Alice Oh — September 13, 2018 — September 13, 2018
In today’s modern marketing world, traditional marketing tactics like banner ads and printed advertisements are quickly fading into a thing of the past.
You probably haven’t even noticed a majority of these types of ads or offers from brands in your day-to-day lives. That’s simply because we, as consumers, are becoming increasingly unaffected by and immune to pushy sales tactics.
55% of people watch videos online every day. That’s why brands cannot afford to overlook the power of video content, and must integrate it into their marketing strategy if they haven’t already done so.
Video marketing is quickly becoming the ultimate weapon for engagement and the most effective way to connect with consumers. According to HubSpot, “97% of marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service and 72% of people would rather use video to learn about a product or service.”
Video creates an immersive experience and connection that text can’t. When leveraged wisely, it can elevate your marketing efforts and provide one of the highest ROIs out of your strategy.
Here are some best practices to ensure your video marketing campaigns exceed goals and deliver rewarding results:
Align the Message Around a Genuine Story
Don’t create videos that solely focus on your products or services. You must provide the utmost value to the viewer and must appeal to their needs. Or else, they will be annoyed that they are just another customer being sold to.
Establishing genuine connections with your audience is key to driving loyalty and a credible brand reputation. Whether it’s an educational how-to video or something that tugs at their emotions, consumers will appreciate these types of videos over ones that are aggressively salesy.
Evoke emotion, or make them laugh. Whatever it is, strive to make a genuine connection to bring your video and brand to life. All of your content should be centered around something deeper than a sale. Ensure your brand message is clearly conveyed through your video, and aligns with your brand’s values.
Get SUPER Creative
Along with crafting the right story, your content must stand out. Consider using different forms of video like live-streaming, as it’s a great way to drive engagement. Other forms like virtual reality, 360-degree and webinars are equally engaging and creative. Experiment with new channels like IGTV – Instagram’s long-form vertical video platform.
With the massive amount of video content that exists, you must provide an incredibly creative and unique video that cuts through the noise. Or else, it’ll get lost in the crowd. When creating your video strategy, consider creating quirky content that draws your audience in and leaves long-lasting impressions.
Grab Your Audience’s Attention QUICK
You only have a short amount of time to grab your audience’s attention (a few seconds to be specific), so make sure you do it quick. Your video should immediately spark their curiosity, capture their attention and make them want to watch longer.
Avoid being overly self-promotional and make sure you craft the right message for your audience. If they can’t resonate with or relate to your video in the first few seconds, they’ll more than likely exit from it.
Target the Right Channels
The platform you use to publish and distribute your videos can determine your success, so make sure you go about it strategically. You must use the channel to target an audience who will find your content relevant.
Social media is undoubtedly the best place to share your videos. With over a billion users, YouTube is certainly the biggest platform for videos. LinkedIn is also on the rise to become one of the most powerful platforms, especially when targeting a more professional audience.
Don’t waste your time publishing and sharing your videos on platforms that won’t generate traffic or engagement. Targeting the right channels requires you to carefully plan a video marketing strategy that aligns with your goals. To truly gauge which tactic works, split test different messages and channels.
Optimize for Search
Make sure to optimize your video for search engines to boost your rankings and SEO efforts.
Host your video on your own site and optimize the description and titles with relevant keywords whenever you’re publishing it on other platforms.
Strategically optimizing your videos for search will dramatically increase traffic. Through a bit of careful keyword optimization, your video is more easily searchable and can be all it needs to go viral!
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