with friends. This can be from a simple statement or an interesting question, as long as it’s authentic.

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Step 5: Run Your Campaign

With people freaking out all over the internet due to the recent Facebook changes, it’s become essential to move from organic content to campaigns. It sounds surprising perhaps but after doing an expansive research on the power of images VS videos in Facebook ads, the data shows that video has up to 4x the reach and 2.5x more clicks on each ad. Promo user, Kelley Payne of Big World Art shared that she, “decreased cost-per-click (CPC) from around $1 to $0.40 – $0.70.” Theresa Shepard, owner of Shepherd & Schaller Sporting Goods, echoed the financial gain when using video to run campaign by noting that video ads, “sparked a 50% increase in store visits during campaigns.”

Hunker down and get to work learning the 101 of running an ad. Starting with Facebook is your best bet, and there you’ll be using the conversion optimization feature. Conversion Optimization guarantees that your videos are seen by a target audience who are likely to be interested in your business and will complete the lead of sales funnel you are hoping for.

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Step 6: Test, Compare & Test Again

Last but not least, it’s all about numbers. For the creative artist in us all, this can be a less thrilling part of the marketing process, but it’s crucial. With loads of analytics and optimization tools on the market such as needls, FunnelDash and Ad Espresso, you’re not alone in this task.

Make sure to track your reach, clicks and sales for each ad and consider A/B testing one element of your video or caption and then run it again. Needls Co-Founder Michael Koral points out that, “by testing two videos against each other, you can isolate what messaging does the best for you (and at a larger scale because more eyes will be on your content) to see what provides the best engagement and ROI from their advertising.” As you create more and more videos you will be able to track your business trends and what wins your audience over.

Also Read: Predictive Analytics: Unlocking the Value in Understanding the Customer

 Conclusion

This is just the tip of the iceberg as the surgance of video continues to climb. As Influencer and Best-Selling Author Joel Comm points out, “Instead of designing a graphic ad that’s likely to be ignored, you can create a simple video ad that people will actually watch and might even share.” And at the end of the day, that’s the point, creating something that viewers want to watch and spread across the web.

With the attention span of online users getting smaller each day, mobile devices taking the lead in the competition for screen time and more brands fighting for attention online, video has moved from an added element of a marketing strategy to an imperative piece of your content creation. Luckily, there are online tools that guide business owners, marketing gurus and social media managers from creation to execution with ease. So … lights, camera, action. Or should we say drag, drop and publish.

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