So, what if we told you there is an easy way to increase conversions by 80%? Seriously? Well, we aren’t nuts or out of touch with online marketing practices. According to the pros at Unbounce, a landing page and conversion marketing platform, “Including a video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80%.”
How about this research finding from Aberdeen Market Intelligence? “Companies using video grow 49% faster year-over-year than those that don’t.”
But, how do you get there from where you are today? No worries! We reached out to industry experts and asked them to share their best tips on adding video to your marketing mix.
Here are 8 tips from the experts to consider when you add video to your marketing:
1. Is Your Brand Moving Forward or Backward?
In 2017, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he saw video as a “megatrend.” In 2018, everyone got the message:
branded video content was the way to stand out on social media and increase engagement with your followers.
But looking ahead to 2019, I wonder how using video as a marketing tool will continue to pay off and whether people are starting to feel fatigued by all the content they are bombarded with every day.
When thinking about using video as a marketing tool, my number one piece of advice is to really consider your brand. The key to video success, in my book, is whether the content I’m viewing matches my expectations or understanding of the brand itself.
The danger we see is in people creating a video for video’s sake. Not only can this be expensive but often times, the resulting product does nothing to build brand value. When in doubt, create content that feels authentically on brand first. If that happens to be video, great.
A bonus bit of advice if you decide video works well for your brand is to really consider the platform. People go to Facebook to be entertained (and most listen with the sound off) so keep vids there short and add captions if you can.
“Instagram, on the other hand, is a mostly visual platform so videos should work well without words altogether (no captions needed).
And lastly - if you’re creating branded video content for YouTube, make it personal. YouTube is technically the largest search engine in the world after Google, so the audience and demographics are diverse. Tailor into one specific niche your brand can serve well and provide highly-personalized content that viewers can check out and share regularly.
-- Kristine Neil, Owner & Creative Director, Markon Brands
2. Build Valuable Content
Here's my number 1 tip for using videos as marketing tools:
Making a great marketing video is hard work, and when your distribution channels aren't awesome, your efforts will probably amount to just a few measly views.
It could be highly-valuable and informative with magnificent design/animation, but you can’t depend on a video to sell itself. That's why the surefire way to drive video views is to use paid advertising.
You've got a range of advertising platforms to choose from to boost your video views, but I'd generally recommend sticking to Facebook because of its more granular targeting capabilities.
There's no need to blow your budget. Video views are a relatively cheap form of advertising, usually costing no more than 1-5 cents per view. Identify your ideal market, narrow down your ad's targeting to focus on specific audience attributes, and set a budget you're comfortable with.
I'd also recommend testing various targeting options to determine how to maximize conversion rates (I hope you're including a CTA with your video).
-- Pierre de Braux, Content Strategist, Spiralytics
3. Harness the power of the K.I.S.S. Method (keep it simple, stupid)
Brevity is beautiful. Effective marketing is short, engaging, and memorable. That same logic applies to video. Now more than ever, it’s critical to be direct to draw viewers in with your video content, especially on platforms like Facebook where users can quickly scroll away from video assets.
Each video should have a singular idea to convey. Don’t try to stuff too many points in an instructional video. Give viewers one major “takeaway” about your company or content. Have more ideas? Perfect, you’ve got more inspiration for other video content in the future.
-- Shelby Rogers, Content Marketing Manager, Solodev
4. Quality Trumps Quantity
My philosophy when it comes to creating compelling video content is: keep the content engaging throughout the length of the video. You can lose the viewer within the first 15 seconds of your video. Make that portion of the video content extremely strong. The length of the video is not as important as some think. The content is what counts. A two minute video can be as effective as a six minute video and vice versa. Quality over quantity should be the priority.
Check out an example: https://www.guidedchoice.com/video/why-save-for-retirement/
-- Tracy Julien, VP of Marketing, GuidedChoice
5. Show, Don’t Tell
Using video is like public relations with the high price tag. Video gets your name out without the hard sell by using client success stories. If you have a good testimonial from a client, put the video on your website and social media.
Instead of telling people how great your business is, let your clients do it for you.
-- Victor Clarke, Owner, Clarke, Inc.
6. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
My tip: You don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to creating videos for your business. Often, content you already have on your website can be repurposed for video. Look for blog posts that provide lists or tips and convert those into a simple slide video with short text. The video will enhance your written piece but can also be used on its own for social posts.
-- Amy Newton, Senior Social Media Strategist, Ignite Visibility
7. Make a Plan
The key to a successful video marketing campaign, in the digital age, is planning ahead of time for video cuts of different lengths. Every network and strategy has a different best-practice for length.
On Instagram, it's usually 30 seconds. For Facebook: 30 seconds to 2 minutes. On YouTube? You'll want everything from a 6 second bumper cut, to the full-length piece. But scripting out the different lengths from the start, you'll be able to get much more from your video production budget.
-- Flynn Zaiger, CEO, Online Optimism
8. Go Live
Facebook Live is a powerful and easy tool for video. We recommend you use Facebook Live weekly to engage with your audience. You do not need a fancy setup, just a topic or theme relevant to your audience, and a friendly face to share information. Chatting for 5 to 10 minutes with 3-5 key points is enough and remember to publish your page afterwards so you can get more views. Bonus points if you download and post on your website as a resource library!
-- Rebecca Teaff, CEO, Redstart Creative
Wrapping It Up
Fred R. Barnard is credited with saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” An image conveys ideas in ways words sometimes cannot. Video marketing gives you the best of both worlds. This one multifunctional media tool combines the best images and words has to offer.
Will you incorporate all these video marketing best practices or a few? Either way, it is a low cost, negligible risk process. Anytime you engage your audience, you boost your traffic. More traffic equals a healthier bottom line. Go for it!
Do you have an exceptional video marketing idea we haven’t covered here? If so, please post it in the comments section so we can share it with our readers.
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