Video Marketing: Is this missing from your strategy?
When was the last time you browsed the internet without scrolling past a video?
It’s probably been a while.
Video marketing is one of the fastest-growing marketing strategies, helping brands to attract attention and awareness. And fast.
With an online usage reach of more than 90 percent, everyone is watching videos, no matter which platform they use.
And with online video ad spend amounting to nearly $50 billion in 2020, video marketing shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, video makes up nearly 30 percent of total display ad spend across the globe.
In the face of this data, no one can deny that video is an important part of marketing. It’s a modern marketing storytelling tool you can use to promote your brand, market products, or advertise events while also educating your audience on services. All in an easily consumable form.
Adding video marketing to your content strategy is a no-brainer. Whether you need polished commercials or approachable social snippets, video marketing is the way to go.
You know you can no longer rely on text and images alone, so it’s time to fine-tune your video marketing strategy. But how? Read on to find out.
Why video marketing?
Video marketing is not only growing extremely fast, but video is also an extraordinarily powerful medium. Just think about the emotional effect of a video versus a block of text…
Video marketing harnesses the power of this medium to drive engagement, bolster sales, and generate exposure, connecting with your audience on the platforms they know and love. It lives on video platforms like YouTube and Vimeo as well as social media sites like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok. It’s an important part of any modern digital marketing strategy, and it often goes hand in hand (or overlaps) with content marketing. But what else should you know about video marketing?
The value of using video
Video has always been an important part of marketing. From television spots to primetime commercials, video is not necessarily a new strategy. But these days, marketers are doing things a little differently.
What has changed is how widespread video is – from Instagram and Facebook to TikTok and Twitter, video is integral to almost every single platform and channel. Think about it – when’s the last time you scrolled social media and didn’t come across a video or two?
And on these platforms, video generates more engagement than text and image alone. That means more buzz about your business.
So why isn’t everyone doing it?
Despite the high ROI and attention-grabbing potential of video marketing, the barrier to entry can seem higher than it really is. But not every piece of video content has to be high-gloss and professionally produced like it was back in the day. So how has video marketing evolved?
A brief history of video marketing
Classic midcentury television commercials are early examples of video marketing, but modern video marketing didn’t start in earnest until 2005 with the birth of YouTube. As video-making technology became more accessible, video advertising grew more popular.
And when smartphones with video-recording technology arrived on the scene, everything changed. Suddenly, everyone had a handheld recording device in their pocket, and anyone had the power to record footage. Videos were easier to make than ever before, and more affordable, too.
Smartphone technology meant videos were not only easier to make, but more convenient to consume. This was exacerbated by the pandemic, which skyrocketed video consumption by nearly 215% in the United States. Now in 2023, consumers watch an average of 19 hours of video per week, making video marketing more profitable than ever. So if you want to excel, you can’t ignore video marketing. And while video marketing used to be cost-prohibitive, it’s now more accessible for companies on any budget. You just need to choose the right kind of video.
Fine-tuning your video marketing strategy
We all know that video is a cornerstone of any modern content marketing strategy. But how can you decide what kind of video to make?
Here’s a quick overview of some of the most popular types of video marketing:
Commercials:
Brief, dynamic, and attention-grabbing, commercials show off your company’s best qualities. Whether you spotlight your company with a lively scene, striking imagery, or a compelling product spotlight, a commercial attracts new customers with broad appeal. Keep it short and sweet (about 30 seconds to a minute long), and don’t forget the call to action!
Social media content:
Short and shareable, social media videos are fun, engaging, and playful. Whether you distribute them on Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, or other social platforms, these videos often include aspirational lifestyle shots, short sound bites and quotes, and striking images of your product. Usually under 30 seconds, take advantage of video looping tools to create a seamless asset that customers can’t help but share.
Explainer/informational videos:
Informative and educational, explainer videos help consumers learn more about your product or company. From demo videos to product spotlights, consumers have a thirst for knowledge. 31.3% of users want how-to videos and nearly 30% want educational content, so keep demo videos in mind when planning your video marketing strategy.
Customer testimonials:
Human-centered and feedback-driven, customer testimonials are one of the most moving types of video marketing. In a 30-second to 2-minute video, customers share their positive feelings about the brand, convincing others to convert. And because 98% of customers read online reviews for local businesses before purchasing, spotlighting other happy customers is a surefire way to attract new business. Just make sure it doesn’t feel scripted or fake, and you’ll have a made-to-share video fit for any platform.
Animated videos:
Often generated with the help of computer programs, animated videos make abstract and complicated topics more digestible. It’s difficult to render company values like trust, compassion, etc. with live action commercials, but animation can get the point across easily. And with no equipment and less time on set, animation is often cheaper than live action. Animation is also popular for branding, allowing you to exercise more control over your image and scaling. Choosing consistent imagery, color palettes, and animation styles can breathe new life (and consistency) into your brand.
However, keep in mind that these categories aren’t set in stone, and they often overlap. You can trim down a commercial to serve as an eye-catching piece of social content, or storyboard an explainer video that includes animated demonstrations. From onboarding and informational videos to consumer testimonials, video marketing is a foolproof way to create a more engaging customer experience.
Other popular style options and techniques include:
- Voice overs
- Interactive 360
- Virtual Reality
- Augmented reality
- Thought leadership
- Case studies
How does video marketing improve SEO?
Video marketing not only builds trust and boosts sales, but it also helps you rank higher on Google and other search engines.
Thanks to Google’s Universal Search system, listings from all over the web are blended together, giving consumers the best answers possible. And more often than not, those Universal Search results include a heavy dose of video. Google’s internal algorithm values quality and relevance, and video marketing can help you hit those targets.
This makes sites like YouTube excellent platforms for video marketing and SEO boosting. In fact, YouTube is the second most visited website behind Google, meaning it has major marketing power of its own. With over 76 billion monthly visits, YouTube is by far the largest video platform, and it’s home to a variety of content. From educational and informational videos to makeup tutorials and entertainment clips, YouTube has something for everyone. And every brand.
This means it’s high time to incorporate video into your marketing strategy for impressive results. But how exactly can video help your SEO?
Organic visibility boosts
Video marketing boosts organic visibility, and with interactive video integrations all over Google results pages, there’s never been a better time to get your message out there while also boosting your SEO.
When you post an organic listing, Google will pull a video thumbnail to place beside your listing. These visual snippets not only create visual interest but can also be used to build brand recognition! By putting your logo on the video thumbnail, you can build familiarity, increasing click-through and conversions. Consumers will know they can trust your website, and they’ll be more likely to watch your video or visit your website. Who knows, you might even see yourself in a video carousel at the top of page one!
On-page engagement increases
By increasing engagement, video marketing also boosts on-page engagement. Search engines like Google want users to stick around when they visit a page, and videos prompt users to keep interacting with your site instead of clicking away. This boost in page quality causes visitors to spend more time scrolling. Search engines notice, and websites with embedded video see an SEO boost.
This increased engagement also helps to generate leads, transforming how brands interact with and convert consumers. So by improving your bounce rate with videos, you can also prompt search engines to boost your article to the top of their rankings.
Better backlinks
And don’t forget about backlinks!
If your content resonates with consumers, there’s a good chance they’ll share it on social media. People love sharing quality content with friends, family, and coworkers, helping you reach new audiences. And the more people you have linking to your content, the more authority you have! Search engines notice, and boost your rankings accordingly.
Higher keyword rankings
Additionally, you can combine your SEO and video strategy for maximum impact when you make use of YouTube’s text features. From SEO title keywords to video descriptions and audio transcripts, there are so many ways to optimize your video marketing and get more consumer attention for your brand.
Video SEO optimizes your video so search engines index and rank it for relevant keyword searches, so pad your text with rankable keywords whenever possible. For example, one easy way to streamline your marketing strategy and better engage your audience is to use keywords in your YouTube video titles and optimize your video descriptions.
You can also use YouTube’s automatic transcription feature to generate a transcript for your video. This will help to drive SEO results while also making your content more accessible.
How to distribute video and measure success
In our increasingly digital world, making a good piece of video content is only half the battle. You also have to know how to market it. That means distributing your content on the right platforms while also measuring its success. But how?
Extend the reach of your video marketing via social media.
While platforms like YouTube and TikTok have always been video-focused, other social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat are focusing more and more on video.
Video increases engagement on social media platforms. And while platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest don’t allow in-app video uploads, they still reap the benefits of video marketing. Tweets with videos get 10x more engagement, and almost 70% of video marketers have incorporated LinkedIn videos into their strategy. So no matter the platform, distributing video via social pays off. And big.
So don’t just post your video to one platform and call it a day – make sure you are integrating your content across platforms. The best approach is to tailor your video content to each platform, working to connect with your audience in each space.
But not everyone has the time and marketing budget to produce different versions of each video asset. In this case, cross-posting is your best bet. Cross-posting means sharing the same piece of content across several social media platforms, extending your reach. It will also save you time and energy. So while a tailored approach is best, cross-posting can be especially time and cost-effective for fledgling brands.
Keep length in mind
When it comes to distributing your videos, keep length in mind.
TikTok took the internet by storm in 2016, popularizing short-form videos. After TikTok’s overwhelming success, other platforms like YouTube and Instagram rolled out their own short-video features. From YouTube Shorts to Instagram Reels, these “stories” features have made short-form content more popular than ever.
But even though bite-sized content is now a big part of people's online lives, that doesn’t mean you need to ditch long-form content! While social sites have popularized short-form content, long-form content is still popular on sites like YouTube. And as the largest video platform in the world, that’s no small feat.
Thankfully, long-form and short-form content don’t have to be mutually exclusive. One well-made video can be posted to a variety of platforms and channels, stretching your ad dollars and maximizing your impact. Cut down a live action video to a digestible social media length, and you can get some major bang for your buck!
Make videos mobile friendly.
If you want to build an online presence, mobile optimization is a must. From your website to your video posts, if your content isn’t compatible with mobile devices, consumers will quickly lose interest.
To extend the reach of your videos even further, make them mobile-friendly. 77% of mobile users use a mobile phone or tablet when watching online videos. Lean into mobile-first in order to reach more people with pinpoint accuracy.
Fine-tune your video marketing strategy today!
Online video is a lot more than cute dog videos – it’s absolutely essential for a holistic content marketing campaign. Video is the most effective storytelling tool, and there’s a video type for every client. Not only does it drive engagement and boost search engine results, but it also converts digital window shoppers into customers. So as users continue to use videos when making purchasing decisions, make sure you’re putting the right information in front of them.
Want to breathe some life back into your video marketing efforts?
