What is Video Marketing?

Video Marketing seems like such a hot topic these days, but what does it actually mean? In this article, we’ll cover some video marketing basics, as well as a step-by-step guide to getting your strategy up and running.

What is video marketing?

The concept of video marketing is simple, it’s integrating video into your forward-facing marketing strategy. Videos can be used in marketing in a wide variety of ways, which is part of the reason it’s so appealing. Videos can be used to educate, entertain, build credibility and brand recognition, promote your products and services, and inspire your audience.

Video marketing is a great way to connect with your follows, share your story, and reach a new audience. Video is also dominating social media right now, with over 78% of people watching online videos weekly, and 55% watching daily (Hubspot).

But video marketing isn’t just for social media! Below are a few video marketing statistics for you-

• 90% of customers say video helped with their buying decision

• Studies have shown that landing pages with video are capable of increasing conversion rates by 80%

• And in 2019, video marketing led to 66% more leads for businesses!

Your video marketing strategy should have different videos for each part of your sales cycle, videos for different pages on your website, and ones specifically made for social media.

-Let’s break it down- 

Creating Your Video

Video production is typically broken down into three parts - pre-production, production, and post-production.

Pre-production is the first step in the process, and it is where all the planning takes place for your video.

• Determine your goals

  What do you want your video to achieve? Determining the goal of your video will help indicate the type of video you’ll need to create, how long it will be, the tone you will use, and the resources you’ll need.
  Here are some questions to ask yourself when figuring out the end goal for your video.

  • Who is your target audience?

  • Why is this video needed?

  • What is the budget for your project?

  • Where will your video live? (social media, website, email campaign, etc.)

  • When is the video due?

  • What resources do you have available for the project?

  • Will you be using your own gear and staff to produce the video, or will you be hiring someone to create it for you?

  It’s important to keep your goal in mind throughout the production process. It will help keep the project on track and stay consistent when you have a set goal in mind.

• Determine the type of video you want to create
  When it comes to making a video, there are a number of different styles and types of videos you could create. The type of video you create all depends on your goal for the video. Is it educational? Or is it entertaining? The goal for your video will help determine your style and tone for the project. Here are a few examples of different types of videos you can create.

  • Product Demo

  • Explainer

  • How-to

  • Brand

  • Event

  • Culture

  • Thought leadership or expert interview

  • Testimonials or case studies

  • Entertainment

    • Holiday videos 

    • Special messages for social media 

    • Hype video for social

• Plan your video 
  Whether you’re working with a professional video producer or making your own video, planning is key. A well-planned video is a successful video, so take the time to do all your pre-production before doing any filming.

  Here are some things to put together before filming your project-

• Script or outline  

• Shot listing 

• Deciding who or what will be featured in the video 

• Preparing your interview subjects

• Preparing your equipment
  
  

The next step in the production process is, well, production! Production is simply the filming and recording of your video.

• Filming your video 
  Filming your video is definitely the most exciting and glamorous part of the production process, but it can also be where the most goes wrong! Remember to follow all the plans you put in place, but be ready to improvise when things like weather, lighting, or sound cause issues.
  Here’s the basic rundown of what you’ll need to do when filming for your project-

  • Set up for your interviews 

  • Film interviews 

  • Make sure you get clear and clean audio with limited background noise

  • Film b-roll (extra footage that will be edited in with the interview or voice over)

  • Make sure your filming subjects are well lit and that the video isn’t too dark or murky 

The final step in the production process is post production. This is everything that happens after the filming of your video, from saving your footage to posting online.

• Editing your video 
  It doesn’t matter if you’re working with a professional editor, or editing the video yourself, the editing process is usually pretty standard.

  • Offload and organizing your footage

  • Back up your footage! (always have your footage saved in more than one place, just in case)

  • Edit the ‘story’ of your video - any talking points such as interviews or voice overs 

  • Select backing music and stock footage that may be needed

  • Add in any additional b-roll footage to help deliver your message and keep the video engaging

  • Add any graphics, name tags, or logos to your video 

  • Review your video and make revisions 

  • Don’t forget to add captions! Either as an option that can be turned on and off or as a constant text-on-screen that viewers will see no matter what.

• Share your video
  Now’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for, time to get that video in front of your audience!

  • Upload your video to where it’s going to live (YouTube, Facebook, Website, LinkedIn, Vimeo, Instagram, etc.)

  • Track your videos engagements 

    • View count

    • Comments 

    • Likes 

    • Shares 

    • Play rate

    • Video completions and completion rate 

    • Click-through rates and conversion rates 

Even though your video is finished and online, it’s important not to stop there, there are so many ways to repurpose video content. Continue to share your video in different ways to get it in front of anyone who might need to see it. Share it on other social platforms, put it in an email, or temporarily post it on a section of your website. Encourage others to share and interact with your video to, especially employees!

Video marketing, like any marketing strategy, needs to be consistent. In order to see the efforts and ROI of your videos, you need to be diligent and invest some time and resources into it.

If you’re ready to create some great content for your video marketing strategy, let’s talk!