Video will get you results! And fast…
Did you know that the modern consumer spends a third of their time watching video and online content? No wonder “video marketing” has become a hot topic.
That said, today’s businesses are using video more than ever to drive traffic. According to Cisco, online videos will account for 82% of online traffic by 2022. Businesses have woken up to the power of video and are leveraging it to gain the upper hand in marketing.
So, why video?
Videos are what your audience wants to see the most. The engagement is longer and deeper than with other types of content. Plus, they’re a great way to explain your product.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to supercharge your marketing efforts with video in 2022. But first, a quick primer on video marketing.
What Is Video Marketing?
As the name suggests, video marketing is about using video to promote and market your products or services effectively. It helps to reach your audience, educate your customers, increase engagement, and boost conversions.
Additionally, video marketing can serve as a medium to live-stream events, promote customer testimonials, and deliver entertaining content.
Steps to Create a Killer Video Marketing Strategy
According to Hubspot, videos can increase conversion rates by up to 80%. But to achieve such results, you’ll need a killer video marketing strategy. Follow these steps to create a video marketing strategy that drives results.
Step 1: Set your Video Marketing Goals
The very first step of any inbound marketing strategy is defining your goals.
In this, what do you want to achieve with your videos? Do you want to:
- Attract new prospects
- Build authority with videos
- Persuade customers to make a sale, or
- Introduce your brand to a new audience
As with any other marketing goal, following the SMART goal framework is an excellent place to start. In other words, your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. An example of a SMART video marketing goal is to “Achieve a 20% revenue growth by 31st March 2022.”
Step 2: Research Your Target Audience
Before you get to the video production part, make sure to identify your audience.
You could use your buyer personas to identify the type of content your audience loves. This can also help you identify the type of videos to create and discover where to host them.
For example, if your audience mainly consists of Gen Z, you’ll want to create short, entertaining videos and promote them on sites like TikTok and Instagram.
Step 3: Decide What Kind of Videos You’ll Make
There are many different types of videos out there, and each serves a different purpose. Determining the kind of video that works best for your brand is vital in creating a video marketing strategy that drives results.
For starters, you could create any of these video types:
- How-to-guides
- Reviews
- Webinars
- Vlogs
- Events
- Customer testimonials
Your choice of video type should align with your video marketing goals. For instance, if your goal is to increase conversions, product reviews are your best bet.
Step 4: Optimise the Video for Conversions
Once you’ve created video content that aligns with your goals and appeals to your audience, you’ll want to optimise it for conversions.
How can you do that?
- Include a clear call to action
- Optimise the video for SEO – include the primary keyword in title and description, make engaging thumbnails, insert a video transcript, etc.
- Create simple and short videos
- Make your videos interactive
- Offer incentives – e.g., discounts to your viewers, free e-books, etc.
You may also want to consider hosting the video on your website to increase website engagement and conversions.
Step 5: Choose Your Distribution Outlets
Next, you’ll need to find the right distribution channels to deliver your content to the right audience. Here are some brilliant ideas to consider for your video marketing strategy.
- Upload the video to YouTube
- Host the video on your website
- Embed the video directly in your emails
- Share the video on social media
Once you’ve shared your video through these known channels, keep looking for more channels where you can post it and further increase engagement.
Step 6: Analyse Your Video Performance
The wise say that “what’s not measured cannot be improved.”
With that in mind, you’ll need to analyse your video’s performance to gauge its effectiveness. Here are some metrics you should track for each video you release:
- Number of views
- Click-through-rate (CTR)
- Attention span or drop-off rates
- Demand generation
Examples of analytics tools you could use to measure your video marketing performance include Google Analytics, YouTube Analytics, Clicky, Finteza, etc.
Wrapping Up
Video remains one of the most powerful tools for driving engagement.
That said, using video marketing can effectively increase sales and create brand awareness. However, a poor video marketing strategy can be disastrous to a business.
By following the steps discussed above, you’ll be able to achieve your 2022 video marketing goals and edge out the competition.
