In 2019, marketers at all types of businesses, small or large, can make video work for their budget and goals.
You can shoot a complete 4K video right from your smartphone. And even if you don’t know how to edit videos, there are user-friendly, professional-grade video editing software options for all levels of content creators.
We created this 5-minute guide to help you get started with video marketing. This guide is filled with stats, examples, checklists, and more to enable you to start planning your own video strategy.
Let’s dive in.
What is video marketing?
At its core, video marketing is promoting your brand and products with video. That definition, though, is expanding and becoming more complicated as video technology evolves.
Video marketing had its advent with a television advertisement 80 years ago. In 2019, the potential for businesses to connect with their customers through video marketing is much wider.
Today, there are dozens of platforms—YouTube, Snapchat, Facebook Live—where companies can share their online videos with leads and existing customers. With so many spaces for sharing, video marketing could be anything from Super Bowl ads to Instagram stories to user-generated content.
Why use video marketing?
More and more companies are embracing video marketing. The number of businesses using video increased from 63% in 2017 to 81% in 2018. Here are a few reasons why:
- High ROI:
- Buyers are 64% more likely to make an online purchase after watching a product video.
- 83% of marketers agree that video has a strong ROI for their business.
- People who see a product demo are 1.81 times more likely to make a purchase than people who don’t.
- The cost per lead is 19% lower for marketers using video than those who don’t.
- High engagement:
- Video ads have a click-through rate of 1.84%—the highest of all digital ad formats.
- More people watch videos fully—completion rates increased by roughly 10% from 2017 to 2018—so businesses know that they are getting their messages across.
- Social media videos on average have 1200% more shares than text and images combined.
Video drives these metrics as a powerful, emotional medium. Using visuals and audio, video can speak to buyers’ interests and goals at a deep level. Understanding how your brand can help them, viewers are driven to make purchases and stay connected with your company.
Building a video marketing strategy
To build stronger customer relationships and boost your bottom line, your video marketing needs to be backed by planning.
Build a video marketing strategy with this simple six-step checklist. Each action item links to a resource with more information on completing that step.
With a strategy set, you’ll have a repeatable, reliable system for creating engaging video content.
8 types of video marketing
From promotional video commercials on TV to organic social videos on Instagram, there is a wide range of videos you can create as a marketer. With so many varieties of video, you can speak to the unique needs of your target audience as they move down the sales funnel.
We’ve listed 8 types of videos to show you when they should be presented to leads and customers throughout the sales funnel. This targeting keeps you on track to create videos that capture viewers’ attention and attract them to your brand, no matter what part of the buyer’s journey they’re at.
Top-of-funnel videos
The top-of-funnel (ToFu) stage is an opportunity to show leads why they should be interested in your company. Present them with high-level content—your brand’s mission, the purpose of your product—that pique their curiosity and encourage them to learn more about your products.
Video is the perfect medium for this lead generation. The medium combines a number of elements—music, visual effects, bright colors—to build that initial emotional connection with potential customers.
Attract ToFu leads to your company with these four broad video topics:
- Brand mission videos explain the “why” of your company—its history, its mission, its goals. Place the video right on your landing page so new visitors immediately see how your company helps others.
- Product explainer videos show the purpose of your product with a general explanation of how it works (more specific details are covered in a demo). By covering the broad details of your product, explainer videos let viewers know how your product can help them without overwhelming with too much information.
- Product video ads cover the perks of your product in less time than an explainer, usually in 30 seconds or less. With a shorter time span, product video ads tend to focus on just one idea to keep viewers’ focus. They’re great for quickly introducing ToFu leads to your product or showing existing customers your new products.
- Educational videos teach ToFu leads about an industry-related topic. Centered around your target audience’s interests, educational content attracts leads to your company’s site so they can explore your brand more.
Covering your brand and products on a high-level, these videos will spark ToFu viewers’ interest in your company without overwhelming them with information.
Middle-of-funnel videos
A middle-of-the-funnel (MoFu) customer is just beginning to seriously consider your product. You’ve built their brand awareness and communicated that your company can help them. To move them closer to purchasing, share content that shows how your product could help them.
For this middle-of-funnel (MoFu) content, videos are both engaging and convincing. Video can capture the visual details of your product in action, so MoFu leads quickly understand how it works. Beyond product features, MoFu videos can highlight your current customers’ experiences to show how your product has helped others.
Move MoFu leads closer to making a purchase with these two types of videos:
- Customer testimonial videos push MoFu leads closer to purchasing by showing success stories from people just like them, your target audience. Your MoFu viewers will be able to see the expressions and hear the tone of your customers, so the testimonial feels authentic and persuasive.
- Product demos show how your product or service works on a detailed level, so MoFu customers understand exactly how your product can help them.
Between demos and testimonials, your MoFu videos showcase your product experience to build viewers’ trust in your brand even further.
Bottom-of-funnel videos
At the bottom-of-the-funnel (BoFu), customers have seen enough content to evaluate your product. More information probably won’t help at this late stage—they need an incentive from your sales team to make a purchase. Examples of this final push include a free trial offer or a follow-up call.
While sales is responsible for converting BoFu leads, marketers can still nurture customers who make it past the bottom of the funnel with content. Present these buyers with content that improves their product usage to build their brand loyalty. They’ll appreciate your company for continuing to help them and, as a result, will stay connected to your brand.
Here are two types of videos that provide value to existing customers and encourage them to continue making purchases:
- Product webinars are online lessons to help existing customers build their skills with your product or service. By teaching your buyers with product webinars, you help them to find more value in your brand and encourage them to remain a customer.
- Live Q & A sessions are live videos for your employees, such as sales reps, to connect with customers in real-time and answer their questions about your product or service. These days, there are lots of great web-based platforms for live streaming your sessions.
With these product assistance videos, you ensure that the people who made it through your funnel stay happy with your product and continue making purchases.
Embrace marketing videos to win more customers
Video marketing is becoming increasingly popular across businesses—more brands are realizing how it benefits their bottom line, and technological advances are making video easier and cheaper to create. There’s never been a better time to create a video marketing strategy if you haven’t already.
Using the foundational knowledge in this guide, brainstorm what you want to achieve and create for your business through video content marketing. Once you set a plan and start creating videos, you’ll be on your way to engaging more of your target audience and driving more purchases.
About Vyond
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