Video content should raise brand awareness, engage and educate viewers.
The public is hungry for video. Video content is being consumed like never before. After Google, YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world. Facebook and other social media networks thrive on video.
For years savvy marketers have capitalized on web and social media users’ preference for images over words. Now, with smartphones and compact digital cameras capable of producing quality videos and distributing them globally within seconds, photos simply aren’t enough to engage consumers. They want video.
Stories told through video have much higher user engagement. Check out these stats:
- YouTube reports mobile video consumption rises 100% every year.
- 90% of users say that product videos are helpful in the decision process.
- Social video generates 12 times more shares than text and images combined.
- After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online.
Video Marketing
The purpose of content marketing is to develop and provide customized content that is valuable for your target audience. It should attract, engage and convert prospects, guiding them throughout the buyer’s journey and down the marketing funnel. Video excels in these areas.
Video boosts SEO, web traffic, click rates and other digital marketing tactics, offering numerous opportunities for you to connect with customers, gain their trust and influence their purchase decisions.
Benefits of Video
- More and better leads and conversions
- Higher emotional connection and engagement
- Unique and memorable experiences
- Easy and affordable to produce and distribute
- Significant positive impact on SEO
Best Practices
As video grows in popularity, you need to understand the types of video content available and follow some basic guidelines in order to get the highest return possible on your video marketing efforts.
- Video content should fit into your overall marketing strategy and be aligned with your brand.
- Your videos should tell stories that engage your target audience and strengthen your brand.
- Video campaigns should be carefully timed and distributed in order to achieve the best possible results.
Types of Video Content
Video is an exciting medium that offers numerous marketing and creative possibilities. In general, there are three main categories of video content:
- Awareness: offers high-entertainment value and broad appeal to attract as many viewers as possible.
- Engagement: connects emotionally and provokes a reaction such as a like, comment, or share.
- Education: informs and teaches audiences through case studies, tutorials, etc.
Following is a list of the top 15 video content marketers use at different states of the sales funnel to attract coveted audiences, generate leads, convert them into customers and build brand trust.
Awareness Videos
1. Roundups
Roundup videos feature brief, easy-to-digest, useful information in an entertaining way, which is why they’re so popular. Examples: top 10 running shoes, best five restaurants in town, highest ranked laptops, etc.
2. Company or Culture
Company or culture videos give the audience a sense of your organization’s vision, mission and values. They present stories that help viewers understand who you are, what you do, why you do it and how you do it better than the competition, thus raising awareness and forging emotional connections that strengthen brand loyalty.
3. Behind the Scenes
If you’ve ever seen a “making of” or “how it’s made” TV show, you know how appealing behind-the-scenes videos can be. People love to see something they’re not supposed to see. These videos raise brand awareness by showing your audience what goes on in your office or your production floor.
4. Interview
Interview videos are great for telling stories, conveying thought leadership and influencing audiences. A caveat: the interviews must be authentic. Today’s consumers have grown up watching interviews on TV and the Internet and can spot a fake in a flash. So the first rule of making interview videos is to keep it real.
5. Event
This type of video content brings events—such as corporate meetings, office parties and promotional activities—to those who can’t attend in person.
Engagement Videos
6. Vlog
A video blog, or vlog, is a blog (or web log) in video format typically filmed by one person in front of a camera. Vloggers engage an audience by sharing their thoughts, feelings, opinions and experiences with viewers. Cheap to produce and easy to disseminate, vlogs are an excellent digital marketing tactic that shouldn’t be overlooked.
7. Live Streaming
Live videos capitalize on our relentless need for instant gratification. Apps such as Facebook Live and Periscope allow individuals and organizations to connect with audiences throughout the world in real time. Viewers love watching events as they’re happening and interacting with people on camera and with fellow viewers.
8. Video Emails
Why write an email when you can videotape one? Prospects and customers are more likely to open emails with a subject line stating “I made a video for you” than one with a standard sales message. You have a smartphone. Consider the possibilities.
Education Videos
Educational videos educate audiences about their pain points and offer targeted solutions. This type of video marketing must be relevant and valuable to viewers by presenting problems that they care about and providing answers without pushing a sale. Educational videos also help establish your brand as a thought leader or industry expert.
9. How-To/Tutorial
How-to and tutorial videos are among the most watched online. They answer questions and show viewers how to do something step by step. The steps should be easy to follow, and the audio should be clear and noise-free. You can use graphics, animation and your products and services (soft sell) to communicate your message.
10. Product Review
Few consumers dare to buy products these days without consulting their friends, online reviews or both. Product review videos should offer your audience an honest take from someone—expert or fellow consumer—they’re likely to trust. Unbiased advice is a must, so you should be careful when reviewing your own products. One way of building trust with your customers is to review products that are not in your line but that may be useful to them.
11. Explainer Videos
Explainer videos explain the what, how and why of a service or product to a specific target audience without outwardly promoting or selling the products and services to them. This type of video content often features graphics, animation and voice over to explain complex topics in a short time.
12. Webinars
Webinars are meetings transmitted through the Internet in real time. Live webinars make it possible for anyone anywhere to participate in a meeting without leaving the home or office. Webinars allows presenters and attendees to interact with each other in real time.
13. Q&A
The Q&A video can feature a person interviewing another or someone taking questions from the audience and answering them on-camera in real time. Q&A videos are a fresh, interactive, unscripted way to attract, engage and educate audiences.
14. Case Study/Testimonial
Case studies and customer testimonials are conversion champions thanks to social proof—the psychological phenomenon that drives people to desire what others have. Audiences like watching real customers reviewing products and services—as long as the reviews are credible and authentic. Done well, testimonials can humanize your brand and influence purchasing behavior.
15. Presentations
You only need to see a TED Talks video to understand how impressive and inspiring a good presentation can be. Presentation videos need to be timely, relevant, valuable and entertaining to the audience. TED videos are exciting, eye-opening and memorable. Take some time to see how they do it, and apply the same principles to your presentation videos.
Bottom Line
Video is the most entertaining and engaging way we have to communicate with our target audience. A digital marketing strategy without video content is incomplete.
Video marketing can play a critical role during every stage of the marketing funnel because of its positive impact on SEO, website traffic, brand awareness, customer engagement, lead generation and conversion.
And remember: There’s only one you and one business exactly like yours, and nothing will help you stand out online and engage your target audience more than a good video. Frankly, if Justin Bieber can do it, so can you.
