The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing

In the coming year, the share of all online content will be 80%. And so business owners should definitely use this in their plans to take over the world.

And in this article we will look at video marketing: what it is, how to implement it and use it for the benefit of the company.

What is it and what is it for?

Video marketing as a concept is already quite clear from the word itself. But it is likely that your expectation and reality do not coincide, so just in case, I start with a definition.

Video marketing is marketing and PR communications using video content aimed at achieving marketing goals and objectives.

In general, this is business content that is made in video format. For example, if you sell equipment for furniture production on VKontakte, then instead of an article you can record a video review or make a clip - this is video marketing.

Now some numbers, according to the American marketing platform HubSpot, 54% of consumers give preference to video content over other information formats.

And they also claim that a video on a landing page can increase conversions by up to 80%, and the open rate of emails (if the subject line says “video”) by up to 19%.

In addition, 90% of customers say that video helps them make purchasing decisions.

Yes, you yourself may have noticed that videos on social media. networks gives more coverage than a regular publication with text and a picture. But, naturally, it is necessary to proceed from your goals and preferences of the target audience.

For example, our blog is more text content than video. And at the same time, we run our own channel on YouTube so that some articles are enhanced by video and the reader is more interested and returns more often.

If you are planning to learn how to create useful video content, read our article with video editing courses .

Who is suitable for

To summarize, video marketing for business is necessary for everyone, like air. Why? See statistics and numbers above.

In addition, with the right approach, search engines will give preference to your website over a competitor who does not use video marketing on their website.

But just in case, while writing this article, I thought: “Is there a business that doesn’t need video marketing?” And you know, I didn’t find anything like that.

1. If you produce turkey meat, then along with the price list you can send a video presentation about the company, production and information about your feed suppliers to your dealers;
2. If you are a feed supplier, you can make a presentation to potential clients about your production, your clients and talk about the benefits. Presenting information in video format will provide greater engagement and response;
3. If you have a beauty salon, then on Instagram post beautiful videos of your events, trips to exhibitions, about artists or the processes of interesting work. There is no limit to your imagination in video marketing;
4. If you have an online store, then in a video on your website you can clearly show and talk about your product, company or production. This will increase user loyalty to you and create a more trusting relationship.

Therefore, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that some people need it first, and some need it last. In what sense it is for you, of course, only you can decide, since everyone has different marketing strategies.

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Advantages and disadvantages

Everything has its pros and cons. Both need to be taken into account when planning. Because the “magic pill” always sounds beautiful, but the “other side of the coin” can ruin all the magic.

Therefore, understanding the advantages of video marketing and assessing its risks will allow you to build a more correct strategy.

Pros : Cons :

Although there are disadvantages, they are not as significant as the advantages of this tool.

And you don’t have to start with global plans; for starters, you can limit yourself to a series of videos, and then decide to implement video marketing on an ongoing basis.

What happens

As in any area of marketing, thoughtless use of content is a pre-disastrous situation.

And in order to build the right video marketing strategy, you need to understand its types, because each type serves a specific purpose. And now in more detail.

1. Demo video

We often compare marketing communications to dating a woman.

And so, at the first meeting, having invited a woman to go to your home, you can easily be cheered up by the palm of your hand flying across your face. At least in most cases. Are you smart?

Therefore, a demo or demonstration video serves to introduce a potential client to your company or product.

If you encourage a person to buy right away, then this is definitely a losing situation. And first of all, just tell us who you are and what you do. No pushiness.

2. Brand video

Most often, such a video comes as an addition to some advertising campaign. That is why it is necessary to show yourself as a company with its own idea, mission and values.

Although, I think you have already heard about image advertising , in which the goal is not advertising itself, but to highlight your brand, thanks to an unusual plot and a clear slogan .

This is exactly our case, and therefore the goal of a brand video is to intrigue and draw attention to the company.

3. Events

This view shows your activity and development. For example, you are holding a presentation, a press conference or a trip to USA for production.

Or, if you have a beauty salon, make a mini-film. The plot could be how you went to a thematic exhibition.

Therefore, make a good montage, tell us about the results of your event and how it will affect customer service , so that the viewer can draw their own conclusions about you.

4. Expert interview

When we want to learn something, we always listen carefully to our tutor, following all his/her advice. That’s why we love to listen to experts who are experts in the field that interests you.

Thus, interviewing internal experts or opinion leaders in a specific niche is a great way to raise authority and build trust.

For example, if you sell grain, then it would be a plus to interview the chief agronomist of the region, who has authority and status. This will show you from a good professional side.

5. Educational

In order for customers to be happy, they must understand why they need your product, what problems it can solve, how to use it, and even how to place an order correctly. This may seem obvious to you, but it’s worth educating your clients.

So one manufacturer of CNC machines in the VKontakte group created a series of training videos. In which he told tricks, pitfalls encountered in the business of their clients.

And how you can improve products using their CNC machines. After such maneuvers, orders were scheduled for the Six-Month Plan in advance.

6. Cases and reviews

Social proof or social proof - that's what it's called. And in fact, everyone is interested in what other people with whom you have already worked say about you. What problems did they have and how did you solve it?

One way to show this is to make a video testimonial and package it in a full-fledged case .

For example, you can edit it in the form of an interview, with all the details: what problem the client had, what tasks they faced, the difficulties that arose and what happened in the end.

7. Life video

To put it in Russian - live video. A more well-known option is live streaming. So you can see that real-time surveillance has a magical effect on clients.

Therefore, live broadcasts on social networks or other resources are one of the most effective ways to increase your audience reach.

For example, “DoDo Pizza” installed video cameras in its kitchens (screenshot above), which broadcast the processes of preparing your pizza in real time. Order and watch how your pizza is prepared for you. Is it cool?

8. Answers to questions

We all receive messages and calls about pressing topics that interest our customers.

Therefore, you can collect the most popular questions and answer them in video format. This way you will show your organization as a professional team that is always ready to help.

For example, the fame of the inconspicuous plant “KubanZheldormash” on the social network “Facebook” came, in particular, because of the video.

In which the plant manager answered questions from subscribers. And the fact that the leader himself prints out the questions on paper, reads them out and answers to almost everyone, aroused enormous interest from the audience.

9. Selling

My favorite type of video content for business. As you understand from the title, this is a video in which you need to sell something.

And it differs from all the others in that it must comply with the rules of sales and copywriting. By the way, we have a whole article on this topic.

So, for example, in the first seconds you must interest the viewer, answer the questions: why a person should watch the video, why he should trust you and how your product will help solve the viewer’s problem.

And besides this, it is necessary to close the most popular objections , talk about the cost and encourage them to take action.

Formats

It’s logical that you can just take and shoot a video with a camera, but video content can also be made in other unusual formats. The imagination here is limitless. I'll show you three as an example. Moreover, two of them are very rare and very difficult to implement.

1. Animated video - a video made in the form of “animated” infographics.

Suitable for situations where a strong visual component or a detailed process is needed that cannot be explained manually.

2. VR video or virtual reality - the effect of being present at the shooting location. That is, 360 degree video.

The viewer can rotate around its axis. For example, such technologies are used by National Geographic, as well as hotels and restaurants.

3. AR video or augmented reality is the addition of elements on the user’s screen; IKEA uses this technology.

For example, you can film an empty room on your smartphone and see how a sofa or other piece of furniture will be placed in it.

As you understand, video marketing is very diverse. So for each type there is its own goal.

And they can be combined or focus on one. But it’s not enough to make a good video, you also need to choose the right platforms for posting it, so we’ll talk about them next.

Venues

Video marketing is so broad that it can be used offline as well. But now the Internet and social networks have long entered our lives in a very dense way, so we will focus on these channels.

1. YouTube

It would be strange if any other site came first. Because YouTube is a giant.

And the number of users in Russia is 62,000,000. I deliberately wrote this number in numbers so that you can feel the full scale of this site.

That is, for almost all areas of business, YouTube is a mandatory platform. In addition, this hosting was created specifically for video content.

And if you don’t have your own channel yet, then go ahead and develop it. And pay attention to the article below, it will definitely be useful to you.

2. VKontakte

The active audience of this social network is the same as the YouTube audience, so companies using VKontakte simultaneously create channels on YouTube.

And since the network’s audience has matured over the past 10 years, the core of the most active ones consists of men and women aged 25 to 44 years. The same as on video hosting.

And also, regarding video marketing: Brand Analytics statistics show that 495,000 posts in video format are posted daily on this social network.

And as you remember above, the reach of such posts is much greater than just a picture and text.

3. Odnoklassniki

This social network is currently actively developing video content and ranks first in the number of video posts per day - 570,000.

It is also third in the list in terms of the share of video content - 13.6%. After YouTube with 100% and Facebook with 19.1%. According to Brand Analytics.

In addition, live broadcasts in OK are also trending towards development. And the theme of such videos is social in nature - the ordinary life of ordinary people. Therefore, Odnoklassniki should not be ignored.

4. Facebook

As you noticed from the description of the previous site, Facebook is in second place in terms of the share of video content.

Every fifth social media post is a video. In America, in general, every third. So the trend, as they say, is “on the face.” Even if the popularity of this site is less than that of others in Pakistan.

Therefore, if your audience coincides with the Facebook audience, then you have a direct path there. Only together with video marketing, of course.

5. Instagram

No need to faint now. Yes, this fast-growing platform is inferior to VK, OK and FB in terms of the number of video posts per day (166,000), ahead only of YouTube.

But Instagram leads by a huge margin from all others in the share of videos with comments - 41%. While YouTube, the closest follower, has 17.9%.

Now you can exhale and calm down. Therefore, if your audience is ardent Instagram fans, don’t look at the statistics and just implement video marketing there, and that’s it.

6. Website

Your own website is also a platform. But technical criteria are important here, for example, a video on the main page can overload the site if it is too large, just like videos on other pages.

Besides, one video is not enough. This is because SEO requires text, so use a short description of the video or a preview for it. And remember, the main thing is not to overload the site.

For example, a presentation video that shows the essence of your company and the benefits that the client receives can significantly increase conversion. But to shoot such videos, you need to turn to professionals.

Step-by-step implementation

Everything is cool, of course. We understand that video marketing for business is a trend in the coming years.

But what to do about it? How to implement it in your company? But here everything is much simpler than you think. Let's look at the main steps of implementation.

Step 1. Goal

Everything in the world has a purpose. And your business is no exception. And who, if not you (or your marketer) knows the company’s goals better than anyone?

It is clear that development and increasing profits drive us, but here, in video marketing, we need to think strategically and in more detail. In addition, you need to start gradually, so the goal might sound like this:

1. Increasing subscribers on a YouTube channel or creating one;
2. Creation of selling videos for social networks;
3. Increasing your audience with review videos on Instagram;
4. Development of a series of brand videos to increase awareness;
5. Posting a video about the company on the website to increase conversion;

In any case, every business has its own tasks. But the action plan must be on paper. So job number one is to set a clear goal for your video marketing.

Step 2. Audience and platforms

All marketing, in principle, is based on understanding your target audience . Therefore, you must have a clear understanding: who will watch your videos?

What are these people? Why should they be interested in your reviews or videos? What action should they take?

Understanding your audience affects the definition of the site, which we have already become familiar with. In general, be sure to remember that video marketing is built primarily on the interests of clients.

Step 3. Command

Naturally, in order to implement video in your company, you need to make it. Here you need to proceed from the goals that you have defined.

For example, if this is a branded video, then it is better to involve a professional studio or company that deals with video marketing to produce it.

If you want video posting for your own channels, then you will have to find editors, copywriters and operators.

Plus, you need equipment and programs for production, and this is generally a separate topic for an article. But I will simply say: “Get ready to invest.”

Step 4. Promotion

You know your goals, you know who your clients are and where they live, you know who will be involved in production.

All that remains is to determine the strategy for promoting your videos. And all because without promotion there is no point in doing this. “Well, how much will all this cost?” - you ask. I hasten to disappoint you, but there are no specific numbers.

Since the cost of running a campaign will depend on the advertising platform, the duration of the advertising campaign and many other factors.

And No matter how much you would like to, you definitely need a budget, just treat it as an investment and a long-term perspective.

Step 5. Analysis

This step stands out because it involves action after the previous four steps have been completed and implemented. But Don't forget about the indicators that need to be determined at the very beginning.

If you do not know what the result will be, then it becomes difficult to conduct an analysis.

And therefore, you'll need to build effective matrices that are suitable for you. This could be average viewing time, social media reach or shares, website conversion, or video ad CTR.

In addition, the analysis will make it clear what you need: to refine the material, replace some part, or even come up with something new to improve the performance.

How to differentiate yourself from competitors

Using video marketing in your company is a life hack in itself. And all because many still do not realize what development this leads to.

And even if you focus on this particular area, you will already differ from your closest competitors. But now to the specifics:

1. Use what you have. It is not necessary to create your own video studio or hire entire agencies. You can get by with regular filming of your production, service delivery processes, or a story about your product;
2. Master the art of public speaking. If you have a representative employee who expresses a desire to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an actor, then send him to a public speaking school;
3. Release regularly. Since you have already decided to take up video marketing, then get ready for regularity. Since one video a month on how to use the product will not bring the desired effect;
4. Determine timing. It is unlikely that a good and interesting review of any equipment can be completed in less than 7-9 minutes. On the contrary, a webinar will be more interesting to the audience if its duration is less than 40 minutes;
5. Be friends with bloggers . This is not exactly a life hack, but a postulate that must be followed when promoting video content. But many people forget about bloggers, and if they don’t forget, they don’t know how to choose correctly.

If you look at it, video marketing does not require millions of expenses at the initial stage. Although if you look, many people invest huge sums in this.

Here it should rather be said that video marketing is, first of all, the content itself, and then the presentation itself. But at the same time, it is the presentation that makes the viewer fall for your material.

Mistakes

In principle, the mistakes that marketers make when introducing video into their marketing can be a continuation of the previous paragraph about life hacks.

Therefore, I have compiled a small list of errors that you can immediately take note of.

1. Bad video quality;
2. Lack of optimization;
3. Difficulty in conveying information;
4. Hard sell in the video;
5. Lack of brand broadcasting;
6. No call to action.

That's all, it's not that difficult. Therefore, I advise you to implement all the life hacks listed above and do not forget about typical mistakes. Then you are definitely guaranteed to be different from your competitors, and remember about creativity, because video marketing requires it.

Briefly about the main thing

You've probably heard about human channels for perceiving information. Where 60% is the visual channel, 30% is the auditory channel and 10% is the semantic channel.

This is why people prefer to watch a video rather than read a text.

So if you are not yet using video marketing, then I advise you to implement it quickly. And remember that, as with any other tool, video marketing cannot be done without strategy and numbers. So implement, consider, improve. And stay ahead of your competitors.

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