Are you thinking about creating a video for your brand?
Do you have everything written down? Do you know what to present? Is your brand interesting enough to engage the viewers?
These are some of the questions you must first ask before dipping your toes into video marketing.
Surveys say that integrating video into your marketing tactics will increase the leads you generate by 403%. It is not some random number.
Content marketers have finally realized the value video marketing strategies bring to the table. But that doesn’t mean that you can fly blind.
Video marketing, like traditional write-ups, requires research, forethought and, most importantly, an understanding of what the viewers want.
You can only keep up with these requirements if you keep asking the questions – but what are the right questions to ask?
Where should you put your videos?
Not every platform is cut from the same cloth. Facebook has just recently emerged as the second favorite spot to post videos. However, YouTube still reigns as the king of the video platform. It is also the second-largest video platform globally, appearing in 55% of top search results on YouTube. To give your brand a running start through video marketing, YouTube is where your focus should be.
But what about Facebook? As I said, it is the second favorite platform for video marketing. But that’s not all. Industries such as real estate get most of their calls from viewers who have looked at their Facebook videos. The same goes for fashion – people are basing their buying decisions on what they see on Facebook reels.
It seems surreal, but it is true. Facebook Video marketing is slowly getting steam – so get on it too, and soon.
Who is your audience?
In pursuit of going viral, many brands reverse engineer a viral video they saw online and integrate them with their brands. It is not wrong; many popular brands have ridden the wave of viral videos (they didn’t even leave out “viral” COVID-19 videos, for god’s sake).
However, not every brand has succeeded; most have failed miserably. If you don’t want to be among them – know your audience. It would help if you had a clear idea about your customer. And only then can you tailor your video in a way that yields results.
The task is challenging, and it requires creating a correct buyer persona. But if you truly want your video to get you something, you can’t half-ass anything.
What is the goal of your video?
Do you want to get more eyeballs on your website or develop into a YouTuber? Do you seek to drive people to a particular product/service? Or do you only want to make sure that your video reaches out to most people?
These questions are critical to video creation. They decide the form your video will take when you finally push the record button.
What message are you trying to convey?
Most YouTube Marketing strategies fail because they don’t have the right idea about the message.
To prevent that:
- Start working on its core message after you know the purpose of your video.
- Think about the emotions you want your viewers to feel after watching your video.
- Ponder upon the action you want your viewers to take next.
After you’re clear about your message, let your creativity take the wheel and look for a way to deliver it in a way that fits your brand. Remember, video marketing strategies are all about branding – you must find a way to weave your brand into the message.
On what metrics do you measure the success of video marketing?
It is not just about the views. The success of your videos should depend on other factors as well, such as:
- How many people engaged with you in the comment section?
- How many of these viewers got interested in your offerings?
- Did your viewers click the website link you gave in the video description? If so, how many?
- How many viewers took time to not just view but share your videos?
The result of your efforts in creating a video shouldn’t stop at view count; it should go beyond that.
How to grab your audience’s attention?
5 seconds – that’s all you get to grab your viewer’s attention. Take any more time, and they’ll bounce off faster than it took for them to search for you.
Take a deep dive into video marketing techniques. Find out what makes views click with the videos that they see. Your goal is to keep your viewers entertained throughout your video. The moment they lose interest, they’ll look for better offerings.
Is the video scripted, or are you making it all up along the way?
Live videos have grown in popularity. They require minimum creativity and the presence of mind of the actor to keep the viewer engaged. But it is not for everyone. The success of live videos relies on people who already know about the channel and are interested in its offerings.
Can you say the same for your brand when you have even started?
For you, scripted videos are the way to go. The correct sequence of sentences and events keeps everything within a video in tight order. If your goal is to deliver information, you can’t just regurgitate it on a live video.
Get someone good to write a script, someone who understands the peaks and valleys of interest your brand can create for the viewer. And once everything is ready, press the record button.
Most YouTube Marketers have built their brands this way.
Conclusion
Before you press that record button – think. When in video form, your content is raw and has the potential to perfectly convey the message of your brand. But you have to do it right.
Ask yourselves the right questions. Dive deep into why you’re doing what you’re doing. Understand your viewer’s needs beforehand.
Most importantly, create a metric to measure the success of your video marketing strategies.