Nowadays, video advertising is not only good for your business, but it’s essential. In the age of non-stop videos on Tik Tok or the acceleration of Facebook video – brands that only use text and pictures are deemed uninteresting and unengaging.
But we get it; creating video content is difficult. You need to figure out what content to make, work out a strategy, film, edit, distribute, all while sticking to the budget. It’s exhausting to think about when you don’t have the help of a video marketing agency.
Facebook video marketing, LinkedIn video advertising, YouTube pre-roll, and Instagram story posts all require video. These platforms need special attention and an enormous amount of effort and brainpower to execute correctly.
It’s terrifying, and you are not alone. Many business owners struggle with the non-stop need to create content and the pressure to do video in search of business growth and profit.
There is no need to worry any longer. This guide outlines the video advertising ins and outs – from strategy and filming to distribution and amplification.
Read on to become a master in the art of video content creation, and learn how video marketing services can help your business.
Creating a marketing strategy
Much like any part of business, having a strategy is essential to success.
It involves doing the proper research and creating a plan. This plan will ultimately guide you and help you make decisions. It is a blueprint to victory.
Your budget, timeline, production processes, conversion goals, and distribution will all be included in the video advertising strategy. Writing this down and making an actual plan is the first step.
Your marketing strategy should include the following:
- Video goals
- Target audience information
- Outline of the story you want to tell
- What creative essentials are involved?
- Timeline
- Budget.
Video goals to set you up for success
Knowing why you’re creating digital marketing and what sort of outcome you want is very important. Having a goal gives you a vision for success and is the first part of getting there. One way to do this is by analysing what stage of the marketing funnel your audience is at.
Awareness: The viewer is only just realising there is a problem that needs to be solved. This type of content requires lots of explanation and showcasing the product or service with great detail.
Consideration: The viewer is well aware of the problem, and their main thought process centres around considering whether they should use the product or service. During this process, a consumer would usually ask for recommendations, watch product reviews, and shop around for the best price.
Decision: You and your business are regarded as the solution, and you want to remain top of mind for the consumer. This sort of content involves proving to your customer why your product or service is better than your competition.
Each stage serves a particular purpose:
- Awareness video: Attract a new set of customers
- Consideration video: Engage your audience
- Decision video: Nurture prospects who are close to the sale.
You can also create a video retargeting campaign that targets existing customers or customers that have engaged with your previous content or online infrastructure. A video marketing agency can help define this process and determine the type of content that will generate the best result.
What do you want your video to achieve?
How are you going to measure success after creating and distributing this video? Are you basing success on the number of views you get, an increase in website traffic, or sales? The conversion metric in which you are using will determine the type of content you need to create.
An obvious example would be the call to action within the video. Are you encouraging people to sign up to your email list, head to your website, or call you? Whatever you choose to do will affect the conversion metric, and the two must align.
Where are you hosting the video?
Your distribution method will also affect the goals you have. Many platforms are different – each with a range of benefits. Some have higher reach but lower engagement, while others have high reach and high engagement.
Many businesses run a Facebook video marketing campaign and a LinkedIn video advertising campaign at the same time – with the same video. There might be slight variations in the formatting and cuts to fit the platform.
When liaising with video marketing services, think about the final outcome and where you want your video to end up.
To find out more about which social media marketing metrics such as clicks and impressions are most important, click here.
Who is your target audience?
Now that you know the stage of the marketing funnel you’re targeting, the video’s goals, and the distribution method – you must think about your target audience.
Knowing who they are and the type of content they resonate with is essential in creating a video that proves to be effective. You want people to watch your video, and missing this step could do the opposite.
How well do you understand your target audience?
The key is developing a buyer persona. Some businesses already have one. If you do, then please share this with the video marketing agency when you create a video.
A buyer persona outlines your ideal customer. It is a fictional description that defines certain characteristic traits and embodies the type of person you want to use your product or service.
Some things to include in a buyer persona are:
- Name
- Demographic
- Interests
- Behavioural traits
- Goals
- Pain points
- Buying patterns
This will help guide the video marketing process. Having this top of mind when planning and creating the content ensures that you develop a story that will resonate with your ideal customer.
What story do you want to create?
This is often the fun, creative part – and also a tricky part. Telling an engaging and exciting story usually requires four components:
Protagonist with a goal – This person should align with your target demographic.
Conflict – what is your customer’s pain point?
Journey – This involves introducing the product or service.
Resolution – How does your product or service solve the conflict above?
The components are designed to take the viewers on an adventure that aligns with your mission and purpose.
When creating this sort of digital marketing, you should also be thinking about the emotion you want to convey. Work with your video marketing agency and ask the following questions:
- Do you want your audience to laugh?
- Do you want them to feel inspired?
- Do you want them to cry?
- Do you want them to feel happy?
Your video advertising should always keep this in mind, and all video production decisions should align with this. That includes location, colours, wardrobe, lighting, actors, and length. Make sure every part of your video thinks about the story you are shaping.
Think about the creative requirements
When creating the video and the video concept, it is crucial to think about who needs to approve the video before it goes live.
You should also consider how long the approval process takes and adjust that into your timeline. While video constantly changes throughout the production process, a significant change that alters the concept can often not be accommodated.
Plan ahead…your timeline is your best friend
Filming a video is a massive process, no matter how big or small. It requires a well thought out timeline to meet your target. It is also essential to stick to your timeline as much as possible.
Your video advertising timeline should include overall timing, a production timeline, and a distribution timeline. This will keep you aware of how long you have to complete specific tasks. It also helps relevant team member stay on the same page.
This might sound overwhelming and difficult, but a video marketing agency can help work through the relevant details and take on the burden of creating a timeline.
Money rules the world – and so does your budget
Yes, your budget is king! Without the relevant funds to execute, your video does not exist. You must consider and analyse how much each component will cost and leave room for a buffer if unexpected costs arise.
Decide where you want most of your money to go and what is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Whether you choose to employ video marketing services will drastically affect your budget.
You could be paying for scripting, sound editing, social media distribution, actors, and more. Research everything beforehand and know how much you can spend before you start. Often agencies will work to the budget specifications you have.
Don’t forget to save some of your budget for distribution. It is important that people see your video and not to simply own a beautifully made video that doesn’t get seen. Don’t rely on your video to go viral. Set aside some of your budget to target your video to your potential clients and customers.
5 Types of Videos to Create for Your Brand
Choosing the right video for your marketing needs is essential to your business success. It will dictate the style of content, production process, scripting, and distribution. Facebook video marketing is great for commercials, while explainer videos would more likely feature on your brand website. Here are five suggestions for video content:
Commercials
This type of content outlines exciting features of your product or service, with a clear call to action. You see this sort of content on TV, and YouTube. To make this content stand out, it needs to be short, engaging, and memorable.
Social content
These are video designed for Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Video marketing services make these clips fun and sharable. When creating these videos, you should consider that many people watch them on silent mode; therefore, subtitles are necessary.
With people constantly scrolling on social media, the creation of these social media videos must be captivating within the first three to ten seconds. Failing to catch your audience’s attention will mean your video gets missed.
Explainer videos
If you have ever researched a product in-depth, then you have probably come across an explainer video. They are usually longer and go into great detail about the product or the service.
They also explain more about the brand, the mission, and process, with most companies housing these videos on their website or YouTube. This type of video marketing also needs a solid call to action, encouraging the viewer to do something after watching.
Product videos
This highlights the best parts of your product and shows it in action. The benefits, the features, and how it will help the customer should all be included in videos like this.
The goal is to catch those researching a product and convert them to customers. Keep these under 30 seconds and share them on your website, social media platforms, and email.
Testimonial Videos
Social proof is essential as part of the buying process. People trust the opinions of others and value their feedback. One way to showcase this is through testimonial videos.
These videos will highlight customers addressing the good parts of your product or service. These should be real customers to produce an authentic look and feel, with fake-feeling testimonial being detrimental to your brand.
Conclusion
Video marketing is a complex beast and requires a lot of thought and strategy before considering the execution phase. With the rise of video (here are some stats) it has become an essential part of businesses, and lack of video marketing hinders their success.
The complexity and time commitment of video means hiring a video marketing agency that can make things more productive with better quality to show. They can help work out a content strategy, filming plan, editing style, distribution method, all while sticking to a budget. They also provide a level of expertise that you wouldn’t have if you filmed the video yourself.
Video marketing is an investment into the success of your business and should be treated as such. If you create a compelling and persuasive video campaign, your engagement and profit can skyrocket.
Video Outcomes is a video marketing agency that provides corporate video production, social media video production, videography services and digital marketing services to small business and large corporations. Their skills in planning, filming, editing, and distribution make them ideal for any project. If you are interested in transforming your marketing and creating a video campaign that generates revenue – reach out today.
Reach out today to view some of the past projects Video Outcomes have worked on.
