Brands have been using video and film within their marketing strategies for decades. Today, a video strategy is no longer just about cinematic TV ads or frenzied shopping TV shows, the incredible growth of video consumption online has presented many measurable benefits to brand marketers. On YouTube alone we watch over 5 billion videos a day and 6 out of 10 people prefer online video platforms to live TV. Your customers are online watching videos and it’s time to get their attention with a video marketing strategy.
WHAT IS VIDEO MARKETING?
Video is a great way to find and engage customers online and creating quality video content is very affordable, the increased demand from brands has fueled an emergence of savvy, accessible video production agencies. Video marketing may sound grand and therefore complex but it doesn’t have to be, we like this definition:
“Video marketing is using videos to promote and market your product or service, increase engagement on your digital and social channels, educate your consumers and customers, and reach your audience with a new medium.”
For example, video marketing is a sponsored video ad on your Facebook newsfeed or a pre-roll ad in a YouTube video, and it’s a video embedded in an email newsletter or website homepage. Videos are everywhere online and we’ve no doubt you’ve watched plenty! Are you considering investing in video for your business or brand? We trust that your answer is yes and that you’re ready to learn more about video marketing! Read on for the key elements to consider when devising an effective video marketing content strategy.
BRAND VIDEO TRENDS ONLINE
Devising a video marketing strategy is a key task for many digital marketers and 87% of businesses are now using video as a marketing tool.
We know that video consumption is high and that we are video carnivores who need feeding videos daily. Over half of all video content is viewed on a mobile and mobile video consumption is increasing 100% YOY, if you don’t factor mobile into your video strategy you’re missing out on thousands of potential views. Always ensure that videos hosted on your website look great when watched on any device.
Video dominates social media platforms and they are a great space to share brand videos, 49% of consumers engage with branded videos on Facebook every day, followed by 32% on YouTube and 24% on Instagram.
The most engaging posts on Facebook contain video with an average engagement rate 13.9%.
THE BENEFITS OF VIDEO MARKETING
With so many brands investing in video marketing there must be some tangible benefits, right? Correct! Video has a key role to play in the digital marketing mix and adds value to both consumers and the brand itself. Here are 5 reasons why a video marketing strategy is great for business:
Increase conversions aka sales - Video is a great sales support tool online and 64% of customers often buy a product after seeing a product video about it. Marketers feature video on product and landing pages in a bid to boost their websites conversion rates, video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80%.
Raise brand awareness at scale - Huge video viewing audiences are waiting to see your brand video online, your budget will determine how many you can precisely reach and creating engaging, shareworthy videos will positively increase video views.
Build trust and evoke emotions - Put simply, video is a visual form of storytelling and it serves up attributes such as tone of voice, facial expressions, music etc which can evoke emotion in the viewer more powerfully than traditional content can. Video is the medium to help you connect with audiences and show them who your brand really is. Your video strategy could be to make people laugh, shock them or just make them desire your product or want to work with your business because you’re X, Y or Z. The options are endless! If a picture can tell a thousand words then what is a video worth? Apparently video is worth 1.8m words!
Educate on a new or existing brand, product or service - A well scripted video which highlight a brands USPs and key features is easy for new customers to understand in a short space of time, it’s no surprise that 68% of people said they’d most prefer to learn about a new product or service by watching a short video.
Improved SEO and increased traffic to your website – Video is great for the SEO value of pages on your website. Companies utilising video content experience a 41% increase in traffic through web searches compared to others who don’t include video in their content strategies .
THE BEST TYPES OF ONLINE BRAND VIDEOS
In 2019, 87% of people said they want to see more videos from brands so, let’s consider the key types of videos that work well for brands and which savvy digital marketers are investing in.
- Web commercials are a great way to get your brand in front of huge audiences, the best ads blend strategic creative with cinematic storytelling to make a standout ad that makes the viewer take action and want more.
- How to videos are the most searched for style of video on YouTube. If you have a recipe to share or step-by-step tips for getting the most out of our product or service this is the video format for you. They work well being shared at regular intervals as part of a wider series too!
- Explainer videos are a great way to summarise your product or service in a simple, easy to digest format and are so much more engaging than reading text!
- Brand videos are beautifully shot engaging films that showcase your brand and share its story to potential new customers, you only have a few seconds to standout out online and those first 10 seconds are crucial.
- Corporate videos are typically made to deliver B2B objectives or for internal marketing such as training and engaging staff. They are a valuable brand asset that that can be used remotely, anytime and anywhere.
- Event videos can help to add another dimension to your brand. Perhaps you sponsored a music festival or awards dinner, or even catered a wedding. Why not create a showreel of highlights and share these events with customers online?
- Viral videos are the most elusive and dare we say exciting in the brand video collective. A viral video is any clip of animation or film that is spread rapidly through online sharing, discover our top tips to make a viral video for your brand.
- Live videos are one of the newest types of video and allow brands to give viewers an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes at their company via a live video stream which is broadcast on social channels such as Facebook or Instagram. People tend to watch live videos 300% longer than videos that are no longer live.
THE VALUE OF VIDEO IN THE DIGITAL MARKETING MIX
Video is a great campaign asset that can be effectively used as part of a wider digital marketing or brand campaign. Like a TV ad supports a billboard campaign, online video offers a new medium to reach and engage customers at scale. For example, you can target customers with video marketing wherever they may be online and we are online a lot these days!
There are also scenarios when video is the best marketing option for your campaign. For example:
- A B2C brand may launch a complex technology or household product which is best explained in a video which can be used to convert users into buyers from the product page on their website.
- A B2B brand may want to win investment or more clients, a corporate video lasting a few minutes will bring their expertise and culture to life in a much more engaging way than a 30 minute presentation. Video can help your business standout from the competition.
If you have a story to tell, chances are it can be told the best visually, video marketing has multiple roles to fill and business goals to achieve. Video is not just for adverts.
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH YOUR VIDEO MARKETING STRATEGY
Set video marketing campaign goals: what do you want to achieve?
Every marketing campaign should begin with a goal or 3, they can stem from a challenge within your business, a market opportunity or fantastic idea. For example, you may want to:
- Raise awareness of my brand’s latest product amongst new parents
- Increase the conversion rate on the product page of my website
- Showcase my brand’s creative and fun personality, it’s how we stand out in our sector
Budget: how much are you willing to invest in video marketing?
What amount of your marketing budget can you allocate to video? You will need budget to cover video production and online media spend. From a production perspective, video is very accessible and at Fresh Cut we work with all kind of brands and all sizes of budget. Please get in touch for a bespoke proposal and let’s see what awesome video content we can create for you on your budget.
Devise an effective video activation strategy
To ensure a video receives plenty of views a brand marketer and media planner need to deploy a video activation strategy which will effectively seed and promote their video online. Ensure your brand video get the views it deserves with our Video Activation Guide: 5 Tips to Increasing Brand Video Views Online.
Measure the success of your video marketing
The success metrics you apply will correlate to your campaign goals. For video marketing campaigns you can gather data either from web analytics (E.g. video views, watch length, organic traffic to your website etc), track campaign data (E.g. spend, conversion rate, ROI etc) to feedback from staff or customer perceptions. Ensure that you define what success looks like for your video marketing strategy before launch.
Test, learn, optimise
Once your video marketing campaign is live, we recommend you monitor it daily to understand how performance evolves over time, where and how your video performs the best, where it doesn’t etc. These insights can be summarised and incorporated to help your next video strategy deliver even better results!
The benefits of implementing a video marketing strategy are hard to ignore. It’s predicted that by 2021, video will account for 82% of all internet traffic and by then, most companies would have to somehow implement video content in their marketing strategy. Don’t get left behind it’s time to explore video marketing for your own brand.
LET’S MAKE A FANTASTIC VIDEO
Are you ready to embrace video marketing for your brand? Fresh Cut are a leading video production company helping brands tell their stories on TV and online since 2006. We are proud to work with brands and budgets of all sizes. Take a look inside our fantastic portfolio of creative video content and get in touch with our talented team to discuss your next video project.