In 2024, it’s approximated that there are over 3.3 billion video viewers worldwide. Additionally, it’s estimated that 89% of people want to see video content from businesses.[1] I thought that was quite astonishing, to be honest! So, what does this mean? It means that you should take a look at video marketing and how it can boost your digital marketing strategy.
In this guide, I explore video marketing including the different types of content, why its beneficial, and some simple tips so you can get started behind the camera – enjoy!
Video Marketing Introduction
Video marketing is essentially any type of video content that you use to promote your business. Common types of video subjects include:
- Video testimonials.
- Product demo videos.
- Q&A sessions.
- How-to videos.
- Company culture videos.
- Behind-the-scenes content.
- Educational videos.
You can get creative with this type of content and the only limit is your imagination. Video marketing is then distributed via a range of mediums and channels including:
- Embedding on landing pages.
- Embedding on your website content.
- Posted on your social media profiles.
- Hosted directly on your YouTube channel.
The idea is to enhance your digital marketing and provide visual information that your customers can easily digest.
What are the Benefits of Video Marketing for Businesses?
So, we can see the different types of video marketing, but why should you bother and what can they do for your business? I’ve listed their main five benefits below:
1. You Make a Stronger Connection with Customers
Sometimes businesses struggle to engage with customers and prospects because they don’t have that connection and resonance. A primary reason for this is a lack of transparency and the business seeming like this big, unapproachable thing.
Video marketing strips away opaqueness and barriers and helps customers see that your company is approachable and human. And in a digital world that is even more important than before.
For example, if you create a short product demonstration where you get behind the camera and record the video from your home this creates an immediate connection with the viewer. They can see you are a real person, and they can relate to what they are seeing.
This, in turn, creates trust and allows the viewer to build a connection with you which should ultimately result in improved engagement and ROI. Video marketing shows your businesses’ human side and makes it easy to relate to.
2. Landing Page Conversion Rates Should Improve
Did you know that it’s estimated that including video marketing on your landing pages can boost conversion rates by 85%+?[2] That level of conversion is difficult to ignore and it shows how powerful video marketing is.
A relevant video embedded onto your landing page gives customers a focal point. It also gives them more reason to stay on the page and learn more in an easy-to-digest format. This, in turn, can decrease bounce rates and give them the information they need to progress to the next stage of your funnel.
3. Videos can Boost Brand Awareness
I can guarantee that at least one of you has seen an annoying Temu video where the lady sings about shopping like a billionaire. It might be annoying, but it’s also genius as it makes sure that the Temu brand sticks in your mind.
This is the potential power of video marketing – it can help your brand awareness and get people talking about your business.
Video marketing can boost brand awareness from the shareability, and constant stream of content published on multiple outlets. It is also far more memorable compared to written marketing and is thus more likely to stick in your customer’s minds.
4. Your Reach and Engagement will Increase
Firstly, I’ve been posting videos on LinkedIn (and TikTok as a test) and to be honest, the videos to seem to generate significantly more impressions or reach. My videos are often viewed by more people on LinkedIn than much of my written content. Of the top 3 posts for impressions in the last 28 days, 1 is a video. So, video can definitely help with reach and building your brand.
Like other posts, video marketing is shareable and interactive which helps boost your engagement. Just think of the ways that your customers and prospects can interact with your videos – they can share them on their social media feeds or via messages.
They can also like the video if it’s on a social media platform or YouTube. They can also comment on your videos, which you can then reply too.
All of this interactivity creates engagement which gets people talking about your business and sends positive signals to Google that your brand is authoritative and gives customers what they want.
The top performing posts for me in terms of engagement on LinkedIn in the last 28 days includes 2 videos 😉.
Your ROI can Improve
Ultimately, video marketing should improve your ROI. It’s quickly becoming one of the most successful types of marketing due to individuals and consumer’s changing habits and how we engage with digital media.
Things like video testimonials, product demonstrations, and Q&As have a real impact on your customers and can sway their decision to make that final push and make a purchase or send an enquiry.
Not only that, but you can also keep your video marketing budget incredibly low – all you need is your smartphone and a little time to develop some video scripts. And to be honest, as you start recording videos you can pretty much just to them. I tend to think about what I’m going to talk about and then go for it. The second or third recording rarely happens now… and let’s be honest, I feel it is better to be authentic and even laugh at yourself when you stumble over a word or a pronunciation.
5 Tips to Make Successful Video Marketing Content
As you can see, video marketing has the potential to be powerful and give real benefits to your business. However, potential is the key word. Not all video marketing is successful! To get the most out of your camera and acting skills, I’ve listed five simple tips that will make your video marketing shine.
1. Video Doesn’t Need to be Flashy
It’s perfectly possible to spend thousands on your video marketing and use flashy software like Adobe Premier Pro and an expensive DSLR camera. However, a grounded, low-budget approach is more effective.
Most consumers today don’t want to see an elaborately filmed video with sublime cinematography and an orchestral soundtrack. Instead, they often find simplistic videos much more appealing and relatable.
So, don’t try and be Tarantino when creating your video marketing – just get in front of your smartphone camera and create something simple that your audience can resonate with.
And whatever you do, don’t use the lack of equipment hold you back and allow you to procrastinate as it did you me for so many years. Literally – just do it!
2. Make Your Video Content Short and Snappy
We now live in an age where shortform content is king and this is seen via the insane popularity of Tik Tok, Instagram Shorts, and YouTube Shorts. Most consumers don’t have the time to watch full-blown documentary-style video marketing.
They do have time to digest a few minutes of content though. So, consider concentrating on shortform content that is 1-3 minutes long. It’s surprising how much you can pack into that short timeframe.
By using shortform content, you can also increase your video marketing quantity without sacrificing quality. For example, you could break up a 10-minute product video idea you had into 5 2-minute shorts.
I tend to keep my LinkedIn videos to 1-2 minutes and that seems to be working well. Saying that, I think I’ll test longer to see what impact that might have. Always testing 😉.
3. Speak Directly to Your Viewers
The best marketing videos speak directly to the viewer. It’s a known fact that we are more likely to resonate and engage with a video if we feel we are being spoken to and that what we are saying resonates with the individual viewing the video or post.
So, instead of using third-person language and speaking to an unknown customer, use direct language as if you are speaking to a friend.
For example, you could speak about the benefits of your products/service, and how they will help the viewer – “our accounting software will allow you to balance your books easily”, instead of “this accounting software allows businesses to balance their books easily”.
It’s a minor difference, but the first line is personable and addresses the viewer directly which is more likely to elicit a response. Using you and your makes a big difference…
4. Be Sure to Include Captions/Subtitles
This is a strange one due to the nature of videos, but many people actually watch video marketing with sound disabled. You should take advantage of this and make sure that your video content has captions/subtitles. LinkedIn and other social platforms even create the subtitles for you. 😉
Primarily, this is vital for accessibility and making sure your video content is watchable for people with hearing issues. But it has the secondary benefit of being accessible for those who simply don’t watch videos with sound.
5. Include SEO Features Like Tags and Transcripts
Video marketing can also be incredible for SEO as Google has been pushing the use of this format for years. Indeed, they have a set of video guidelines that can help with SEO. SEO features to incorporate into your video marketing includes:
- Using proper HTML tags to embed your videos.
- Recording your video in a commonly accepted video format such as AVI, Mp4, or MPEG.
- Put your video on a dedicated watch page.
- Make sure the video thumbnail is high-quality.
- Include structured data such as name, description, and thumbnail URL.
One thing I need to look at is potentially adding the videos I create for social posts to our website and / or YouTube.
Conclusion – Get Behind the Camera and Give Customers a Welcoming Face to Your Business
I hope you are now raring to jump behind your camera and start creating video content! I completely understand that it can seem daunting – especially if you are the face of your business and you aren’t used to the spotlight being shone on you.
However, I firmly believe that video marketing is something that every business owner should have a go at. As you can see from the above, the benefits it can provide are superb – video marketing allows you to engage with your audience on a more intimate level and engage with them like no other media.
If you are unsure where to start with video marketing or need guidance for your overall digital marketing plan, please get in touch and we can arrange a strategy session to help set you on the right track.
References
[1] – HubSpot – How Video Consumption is Changing – Link
[2] – HubSpot – How Video Can Enhance Your Landing Pages – Link
