By Christian Schaffermarketing.sfgate.com16 minView Original

The days of relying solely on traditional media to get your product out there are long gone. We are now in an era where consumers enjoy a variety of digital content, and rely on their mobile devices for pretty much everything.

As a business owner, it’s essential to adapt to current trends and be willing to evolve as those trends change. One such change is how COVID-19 has redefined consumer habits.

So far in 2020, we rely even more on the internet for daily living.

The virtual world now serves as a bridge to our jobs, schools, grocery stores, healthcare, entertainment, and more.

Within that virtual world, video content is dominating.

Internet users are devouring video content at exponential rates, not only for entertainment but also for solving problems, researching areas of interest, and learning about new products they’re considering.

And video content has a direct impact on purchasing behavior. In fact, 84% of people say that watching a brand’s video has convinced them to buy a product or service.

Business owners should take advantage of this shift in online behavior, and create the type of content that people turn to more and more.

This comprehensive article shares everything you need to know about video marketing and advertising.

Nervous about embarking on a new strategy? Don’t be. You’re in good hands.

Video Marketing vs. Video Advertising: Understanding The Differences

Marketing is an umbrella under which advertising happens to fall.

Video marketing is your overall video strategy, which includes paid advertisements. Video advertising is, more specifically, the paid promotions that you use to share video content.

For example, a video that you embed in a blog post or post organically on social media is a piece of marketing content. If you then use that same video and pay for it to appear as a pre-roll ad with a clear call-to-action, that’s a video ad.

The Power of Video

Video marketing is a great way to get your product in front of your ideal audience, and is a naturally engaging format.

We know that humans enjoy video content, and seek it out for entertainment and to help them make purchasing decisions.

But why does it work so well?

People are all about engaging in organic interactions that foster trust. An inviting, authentic video captivates the user, carrying them through the desired behavior of sharing, commenting conversion, and sales.

The Psychology Behind Video Marketing

Research on various learning methods and retainment revealed that video content is more likely to make a lasting impression. It taps into humans’ ability to remember visual and auditory content better than text.

In marketing, video helps with the “know-like-trust” strategy that many businesses use to develop a deeper connection with someone.

The principle of “know-like-trust” is similar to the marketing funnel, or buyer’s journey. Your customers will be more likely to buy products from you if they get to know you, like you, and trust you

To gain someone’s “know-like-trust,” you need to create content that makes the consumer a priority.

How do you do this?

Use video content tailored to each stage of the buyer’s journey.

There are a few video marketing strategies you can use to achieve better conversions:

1. Make the consumer aware they have a problem.
2. Make the consumer aware that they need to find a solution.
3. Make the consumer aware you have the solution to their problem.
4. Make the consumer want to buy your product.
5. Consumer converts!

You can use many different types of video content for each of these stages, but we’ll dive into that a little later on.

Why Should You Use Videos for Marketing?

Marketers are aggressively leveraging video content because of the continual growth of video viewership. Currently, there are 232 million people in the U.S. who watch online videos. A projected 248.9 million people will be watching online videos by 2022.

The flexibility of video content allows marketers to get creative in ways unimaginable years ago. Our culture today centers around mobile devices. Technology and innovation have opened doors welcoming in a new era of online user experience. Broadband and speedy networks lay the foundation for video usage.

As the crowds immerse themselves digitally, marketing styles and strategies must also proactively become a part of the digital immersion.

Benefits of Video Marketing

There’s much to gain with video marketing! Here are some of the primary benefits:

1. Video content builds “Like-Know-Trust”

Let’s say you’re in the market for a new water heater for your home. Where’s the first place you begin your search? The days of loading up in the car and going store to store making comparisons are gone. And people go deeper than the first few results of a Google Search.

Users now get savvy in their investigations and hunger for more than text. They turn to video to see those water heaters unboxed and learn how they function in order to make their purchasing decision. In fact, YouTube is the second most used search engine in the world.

By visiting video content that has a business owner unboxing a water heater and showing how it works (this could be a live-action demo or animation explainer), you’re going to form a bond with that business owner.

Guess which business you’ll be more prone to buy from?

You will most likely choose the company with video rather than one that only offers text descriptions.

Trust should be a theme in not only your video content but your branding as well. You can foster trust by putting a consumer’s interests first. Transparency of your product is vital.

78% of U.S. consumers want to know everything about your product from what it’s made of, how it works, and your warranty and return policies, before they buy.

2. Videos improve your search engine rankings.

More viewers will see your page if it’s not buried way down deep underneath all the other pages that haven’t ranked. Rise above your competitors by using SEO to get to your target audience!

Search engines are a pipeline between your page and a viewer, and the algorithms on Google and other search engines can work in your favor when it comes to videos.Adding good quality video content to your page benefits you in several ways:

• Click-through rates increase by including a video.
• Bounce rates decrease because the user spends more time on a page with video content.
• Your chances of getting backlinks increase if your video has quality and value.

Good quality video content can increase your search rankings if you stick to your guns by ensuring quality is a priority in making your video. This is why video marketing is a huge trend in the world of SEO as well.

When your ranking goes up, more users are more prone to click on your link and stay on your page if the video quality keeps their attention.

Users will share, comment, or convert because of your video, which will start this cycle again.

3. Video marketing has high ROI.

While a high-quality video can be expensive and a significant investment of time and energy, a study on how marketers perceived their ROI in video marketing indicates that you can anticipate a good ROI.

A large sect of marketers surveyed said their overall ROI was quite good. 95% of marketers plan to leverage video marketing in the future to grow their business.

Video marketing can help you reach your business goals, whether thats driving more traffic to your site, educating your. customers about your product and thus getting more qualified leads, bringing up sales figures, and beyond.

4. Video content attracts the mobile consumer.

It’s a sobering thought that TV may eventually give way to a handheld device. Nevertheless, we’re seeing that mobile video content consumption is growing.

By creating video content with mobile users in mind, you have huge potential reach.

Currently, 96% of the U.S. uses a mobile device, and they’re relying on their devices for a variety of online activity.

50% of all online video consumption takes place on a smartphone or a tablet – those are viewers you don’t want to miss out on!

And not only are people consuming video on mobile, they’re also making purchase decisions.

62% of people who own a mobile device have made a purchase on it in the last six months.

5. Sharing is twice as nice!

Videos elicit social sharing. And that gets your brand more organic exposure.

78% of online users share content to stay connected with others, and video is a great way for them to do that.

No matter how quirky the content may be, if it evokes emotion, the likelihood of getting shared increases. Keep this in mind when brainstorming your next piece of video content.

The more people sharing your content, the more people you’ll get in front of.

This will likely also improve the performance of your social media content, since social media algorithms prioritize content with high engagement rates. And the best part about social media sharing?

It’s totally free!

Types of Marketing Videos

You can use various video marketing formats to get your information to the viewer, while also providing them with a valuable and positive experience.

Regardless of what type of video you publish, always remember that a first impression gained from that video can define whether your marketing efforts are successful or failure.

When planning out your video content, consider what stage of the buyer’s journey you’re targeting.

Are you hoping to raise brand awareness? Or perhaps you’re trying to ease the sales process by educating your customers about your product or service’s features.

Or maybe, you’re hoping to create video content that focuses on making the sale.

As with everything in marketing, setting a goal at the outset is key to shaping your content.

Here are some common formats for marketing videos that your business should consider:

If your goal is to educate consumers about your product, try the following:

• Product Demonstration
• How-to or Tutorial
• Animated Explainer
• 3rd Party Product Review
• Unboxing
• Q&A
• Giveaway

If you want to raise awareness for your business, explain more about your company, or tell your brand story, the following suggestions might be a good fit:

No matter which format you choose, you should focus on creating something high quality that pushes you closer to your overall business objectives.

Video Marketing Tools

Depending on your budget and vision, you might be all set with your smartphone, a tripod, and some decent natural light.

However, in order to scale up your video marketing efforts and to ensure consistent and high-quality content every time, it might make sense to invest in some tools. There is tons of equipment and software options out there, so do your research before making a big purchase.

You might even find yourself watching a company’s explainer videos, a third-party review, or a tutorial, to help you decide!

Here are some tools to consider adding to your process:

Video Creation Software

Video creation software allows you to create videos from scratch online. It’s slightly different than video editing software, since video creation software doesn’t necessarily require you to film your own footage beforehand.

Many platforms will allow you to pull from stock photography and video footage, add in icons, create animations, and record voiceovers.

These can be great for explainer videos, or other videos that don’t rely on high-quality, narrative-style footage.

Here are a few video creation software platforms to look into:

Video Editing Software

Video editing software allows you to piece together your footage to make a cohesive video.

You might consider hiring a professional editor to help you with this, since learning the software can be a challenge. However, there are also plenty of online courses in video editing if you choose to do it yourself!

A good video editing software will help you create a polished, final product to share with the masses.

Here are a few popular video editing programs:

Filming Equipment

Your filming equipment will depend heavily on which type of video you’re hoping to create. While a quick, informal video for Instagram Stories won’t require much, a high-quality product demonstration requires a greater investment.

After all, what’s the point of demonstrating your product if viewers can’t see or hear you well enough to actually understand it?

There are a few categories of filming equipment, from lighting, to sound, and the camera itself.

Here are some items in each of those categories that you might look into:

Camera Gear

• Cameras
• Camera lenses
• Tripod or stabilizer

Lighting

• Ring light
• Softbox
• Studio lighting

Sound

• Lavalier microphone
• Phone-mount microphone
• Studio microphone
• Sound proofing materials

If you’re not in the market to invest in filming equipment (it can be expensive, after all), consider outsourcing the production part of your project to a custom content agency.

How to Create a Successful Video Campaign: 9 Strategies to Use

Tactic 1: Define your goals

Before you develop your video marketing and advertising strategy, think about what your goals are. This will inform the type of video you create, and the tactics you use to promote it.

For example, if you want to increase sales for a specific product, you may create a short video advertisement that you pay to promote using pre-roll display ads on YouTube and other sites, using detailed audience targeting.

Looking to drive organic engagement? Maybe you create a “behind-the-scenes” style vlog of your business, that you post on your YouTube channel and share on your website.

Being clear on your objectives early on will keep your team aligned, inform your content and promotion, and help you know which metrics to track.

Tactic 2: Mobile-friendliness is a must

Like we mentioned earlier, if your videos aren’t mobile-friendly, you’re selling yourself short from the get-go.

During the second quarter of 2020, 51.53% of global website traffic was from a mobile device (and that statistic doesn’t even include tablets!)

Mobile traffic jumped 80% because of COVID-19, and shelter-in-place – people were spending more time at home browsing on their phones.

Not only is mobile traffic increasing across the board, but video viewing makes up the majority of mobile web traffic.

Source: SmartInsights

People are using their phones like never before, so make sure they can watch your content comfortably!

When creating your video, research the appropriate sizing for social media apps, and post your videos on responsive websites.

Tactic 3: Use eye-catching thumbnails

A thumbnail provides a viewer with a window into the world of the video. At least that’s the goal of a thumbnail.

The small image is what beckons someone to click on it. Careful forethought is vital when choosing an image.

Remember, a video thumbnail is equivalent to a video snippet. It’s got to catch the viewer’s attention!

Tactic 4: Tailor your video to each platform

A video that’s the wrong size, format, or length won’t instill confidence in your brand.

Do your research first, and make sure you understand the dimensions and format for the platform you plan to publish on. Instagram Stories have a totally different shape than a YouTube video.

Check out our social media image and video size guide to make sure you’re on the right track.

Tactic 5: Include a call-to-action

So, someone’s seen your video. What do they do next? Include a clear call-to-action in your video, so that your customer moves down the desired funnel.

Depending on what your goals are, you can ask people to share your video, tag someone in the comments, or navigate to your website to purchase something.

For example, if your goal is to increase web traffic, include something at the end of your video that says “Learn More” with a link to your site.

By including a clear next step for the customer to take, you can help them continue to engage with you.

Tactic 6: Cross-promote your videos

Video content can be quite the investment, so you want to promote it from all angles. Are you hosting a live Q&A on your company’s Instagram account? Promote it via email, your other social channels, and on your website.

You can also repurpose your video content by getting a transcription and publishing it to your blog along with your video – this strategy can help you rank your video in search, as well as provide people who prefer to read another way to consume your content.

Not everyone will follow you across all platforms, so by cross-promoting you’ll reach as many people as you can.

Tactic 7: Share your videos in your email newsletters

If an email newsletter is a part of your marketing strategy, include your videos in there! Or create a special series of videos for your subscribers only.

In this way, you’ll get your email subscribers more involved in your other channels – like YouTube. They’ll spend more time with your newsletter, and it offers them additional valuable content.

Here’s an example from the August 2020 Hearst Bay Area newsletter:

Tactic 8: Engage with niche communities

Look for communities that you know will appreciate, engage with, and evangelize your content. Part of this is done with audience targeting for ads, of course, but you can also do it organically.

Perhaps you send out your video content to a specific interest list you have in your customer database. Another great way to do this is to take advantage of online communities and social media groups for people with relevant interests.

You can also learn from these communities by engaging with them, helping you learn more about your users and keep up with what’s trending.

You don’t want to be too salesy, but rather focus on creating and promoting valuable content to the communities that will care about it.

Tactic 9: Use paid promotion to share your videos widely

If you dedicate some of your budget to paid promotion, there are a whole host of options available to you to ensure your videos reach your target audience.

There are several different ways to advertise using video, from video banner ads, display pre-roll advertising, YouTube TruView, social media ads, and more.

Video ads are eye-catching, engaging, and a great way to combat ad fatigue.

Not only that, but they are great for building your retargeting pixel on places like Facebook.

Did you know that all it takes is a 3-second view for you to be able include that viewer in a custom audience? If you don’t have a ton of website traffic, this is an excellent way to build warm audiences that you can advertise your other content or products to in the future.

The best part?

You can generate 3-second video views for around $0.02 per result, making this method of audience building inexpensive and effective.

Consider working with an experienced video advertising partner to help stretch your budget as far as it can go using precise targeting and ad placements.

Looking for more tips? Here are some additional dos and don’ts for a successful marketing video.

Measuring Your Success: Video Metrics and KPIs

You’ve done all this work to create your video and promote it to the right people. Now it’s time to check in and see if it paid off.

Depending on the marketing and advertising strategy you have in place, you should be able to leverage analytics tools from social media platforms, YouTube, or the external team you’ve engaged to place programmatic video ads.

Here are some common video metrics to track:

• Watch time
• Engagement: clicks, likes, shares, comments
• Video view count
• Conversion rate
• Bounce rate
• … and many more.

Measuring your campaign performance is an important part of the process. The metrics you track will be informed by what you’re trying to achieve.

Knowing what worked well and what didn’t will allow you to optimize for your next campaign, run A/B tests, and spend your precious advertising budget more wisely.

Video Marketing and Advertising: Final Thoughts

Your journey in video marketing will include successes as well as some failures. It’s those failures that are learning opportunities that will enable you to grow stronger as a marketer!

There are so many different aspects to video marketing – from the content creations itself all the way to choosing which platforms to run ads on.

You might benefit from engaging the experts to help you reach your goals.

As you think about how to maximize your video strategy, here are some key takeaways to remember:

• Video content is dominating online, both on desktop and mobile. People are consuming more online video every year, and studies show that video is a great way to get people to remember your brand.
• Video marketing and advertising can benefit your business in several ways: it offers high ROI, can increase SEO, and make the sales process go more smoothly.
• Depending on your business goals, there are many different types of marketing videos that can suit your needs.
• You may want to invest in video software and equipment, or work with a third party to produce and promote your videos.
• As with everything in marketing, it’s important to define your goals and KPIs, and track the progress of your video campaigns, to make sure you optimize for next time.

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* This article was originally published here