There are a few words that I’d use to describe video marketing right now all at once:
Essential. Dynamic. Oversaturated.
Video marketing is important, because video is easily the best medium for dynamic storytelling, and more users than ever before want to see video more than anything else.
Unfortunately, everyone knows this, and our environment is being flooded with low-quality videos brands are churning out just to try to stay relevant. Our Facebook feeds, display ads, and even emails are full of video, making it even harder for brands to stand out.
Video inflation is a huge challenge that businesses need to overcome now, and while some brands are tempted to run in the other direction, combating this oversaturated market with better, high-quality videos on a regular basis is actually the way to go.
What We Mean By “Video Inflation”
Most brands– large and small alike– have heard of the benefits of video marketing. We know, for example, that stories are captivating and make powerful marketing messages. We also know that people pay attention to video content completely, while they may only skim posts or try to listen to highlights in podcasts. (This is largely why viewers retain around 95% of a message when they see it in a video, but only about 10% after reading it in text.)
It’s led to a goldrush-like boom in video marketing as a result, which has led to video inflation. And unfortunately, just like the goldrush, too many people who are looking in the wrong places end up empty-handed.
Here’s what we mean when we say video inflation: In attempt to produce more and more video content to attract attention and beat out the background noise, too many brands end up creating too many low-quality videos that are generalized, non-specific, and really just designed to act almost like a placeholder in a social feed.
With 86% of online businesses and marketers regularly relying on video, it’s no surprise that we’re drowning in it. More than 72 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds, and the number of Instagram videos uploaded quadrupled year-over-year from 2016 to 2017, showing rapid growth. And unfortunately, most of the content being pushed is low quality. (See below; there’s no story, low-quality images, and it’s basically just serving as an announcement.)
Brands are trying to create as much video as possible for as low of a price as possible, but they’re going about it in the wrong way. They’re using generalized messages, trying to go for mass-appeal instead of focusing in on the powerful stories that make people great. As a result, there’s a lot of generic, uninteresting video content that’s filling up the feeds.
How to Create Videos That Actually Stand Out
You know that video inflation is a big problem, but you also know that you need video marketing. The question now becomes how you can engage with your target audience and offer them value with video instead of just adding to the white noise.
You do want to copy part of the not-so-great strategies that focuses on scale. You do, after all, need an enormous amount of content over a set period of time just to keep people engaged on a regular basis with messaging that’s important to them.
The key will be to create a video campaign that’s scalable but also high quality and personalized.
What Does “Personalized But Scalable Mean?”
Here’s an example.
Let’s say I’m a wedding planner who is trying to find clients. I have a basic package, which offers wedding day coordination and basic consulting for only $800. My wedding planner alter-ego also has a mid-level package, that includes the same thing in addition to vendor coordination and mid-level management for $2000. And then I finally have a I’ll-do-everything-for-you-even-spoon-feed-you plan that costs $15,000 and involves full management and planning.
There’s a good chance that I’m going to have different audience niches here, which means they’ll want different content. My entire audience will be happy to see video content about me and why I decided to become a majestic wedding planner. Many will be happy to see raving video reviews from happy clients intermingled with their video footage.
The rest of the content, though, may need to be more personalized for the niches. The low-level package clients may love video content about how to find flowers on a budget, with tips about seasonal blooms for the bouquets.
These budget-conscious brides may also be interested in budget-specific content, like “how to know who pays for what.” They can’t shell out costs for everything, after all.
The high-level clients may not be sticking to a budget at all, however, and can fly in exotic orchids from other countries. They might be more interested in something like “The Most Luxurious Wedding Trends of 2019.”
By choosing a scalable video strategy, you can create strong videos using stories and personalized content that will appeal to every member of your audience, and you’ll be able to do so regularly.
Shakr was designed to help with this. Our video software allows you to quickly find video templates that align with what you need, and all you need to do is drop in video clips and/or images, customize the text, and download the video so you can use it in your campaigns in the blink of an eye.
If you’re altering the message of a video only slightly to appeal to different audience niches, simply swap out a video clip or two and you’ll save a huge amount of time while still being able to create high quality, personalized content. This is the key to mass video campaigns that work in your favor instead of against you, allowing you to consistently engage with your target audience in a way that makes them excited to watch instead of scrolling past you all together.
We can help you create videos like this in just a few minutes:
Our clients are regularly putting out 1,000+ videos per year and seeing higher-than-ever-before social engagement and lift in brand awareness as a direct result. You can experience that, too.
Final Thoughts
Many brands feel stumped with video marketing, worrying that it’s too expensive or too time-consuming to create. They either neglect it all together, or try to fall back on generic content that isn’t high quality and isn’t personalized or engaging just because they think it’s their only option.
Personalized, scalable video content that allows you to connect with all of your audience niches is so crucial here, and you really need to be connecting with them on an on-going basis if you want the incredible benefits video has to offer. It’s like blogging; one great blog post won’t do much for your brand, it needs to be an ongoing effort.
Use Shakr’s video templates to create those scalable campaigns, allowing you to personalize your videos with a few clicks instead of having to outsource it or struggle with it yourself for several hours.
Just imagine what 1000+ incredible, personalized videos can do for your brand in a one-year period. Now get ready and get in touch, because we can help you get there.
Ready to revolutionize your video marketing campaign with Shakr? Get in touch to see what we can do for you today.
The post How to Succeed at Video Marketing Amidst Video Inflation appeared first on Shakr Video Marketing Blog.
* This article was originally published here