As the marketing industry evolves, trends come and go. Strategies are adapted as brands leverage new technologies and respond to consumer demand. However, there’s one “trend” that’s more than a passing fad, video marketing.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a blog, guide, or resource online that doesn’t recommend incorporating video into your marketing strategy. It’s one of the most powerful tools for attracting and converting leads in your marketing arsenal, as well as connecting with consumers long after the sale.

What is video marketing?

In its simplest form, video marketing is using video to promote your services, products, or company through digital media. Whether live videos, IG stories, vlogs, Facebook ads, pre-roll, or TikTok – video can take on various forms. But whatever shape, video should be an integral part of businesses’ 2022 marketing plans.

Why is video marketing so important?

It’s easy to let the numbers speak for themselves. A current state of the market report on video usage revealed the following:

  • Video remains a key priority for marketers, with 86% of businesses reporting they were using video as a marketing tool.
  • 92% of marketers value video as an important part of their marketing strategy.
  • Marketers feel positive about the return on investment offered by video, with 87% reporting an increase in web traffic. 
  • Videos are 53 times more likely to generate first-page rankings than other traditional SEO techniques.
  • 94% of marketers say video has helped increase understanding of their product or service, and 86% say it has helped generate leads.

Consumers continue to use video as an integral part of their journey with brands. Not only do we watch videos to learn more about products and services, but we’re also more likely to share them with friends than any other form of content. This popularity of video doesn’t mean throwing all other forms of marketing out the window. Rather utilizing an advertising mix that incorporates video.

Incorporating video into your marketing strategy.

The first step in incorporating video into your marketing plan is to decide the type that will best work towards achieving your goals. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the various kinds. 

Brand videos showcase your businesses’ vision, mission, customer service, objectives, the deliverance of quality, etc., to build brand awareness. Vlogs (or video blogs) are a great vehicle for telling your brand’s story.   

Conducting interviews with experts in your industry might help establish your business as an invaluable resource to consumers.

Who doesn’t love a how-to video? These educational videos teach your audience something beneficial.

People watch explainer videos to learn more about a product. Animation can work great to demonstrate harder concepts.

User-generated video is just that, letting the consumer create your content for you. What used to be primarily in social media is popping up everywhere.

Testimonial videos let your existing customers talk about their positive experiences with your company to build trust.

Live videos increase engagement dramatically. Live-stream events, presentations, and interviews to help the audience get to know your business in real-time.

You don’t need a big budget to make a big impact. Whether you shoot on your iPhone or outsource to a professional, there are countless ways you can incorporate video in your brand strategy to increase engagement. For example, include a quick video on your blog page summarizing the content and providing additional visuals. Use animation to train customers on your product. Create a short pitch video on your landing page to help increase web conversions.

Before creating your videos, you should already have an idea of how you will distribute them and where they will live. You may want to consider a video hosting site (Hello You Tube and Vimeo!). From there, you can share videos on your website, social media, and other online platforms.

When shooting videos, there are a few things you want to keep in mind:

  1. Be prepared- Make notes, use a script, do you need a monitor 
  2. Pick a place without visual or noise distractions.
  3. Look for good lighting; a ring light is also super helpful.
  4. Be authentic and real.
  5. Keep them short and sweet.
  6. If you use music, make sure you have the right licensing.
  7. Be aware of the surroundings. You don’t want to get into editing and realize there was garbage in the background, or some other objects, or even people that ruin your entire production! 
  8. If you are including people in your production, be mindful of any financial obligations you may encounter. It’s best to address those details in writing prior to production so you don’t run into issues down the road with talent fees. (Even though you thought your good friend or cousin was just “helping you out”)     

You’ve got your videos produced; now what?

YouTube is a great place to start – in 2021, it ranked as the number two visited website, just behind Google. Create your own YouTube channel to share brand content, how-to videos, and more. Other options include Vimeo, Wistia, and SproutVideo. Look for hosting sites with the following features:

· An easy-to-use interface

· Basic analytics tools to measure the impact of your videos

· SEO tools to make your videos search-engine friendly

· The ability to embed your videos on external websites

From there, we recommend taking a good look at your audience and finding out where they are spending most of their time. Your distribution strategy needs to mimic how your audience is consuming media. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are all great platforms to investigate depending on your product or industry. 

While social media seems to be the most obvious choice for distributing videos, sometimes you want to be extremely targeted. Just like paid print advertising, video has paid opportunities. Have you heard of pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll videos? If you haven’t heard them called by name, you’ve most likely interacted with them.

Pre-roll ads are short promotional videos that play before featured videos on desktop and mobile. A mid-roll ad is a video that plays during a video and a post-roll ad plays after the video has finished. The advantage of this type of advertising is an already attentive audience.

Streaming video is gaining popularity to reach viewers on OTT (over the top) services. OTT refers to any streaming service that delivers content over the internet. The service is delivered “over the top” of another platform. Services like Netflix, Hulu, Roku, and Disney+ are just a few video OTT services that provide a wide selection of programming that you could take advantage of based on consumer interest.

In conclusion

Video marketing is part of the future of marketing in 2022 and beyond. If you’d like to chat more in-depth about how our team can leverage video marketing as a part of your overall marketing strategy, please give us a call or shoot us an e-mail. We’re ready to help you tell your story! info@portsideadvertising.com 251-445-5370

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