Austin Gould — November 23, 2019 We can’t say this enough: video content as part of a digital marketing strategy is the way of the future. According to The New York Times, “We’re entering a ‘post-text world.’ Multimedia will soon dominate every channel. In other words, using writing to communicate with your audience is going out of style, and quickly.”
Because there are many types of video content out there, you might not know where to start. If you don’t know which style of video is best suited for your company’s goals, use this article as your helpful guide.
Important Video Content Reminders For Your Digital Marketing Campaign
Regardless of the type of video you’re creating, if the video content is not entertaining, informative or interesting, it will not be seen. Consult my previous article about creating captivating videos if you need help with your content creation.
As I have discussed before, the first step in any content marketing process is to determine the purpose. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, awareness or education with a short video, you will most likely want to create one for distribution on social media. If you want to inform with a longer video, create it with YouTube in mind.
Some of the video content ideas listed in this article will take more time to create than others. Consult your team, resources and timeline before you decide which style you want to invest in.
10 Video Content Types To Consider
1. Company Culture/Meet The Team Videos
Your consumers want to get to know your brand and the people behind it. One of the best ways to show your audience your core values, culture, mission and team members is with behind-the-scenes video content. These videos give consumers an inside look at what sets your company apart from the rest, and why your brand deserves loyalty from them.
According to Single Grain, “The culture behind a brand is the secret sauce that whets employee appetites and perks up bored, disenchanted consumers.”
Additional culture videos include recording office games, employee interviews, birthday and holiday parties, and everything in between.
The goal of culture videos is to show that your company is more than just a process. Real humans with personality work at your organization. A bonus of high-quality culture videos is that they can attract new, motivated candidates to your company.
2. Round-Up Videos
Round-ups are the video form of listicles. Listicles are easily transformed into video content and are often more engaging to your audience than written text. According to uscreen, the best round up videos are:
- Relatively short: aim for four minutes or less to keep your audience engaged
- Visual: don’t just speak to the camera; mix in clips or stills of the people, products, or places you’re describing
- Varied: give your viewers a range of options so there’s something for everyone
The goal of round-ups is to be quick, entertaining and engaging. For example, some easy ideas for round-ups for marketing companies would be:
- 6 tips for digital marketing
- 9 things you need for an effective marketing strategy in 2020
3. Behind-The-Scenes Videos
Behind-the-scenes video content also helps your business and your brand seem more relatable and less like a corporation.
Most audiences enjoy seeing how the content they love is made. According to uscreen, “If you have exclusive insight into a process, project or situation your customers would be interested in, consider making a behind-the-scenes (BTS) video. These are usually less polished than traditional videos and incorporate lots of raw footage. As a bonus, they work for both B2C and B2B brands.”
Behind-the-scenes video content also helps your business and your brand seem more relatable and less like a corporation. The more friendly and approachable your business is, the stronger the relationship between you and your audience becomes.
4. Vlogs
One of the most popular types of video content across the internet is a “vlog.” This type of short video often showcases one person going about their daily life. For business you can detail what you do on a daily basis at your company, or have team members take turns vlogging on the brand’s behalf. You can even take blogs you have already written and turn them into vlog content.
According to Single Grain, “Vlogs are cheap to produce, personality-driven and quite possibly the best bang for your buck in terms of sheer engagement value. Vlogging is a great medium to share a daily journey because of how intimate it is and how easy it is to build a relationship with your audience.”
5. Interview Videos
Interview video content often includes two people, where one person asks questions and one person answers them. The difference between an interview that is written versus one that is in video form is personality. Words are a powerful tool to get a message across, however video content is the best way to convey emotion. You can use interview content to introduce new team members, show off brand values and align yourselves with other interesting personalities in your field.
You can use interview content to introduce new team members, show off brand values and align yourselves with other interesting personalities in your field.
According to Single Grain, “A good interview should follow a set of guidelines like a vlog but feel unscripted. As an interviewer, your job is to make your subject do the talking, not the other way around. A well-done interview video is like a Get Out of Jail Free card for your content calendar, and at the very least is a surefire way to spark some discussion on LinkedIn.”
Interview content is relativity easy and cheap to produce and, if you invite other experts in your field into an interview, they may share this content on their own social media sites and introduce your content to a brand new audience.
6. Q&A Videos
Q&A, or question and answer segments, are similar to interviews, but instead of you asking the questions, you let your audience ask you questions. This video content also utilizes social media. Ask your social media followers to send you questions, select the ones you want to answer, and then record the video. If you are well-versed with video content, you can also try live streaming a Q&A session. That being said, unless you are comfortable with public speaking and being put on the spot, we suggest sticking to pre-recorded videos; that way you can edit the video in post-production if you need to.
Q&A videos also allow your audience to get direct access to your company and show that your business is transparent, giving your brand a boost in digital marketing.
7. Featured Product Videos
If you review a product that your company uses and trusts, your audience will start to see your brand as reliable and honest.
There are a lot of product reviews in digital marketing, and in our day and age, very few consumers buy products without consulting another source like their friends or internet reviews.
If you review a product that your company uses and trusts, your audience will start to see your brand as reliable and honest. According to Biteable, “78 percent of people said that their buying decisions have been influenced by brands’ social media posts. Video is a great way to highlight a product or demonstrate a specific feature. An informal social media post can seem more authentic than an ad and encourage people to click buy.”
8. Tips/How To Videos
Information is more available now than ever. Your audience is looking for helpful tips and tricks that they can use to improve their daily life. Does your company have something you can help answer for them? You may want to offer your advice through a video. In fact, according to Biteable, “This type of content is actually one of the most searched for online.” This type of video content will also help improve your brand credibility and the trust your audience has for your brand.
9. Case Studies And Testimonial Videos
Anyone interested in your goods or services wants to know exactly what they are getting, so show them! Testimonials are phenomenal for digital marketing, and an outstanding way to show consumers what your product or service is, and that you are proud of it.
Anyone interested in your goods or services wants to know exactly what they are getting, so show them!
As uscreen stated, “When it comes to conversion, you can’t beat case studies and testimonials. It’s all thanks to social proof, or the psychological phenomenon that causes people to want something when they see others using it.”
Testimonials are also authentic video content. We highly recommend that you don’t use actors to represent your actual clients. This can make your brand seem fake and inauthentic. Stick with real clients to show your audience you value their business.
10. Announcement Videos
Is there anything more exciting than a new announcement? Whether you are sharing a new product, opening a new location or hosting a new event, an announcement video helps you get you the message across to your audience and cultivates excitement.
It is important to note that while your announcement doesn’t have to be funny, it does have to be engaging, so keep your video content short, simple and concise.
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