Marketing videos are undeniably the new effective business sales tool that is shaking the charts and ruling the roost.
Videos are a significant marketing tool to get across to your customers, teach them about your products/ services and convert them into reliable sales leads.
As per the Wyzowl Survey 2022, nearly 87% of marketers feel videos have helped them increase their ROI. Almost 94% of marketers felt marketing videos helped their customers understand their products better and 84% felt the new technique helped them to create new leads.
MARKETING VIDEOS: THE WHAT, WHY & HOW OF CAPTURING YOUR AUDIENCE THROUGH VIDEO CONTENT
Video marketing rose to fame with the launch of YouTube back in 2005. The visual appeal of videos in digital marketing was irresistible and the birth of smartphones propelled it further.
Marketing videos are essentially short video clips made to promote a product, service, or concept by engaging the end-users or target audience effectively over diverse digital platforms.
Such videos are the easiest and invariably one of the most direct channels to reach and impact a vast audience within a short period.
A Weapon Called Video Content: The Most Powerful Marketing Tool of the Future
Marketing videos come under a vast canvas and can range from the promotional product demo videos (that provide greater insight into a product and its features) to the instructive “How to” videos. With the increasing traffic online, today every digital platform employs videos to educate, inform, engage and influence customers.
In today’s world, it might seem like all you need is a good smartphone to shoot, edit, create and promote your videos. But, whatever the purpose of your video is, it would convey the message and impact your audience only when it is made within the right framework and meets the required parameters.
A badly made video content can get all your cards crumbling down. Especially when you are a beginner who’s excitedly exploring the fun world of video marketing, or seriously considering better ways of customer interaction, it helps to know the basics before you take the dive.
Here are the 10 fundamental steps you must know (and take) before you set out to create your marketing videos:
● Have conclusive goals for your video content:
Have a clear and complete understanding of what your video must convey. Your definitive goals will help you create great video content that communicates well with your audience.
To define your goals, you need to understand where exactly you stand on the marketing trajectory. Is your marketing goal all about getting your product to a wider audience? Or, does it intend to reposition your brand? Frame your goals as per your marketing requirement and then sit down to create your story.
● Find a compelling theme:
For Eid 2022, India Gate, the largest selling rice brand in India, came up with the basmati rice ad that celebrates the #EmotionCalledBiryani. The campaign has three digital films that showcase the nostalgic flavors of Biryani across different places and recipes and its emotional connection with every Indian. Through the ‘Biryani tale’, the brand aimed at creating a recall on their core value.
Finding a good theme that resonates with your brand values and your specific marketing goal is rudimentary for your marketing video before you sketch out the storyline or script. Without a theme, your story would suffer and struggle to convey the right message to the audience.
● Tell an engaging story:
Once your goals are set and you have a good theme for your marketing video, it's time to weave a story around it. A good story increases the attention span of your audience.
Like the Coca-Cola 2020 Christmas story that went viral. The brand video created for the Christmas season portrays a father who traverses many hardships to deliver his little daughter’s letter to Santa at the North Pole. The storyline for the simple message 'This Christmas, give something only you can give’ may seem extravagant and far-fetched. Nevertheless, it tugs at your heart and is sure to stay in your memory (even if you are not a huge fan of the soft drink!).
Whether simple or elaborate, create a fascinating story that your audience will notice, love and remember.
● Create a solid video script:
If you are not an expert at creating off-the-cuff videos, then you must definitely create a script for your marketing video. A well-researched script makes a great headway for beautiful and effective video content.
Sitting down to create a video script could seem like an ordeal. But the task is worth its result.
A solid script helps you to plan your video making and cut down on unnecessary editing. To begin with, you can use Google docs to start writing your script as it helps with collaboration and real-time remarks and comments.
But, if you are not the ‘writing type’ and are at the end of your rope figuring out how to make a good script for your video, get help. Getting professional help from content providers like ThePendits to create a catchy, SEO-rich script is always better than making a sloppy video and losing your audience.
● Watch out for the duration:
Avoid lengthy videos. Remember, no one has the time and patience to sit before lengthy promotional videos unless those are exemplary professional videos from top brands or influencers. So, as you begin with marketing videos, do not rush to fill them up with all that you or your brand has to say. Edit your video clips well to keep your video content short and crisp. Edit off repetitive content.
Today, you can access many easy DIY video editing tools and platforms online for free to edit any type of video content. Video editing tools/apps and online platforms like WeVideo, Filmora, Machete etc can be a big help to convert your video clips into an interesting marketing video with a professional touch.
The 5-Steps Video Editing Basics to Create Outstanding Video Content
● Do not compromise on quality:
Quality always catches attention. Quality videos create good impressions and get better attention. Use good quality cameras, accessories and tools for recording and editing. Do not compromise on factors like audio, lighting etc. Basics like a DSLR camera, a tripod, a good microphone, a ring light for quality lighting and a teleprompter should work well to get the quality video without much hassle.
● Frame a budget:
One of the vital factors that need to be taken care of while planning for a marketing video is the budget.
A well-laid budget with subsets for each category of expenses will help you stay within a framework without having to compromise on quality. It will also help avoid unanticipated or unnecessary expenses.
A great marketing video might not always guarantee the necessary returns. So do not overspend, especially if you are a first-timer. Make sure you spend within the budget limits.
● Check on SEO:
SEO isn’t for written content alone. Marketing videos won't serve the deal if they do not have sufficient SEO trails. Embed your videos on related blogs, on your website home page and on other landing pages. Edit short clips for different social media feeds.
SEO-rich videos will get your marketing goals to a wider audience and bring in a better response.
● Choose your broadcast channels:
Be sure about where you want to upload your marketing content before you create the content. Know where exactly your target audiences are and get familiar with the diverse social media marketing platforms. The type of videos and audience could change from one platform to another. For YouTube audiences, explainer videos work great while short clips work well for Instagram/Facebook feeds.
Also, ensure that your videos are compatible across various devices and gadget platforms. Your much-awaited marketing video should be easily compatible across different devices such as smartphones to desktops and televisions.
● Don’t forget the CTA:
Make sure you include Call To Action or CTA in your content. CTA is very much required for generating leads. You can weave in CTA at the beginning of the reel, at the middle, or towards the end of the video.
TAKEAWAY
Today video production is no more a daunting task. Marketing videos are increasingly becoming creation-friendly and audience-friendly. You can shoot high-quality 4K videos with minimum requirements like your smartphone.
Great content definitely works wonders and does generate big countable sales figures. As per research, audiences spent an average of 19 hours a week glued to videos online. So, do not ignore the potential of video marketing if you care about brand awareness.
It’s all about getting on the right track to get the deliverables. So stay on the fence to make some great marketing video content.