The Importance of Video Marketing in Your Digital Strategy
Video marketing is part of an overall digital marketing strategy that utilizes video content as a means to reach and engage audiences and get the word out about a product or service. From traditional websites and emails to social media, many channels and video formats are available for businesses to use to promote themselves and keep ahead of trends.
Let’s take a minute to review all of the basics of video marketing as well as consider the benefits of choosing to integrate video into your digital marketing strategy. By the end, you will understand how you can harness the power of video marketing for your business, no matter its size or location, by leveraging effective pre-production planning and creative concept development.
Why Video Marketing Is Essential for Engaging Your Audience
In 2023, video is more important than ever, and you don’t have to stretch your imagination to prove that point. Just look around and see how many people (many with Bluetooth headphones) are watching videos on their phones or mobile devices. It adds up to a lot of people. In fact, in 2022 alone, video streaming made up an incredible 65% of all internet traffic.
To be clear, people on their devices are not just watching Netflix. Studies show that consumers actually prefer video ads to more traditional sources of digital media advertising. In fact, a report based on a survey conducted by market research company Wyzowl revealed that 96% of customers admitted to watching a video to better understand a product or service before purchasing it, and 89% admitted that watching the video convinced them to buy.
How Video Marketing Can Boost Your SEO Efforts
In addition to its powers of engagement, video marketing can also help boost your general SEO rankings. Search engines like Google reward sites that feature videos for a few key reasons. First, as established above, users enjoy video ads, which means that featuring a video on a social media platform can drive traffic to a primary website, effectively boosting rankings.
Next, because users view and share videos at a higher rate than other online media, featuring video increases your chance of earning organic backlinks as users share your videos. Finally, because of the engagement factor that comes along with marketing videos, customers who land on your website are more likely to stay there longer, which also has a positive effect on your rankings.
The Different Types of Video Marketing to Consider for Your Business
Video, like any marketing medium, is its own art. In that respect, there is really no one “right” way to create videos for your business or specific types of videos that will work better than others. It’s all about context. However, a few common video styles are important for businesses to consider, such as:
- Brand awareness videos: These ads focus on raising consumer awareness about your brand as a whole. They are less about a specific CTA, product, or service, and more about getting your brand name into the mind of consumers. Think about some of the funniest ads of the last 10 to 20 years — many of them build brand awareness by making a memorable commercial.
- Product and service videos: Whether it’s a high-end product commercial to show off what you sell or a video visualizing the process of the services you offer, these types of videos effectively engage consumers by visually communicating to them what you do or sell.
- Lifestyle and narrative ads: Story is everything, and these ads put the story front and center. Rather than focusing on the specifications of a product or service, these ads use cinematic techniques to tell a visually compelling story in 30 seconds or less to help potential customers imagine themselves using your brand’s products or services. They are an effective way to speak directly to your consumer base and target demographic and a fun way to communicate your brand’s personality and values.
- Demo videos: The purpose of this video is to provide short, educational content specifically related to the products and services your business provides. Demo videos should focus on the benefits of your product/service and have a clear call to action at the end.
- Behind-the-scenes videos: The purpose of this video is to show the audience what “really goes on” at your company. It doesn’t have to include a clear sales pitch or CTA, but it should focus on being authentic and connecting emotionally with viewers.
- How-to videos: Whether they are related to your products or to the industry in general, how-to videos show customers how to do something. The purpose is to help them learn outside of sales, thus establishing your brand as knowledgeable and helpful within the broader industry.
- Customer testimonials: As the name implies, the purpose of customer testimonial videos is to showcase the strength of your business through the mouths of users. This will increase your brand’s credibility while also showcasing the value of your products and services.
The Benefits of Investing in Professional Video Production Services
These days, nearly everyone carries a video production unit in their pocket or handbag in the form of a smartphone, and the quality and convenience of smartphone video is hard to beat. However, there is more to marketing video production than the recording itself, and businesses that are serious about video marketing should, at the very least, consult with a professional video production company before simply posting content themselves. Among other things, professional production can provide:
- Creative development for individual ads, or larger campaigns
- Professional cinematography, lighting, audio production, and editing to help your ad stand out in a sea of visual content
- Expertise and experience in the medium
- High-quality audio and video
- Storytelling skills
- Access to networks and resources for video production
- Efficiency and value
Creating a Successful Video Marketing Campaign
Like any digital marketing effort, to create a successful video marketing campaign, it is important to know your strategy and take conscious steps to increase your success in terms of both return on investment (ROI) and engagement. Let’s take a look at some important tips for planning a video marketing campaign strategy.
Developing a Video Marketing Strategy That Aligns with Your Business Goals
As with any type of content marketing from email and blogs to social media posts, it’s important to start with an end goal in mind. What is the purpose of this video? Is it promotional? Educational? Persuasive?
You also want to make sure you have a clear idea of your audience or target market. Look at their interests and needs and make sure you are clearly planning to address them in your video. It’s important to focus on both the goal of your video as well as its memorability, which is how you ensure that it stays at the front of your target market’s minds.
How to Choose the Right Platforms for Your Video Marketing Efforts
Another consideration is where you will post the video, as the platform can dictate everything from length to orientation (horizontal or vertical). Not all social media videos translate smoothly across platforms, so you want to make sure that you are either optimizing the video for each platform or only posting it to select sites. Similarly, videos that you post on your website or in an email can be different.
Maximizing the Reach and Impact of Your Videos with Targeted Promotion
Another consideration for your video marketing strategy is how to promote it. Paid social media advertising has its benefits and can increase your video’s overall engagement. However, to make sense, your paid efforts should be rooted in a strong analysis of your target market and their social habits.
Measuring the Success of Your Video Marketing Campaigns and Making Data-Driven Adjustments
Finally, make sure that you have a system in place to measure the relative success of your video marketing efforts. Which measurements you use will depend entirely upon the goals you set at the beginning. For example, if you are trying to increase social media engagement with video marketing, then views, impressions, and social shares are good metrics to consider. On the other hand, those who want to increase sales through video marketing will need to look at more traditional metrics.
Get Started with Video Marketing for Your Business
When you are at the beginning of a video marketing journey, it is easy to get overwhelmed, which is why it is smart to have a partner supporting you through the process. At Elevation Ten Thousand, we are experienced in both video production and promotion within larger marketing campaigns, and we know how to seamlessly integrate them into an overall digital and traditional marketing strategy. Contact us today to learn more about our video marketing services and how they can help you take your digital marketing and engagement to the next level.
