Humans are visually oriented and hence, understand and respond better to a video message vis-à-vis any infographic or text-driven content. Businesses are increasingly leveraging this peculiarity in human behaviour to drive customer engagement, leads, sales and allegiance. They are incorporating videos in their overall marketing mix to convert readers into fence-sitters, fence-sitters into customers and customers into brand loyalists. To put it in perspective, consider some relevant stats, courtesy e-Marketer. The digital video advertising spends presently amount to just 15% of the overall digital advertising budgets, they are rising at 43.5% annually nonetheless. Come 2019, 80% of internet traffic will come through videos.
Not all marketing videos are created equal. Some induce nausea, others live up to their purpose. There is a definitive science guiding the conceptualization and creation of videos that fall in the latter category and it’s time for you to get intimate with its ins and outs.
Decide on the Type of Video:
They come in all shapes and sizes – brand videos, company culture videos, explainer videos, product review videos, Vlogs, webinars and testimonials. Your video-creation journey should get underway only after deciding on the type of videos that’ll meet your marketing objectives.
• Brand videos are for you if introducing your brand to the target audience is a priority. You take viewers through your brand story, founding values, bottom line and everything else that set you apart. Animated brand videos are the norm, as they showcase your creativity and stimulate the audiences both visually and emotionally.
• Explainer videos serve you well when explaining a product, procedure or solution is required. Apt for home service companies, it needs to be precise, short, lucidly presented and detail oriented to fit into the “how to” queries.
• Product review videos make for rapid conversions, as they engagingly and deftly highlight the salient features of your product or service to a receptive audience. Per Media-Post, over 57% of buying decisions are inspired by product videos.
• Company Culture Videos are a safe bet to humanize your brand, connect emotionally with your target audience and create brand loyalty. The content can be anything from a recent staff party to office pranks to anything else that your audience connects with.
• Live Event Videos are your audiences’ entryway to special events unfolding within the confines of your office. In fact, you can drive 10 folds higher engagement with live event videos compared to regular videos.
• It’s obvious for you to speak highly about your product or service but the magic is when one of your satisfied clients speaks on your behalf. This is the power of testimonials that can create brand awareness and boost sales.
Create Appropriate Content:
Content is the lifeline of a marketing video and thus, should be taken seriously. Take, for instance, a big-budget movie with a stellar cast, lavish locations and startling special effects. It’s more likely to turn out a box office dud in lack of a convincing script. Likewise, a marketing video devoid of a good script can prove counterproductive, driving off viewers and keeping you off your marketing objectives. The thumb rule is to figure out what your customers and prospects want, how they perceive your brand or product/service, and why they wish to listen from you. Once the research part is over, start writing the script accordingly. Keep the content refreshing, precise, engaging, easy to understand and solution-focused with a logical call to action.
Add Visuals:
Once the script is ready, it’s time to consider visuals for the video. Don’t throw caution to the winds here too, since visuals go a long way in enticing viewers into investing in your brand. If you prefer going cheap here, the video is bound to reflect badly on your brand, sending a wrong impression to the targeted audiences. The same argument applies to fancy visuals as well. When stakes are this high, achieving a perfect balance becomes imperative. For animated videos, rope in a reliable designer who can create visuals that go well with your bottom line. When shooting a live video, prefer optimal lighting and decent equipment.
Logical Call-to-Action:
It takes 7 touches to make a sale and a logical, clear call to action is one of them. No matter how impressive the video is, it will fail to convert if it doesn’t ask for the sale. The CTA has to be expertly incorporated in your content for the sake of consistency. Any randomly placed CTA is neither desirable nor impactful. Consider including a screen, preferably at the fag end of the video, requesting the viewer to perform a particular action. The request can be for subscribing to your channel, signing up for a newsletter or a free trial or buying a product/service. The thumb rule is to let your marketing objectives decide what the CTA will sound like. If placing a screen is not feasible, opt for an auditory request to induce the desirable action.
Find the Technicalities:
How your video will be accessed by the target audience depends largely on the web browser and device they use, along with the average internet speed in their region. Your entire investment will be down the drain if the video is not compatible with their favourite browser or operating system. By the same token, creating high definition videos is futile in case the internet speed in your target region is deplorable. This calls for some due diligence on your part. Capitalize on Google Analytics to figure out the type of browsers, OS and gadgets that your target audience is hooked to and then opt for a suitable video format. The low internet speed issue can be remedied by compressing the video size for swift streaming.
Hosting:
Appropriate hosting is essential for a video to convert. It makes no sense to place a painstakingly created video on the inner pages of your website, as it won’t be visible to many. Prefer using video sharing platforms like YouTube to host your video simply because the footfall is way higher here. Your other hosting options are WISTIA and VIDYARD, especially when you are in the B2B space.
