Online videos are huge. There’s no other way to say it. People want to watch videos, and watch them they will. On Youtube and Vimeo, Netflix and Amazon Prime. And, importantly, people want to see videos from the brands they follow.
According to a recent Hubspot report, over half of the public say this, and further, ¾ of the video content they’re watching, they’re watching on social media channels. This has huge ramifications for your marketing efforts, especially if you haven’t given much thought to this medium. It can feel overwhelming to have to add video to your already full editorial calendar, but it doesn’t have to.
To help alleviate the concerns we can hear growing from here, we’ve compiled this article to give you a brief rundown of the genre of video marketing, so you’ll move forward confident in the knowledge that yes, you can do this.
OK, so what is Video marketing?
Let’s start with the basics: just what is meant by the term “video marketing?” To be blunt, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Marketing content in the form of a video. We’re not talking about someone reading your written content into a camera, mind you. We’re talking about incorporating video into your existing marketing strategy.
- Those video ads that appear in your personal Facebook timeline? Those are video marketing.
- That email newsletter you got last week, the one with a short video introducing the author’s new course? Yep, video marketing.
- And how about that cool “day in the life” video your competitors posted yesterday, the one talking about job openings and what a cool company they are? You guessed it, video marketing.
Got it, so why does this matter to me?
Humans are visual creatures. We remember things longer, and more accurately when the facts are accompanied by images (bonus points if they’re moving). This is because we associate the facts with what we saw happening and since our brains are configured the way they are, the facts stick alongside the images.
In today’s marketing world, it’s important to note a couple of other things:
- On social media, videos get shared more than 10 times as often as text or image posts
- Click through and conversion rates are 25-35% higher for these posts, depending on the specific platform
So that’s why this matters for you and your upcoming campaigns. If you want your target audience to remember what you said, and click through to your landing page to take further action—it’s time to start posting some videos!
Time for the nitty-gritty: how to use video in your marketing campaigns
First, to answer the question we know you’re dying to ask—No. No, you don’t have to hire a professional director and crew to get started with video marketing. Frankly, it can be as simple as filming on your phone with some simple light setups (like a lamp borrowed from your cubicle mate). Then you can edit the footage in free software, add your company branding, and voile! Video marketing.
For a deeper dive into this essential part of any marketing campaign, we’ve compiled a short list of content ideas for you to consider using to dip your toes into the video marketing world. By staying on top of trends like this, you’re sure to increase your conversion rates and see a lovely spike in your ROI in return for your time and efforts.
Customer testimonials
People trust other people more than they do companies. That applies even to the companies they like and patronize. You can use that fact to your advantage by filming some testimonials from your happy customers. These videos are like magical fairy dust, and you can sprinkle them, well, everywhere to increase click through, conversions, and engagement. Post them to your YouTube channel first, then embed that link in tweets, link to them from Facebook updates, even re-purpose them into ads on every channel you use.
Company profile
Sometimes the best way to convey your brand voice is to actually speak to your audience. Film a day in the life of your office mates. You can feature clips of employees and management talking about what a great company you all work for. Show viewers around campus, and maybe get a glimpse into the inner workings of your production line (or software developers, or whatever). This is a fantastic way to put human faces and voices on your company brand voice. As a result, your audience knows a little more about you, your company, and they can see the human side of what you do.
Values spotlight: social branding
Remember that community service your office participated in last month? Did you remember to film it? Awesome, edit that footage down to about 2 minutes (the optimal length for those all-important shares) and get it posted. Now your audience knows your company has a social conscious to go with everything else they’re learning about you. A majority of millennials will leave a company if they feel the company's values don’t line up with their own. And let’s be honest, this cohort makes up the majority of the buying public at this point, and their market share will only increase with time, so it pays to pay attention to them.
How-to videos: marketing gold
According to Google, 80% of millennials use Youtube to learn how to do something. That’s a massive untapped market that you can take advantage of. This genre of video lets your followers meet employees, further engaging them on a personal level with your brand.
Show them how to use your new widget, or how to solve some other problem, even if it’s only tangentially related to what you sell. People love learning how to do things, and it will only serve to increase the trust they have in you since they can see that you’re only doing it to help them out, and not to sell them anything.
Wrapping it up
As you can see, video marketing is an easy way to increase your stock in the eyes of your social media followers and your broader brand audience in general. By putting a human face and voice to your brand, you enable the public to build trust in you. By nurturing that trust with more great video content, you’re well on your way to converting all those engaged people into happy customers.
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