The prospect of using video conferencing to promote your business might be intimidating, however the advantages definitely make it worthwhile.
By producing videos, you can swiftly link to your target demographic, gain insight about your products and services, determine what questions people have about your company, and much more. You can amass a fanbase of people eager to view your videos and having fun communicating and connecting with you.
While the business benefits might not be immediately obvious from that, here’s why creating video content matters as a marketing strategy:
- Find out what your customers really think about your business and use that knowledge to improve.
- Learn what people like and don’t like about your products and services so you can do more of what they really want and sell more.
- Understand how people in your audience think and speak. Find out what language they use and any jargon so that you can speak to them in their language and more quickly build a bond with them.
- Instantly answer any questions people have while you’re live. This is hugely reassuring for people and they will find your business to be open and responsive.
- Build a community around your brand where fans can’t wait to get their hands on your new products or services.
- Test out new ideas and features and find out if your ideas work for real customers.
- Establish your authority as the expert in your field by offering advice, help, and answers to common questions.
If those benefits don’t encourage you to get on camera as soon as possible, here are some statistics that just might:
According to TechJury in their article, 37+ Live Streaming Statistics Every Marketer Should Keep In Mind in 2022 :
- “96% of people say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.”
- “79% say a brand’s video has convinced them to buy a piece of software or an app.”
- “Videos on social media generate 1200% more shares than texts and images.”
- “Companies that use video enjoy 41% more traffic from searches.”
- “80% of consumers prefer to watch live videos from a brand than read a blog.”
We could go on, but you get the idea. If you haven’t implemented video content into your online marketing strategy, you’re really leaving something out.
People are becoming more reliant on videos to get more details on things they want to purchase, teach themselves something new, and complete their purchase. We would guess that most businesses couldn’t pass up the advantages of video marketing.
Wyzowl also has some interesting statistics from their report, The State of Video Marketing 2021 :
- “84% of video marketers say video has helped them generate leads. (Up 1% from last year).”
- “84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.”
- “Marketers have rapidly come to understand the ROI of video – from just 33% who believed they got a positive ROI from video in 2015, the number now sits at 87%.”
These figures are too large to be overlooked as an impossibility or novel trend. Once figures reach the level of 70%, 80%, and 90%, it is necessary to give it your full attention.
Which platforms should you use?
Well, we’ve given it away in our title. Currently, the most optimal places for video for local businesses are TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
You should always make sure to check for yourself and locate your customers. Prior to establishing any marketing approach, you should first investigate your clients and discover where they congregate.
Here are some more mind-blowing statistics on these platforms to show you just how large a reach you could have if you go ahead with video marketing:
Tiktok
From TechJury’s 33+ Amazing TikTok Statistics You Should Know in 2022 :
- “TikTok has 689 million monthly active users.”
- “TikTok users span across 155 countries worldwide.”
- “More than 1 billion videos get viewed each day on TikTok.”
From Sprout Social’s Instagram statistics you need to know for 2022 :
- “Instagram has over 2 billion monthly active users.”
- “91% of active IG users watch videos weekly.”
- “70% of shoppers look to Instagram for their next purchase.”
From Thunderclap’s 30 Facebook Live Statistics for 2022 :
- “Facebook live videos get 10x more comments than normal videos.”
- “The Facebook Live Video View Count Surpassed 2 Billion Viewers in 2020.”
- “Facebook Live Broadcasts Reached 3.5 Billion in 2018. in 2020, It Marked 8.5 Billion.”
So, now we’ve (hopefully) convinced you to give video a try, here’s how to create a practical video strategy that gets results:
Step 1: Research and strategy
It is crucial to comprehend which venues your patrons employ. You can make the best videos imaginable on TikTok, however if your target viewers utilize Facebook as their primary platform, it won’t be of much benefit to you.
If you have not constructed purchasing profiles for your spectators yet, then that needs to be done first. You need to thoroughly understand your customers. Investigate their population characteristics, and become aware of who they are and what they desire. What areas of difficulty and irritation does your company have the ability to fix?
To start your brand analysis, ask yourself:
- What is your current position in the market?
- Who are your current prospects and clients?
- How do they like to receive information? How did they find you?
- What are their struggles or challenges? Where do they need help?
- How do your prospects and clients currently see you?
- Why do they come to you? Is it your expertise? Your prices? Your ability to make them feel educated and empowered?
- What do you bring to the industry that sets you apart?
- How do you anticipate the value of these key differentiators faring in the future?
Discover when they tend to be using the online services you’ve selected. You can get to know more and more information about your viewership as it increases by looking at the data that is specific to each type of social media platform. This data will also tell you when the best time is to upload videos to get the best response.
It’s vital to pay attention to your customers and determine what they would like to know. Pay attention to your customers’ feedback on your company through social listening. You will gain remarkable knowledge from this which will influence all aspects of your advertising.
You’ll develop and refine this over time. Try out unique video styles and poll your viewers while streaming to learn what type of content they most desire.
As you persist in video marketing, you will have more data to look at that will show you which videos are the most popular.
Step 2: Creative
Creative concepting does require a certain amount of skill. It is advantageous to collaborate with an experienced professional in devising innovative ideas. Being tolerant of yourself if you are just starting out.
Do not hire a video production firm before you have a creative notion, script, and storyboard that are ready to be implemented. Most video production companies are not creative agencies. They are responsible for creating the video according to your specifications.
Creative resources
If you choose to come up with your own idea for the video, these are some tools you can use.
- StoryBrand – We highly recommend this workshop hosted by Donald Miller. StoryBrand will help you clarify your message and write a script that empathizes with your target audience.
- Death to the Corporate Video – Written by Umault’s Creative Director, Guy Bauer, this quick read will give you tons of practical advice on making an effective B2B video.
- How to simplify your complex message with a video – This article includes 5 practical things you can do to create an idea that resonates with your prospects.
- Made to Stick – The ultimate read on developing “sticky” ideas. Authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath use science and psychology to really break down how to make effective content.
Scripting and storyboarding
Once you have a good idea, it’s time to assemble a script and/or a series of drawings that illustrate what will happen in the video. The type of video you are creating will determine what type of scripting you will utilize. A screenplay is essential for a video that involves performers, dialogue, physical activity, or narration. It will give a basic outline from the beginning to the ending of the video.
For a video interview, this step is used to plan the story that is being presented. Generate a list of queries based on the creative concept to make sure you can capture the interview material and audio you require during production to create a successful video. We strongly advise against scripting anything that is intended to be presented or spoken by individuals who are not professional actors.
Once the screenplay has been composed, it can go hand-in-hand with pictures or drafts that illustrate what each segment should look like in order to make storyboards. Storyboards give the director, art and props personnel, hairdressers and makeup artists, and lighting technicians the necessary direction, guidance, and motivational ideas for the picture to move in the same direction as previously decided and the vision come to life when filming.
Step 3: Production
Pre-Production
We have now conceived the concept and designed an outline of what it should look like, thus it is time to make it a reality.
When collaborating with an agency, they will provide you with dependable production associates at this point in time. If you developed the concept and script yourself, it is now time to look for a video production company. The production company will guide the video creation process.
The pre-production stage requires collecting the necessary personnel, details, and elements to competently film and edit the video.
This typically involves creating a director’s concept to demonstrate how the director intends to put the script, illustrations, and/or query into action. The helmsman of this project has plotted out details concerning the amount of filming sessions, costuming, styling, scene embellishments and ornamentation, the intensity & visuals of the video, and the machines required, all of which are contingent upon the variety of video and its intended utilization.
Once granted permission, the director’s approach is an excellent way to support the staff on the set and should be utilized in conjunction with a pre-production manual as the principal resources for any activity that occurs before and during filming.
Production
Your aim while producing should be to create the most visually appealing form of the idea you conceptualized while also keeping to the timeline, staying within expenditure, and making sure everybody remains secure. Making a film may include multiple elements such as artwork and props, performers, grips and electrical technicians (including lighting, which is typically referred to as “G&E” in the movie business), refreshment service, script management, data and tech, and taking photographs/capturing footage. Everybody collaborates to make a stunning video. You should plan on a shoot day taking anywhere from 8 to 12 hours, with the customary industry time being 10 hours, which would include time for moving equipment in, getting set up, and taking it down.
Being on set can be surreal. There are many components to consider, people in motion, and certain words to learn. A quality representative, producer, or production business will guarantee that everything is set up and accomplished according to the director’s plan and pre-production work.
Acquiring all of the shots and scenes during your agreed upon filming days requires sound production planning and a carefully-crafted schedule. Sometimes, scenes take longer than expected or end before anticipated, calling for modifications in timeline. A competent producer or agency account manager will ensure that you remain fully informed of the situation and that you are aware of what is happening and what is coming in the future.
Post-Production
Creating content after filming is finished needs a specialized and particular set of abilities in order to be performed correctly. Even when creating a video with a script, a skilled editor will do more than just put the video clips together. They are responsible for examining all of the recorded material and bringing together all the best clips to make a unified and successful video.
Editing
If you’ve worked on the set for a couple of days, your editor will go through a large quantity of video material as the first step! The director and creative director should be giving advice to the editor about the most appropriate pieces for the video, however it is the editor’s responsibility to make the final decision on what portions will serve the video most effectively.
Achieving the best editing outcomes is easiest when a creative idea and other documents such as scripts, storyboards, and the director’s treatment have been approved prior to filming. If that event has taken place, you won’t have anything unexpected in your inbox.
Step 4: Evaluate
Evaluating the video’s success
You have now created the video and everybody on the team is pleased with it. A content supervisor is only a minor aspect of succeeding. After the movie has been shared and found its place in the audience’s experience, it is critical to follow the metrics you set as goals in the start of the venture and evaluate how well the video is doing. Did you obtain the financial return you were expecting from your video? And how do you plan to measure success? Higher brand awareness numbers? Category sales lift? Annual revenues? Increases in social media engagement?
Review all of your video and sales material every six months or annually. Examine what is operating appropriately and what isn’t, what is still up to date and what is a bit outdated. This audit should be used to help figure out which marketing strategies should be a priority and how much should be allocated to the marketing budget.
Maintain a record of all your video material in one consistent location. Smart marketers reuse and remix videos often. A video is a big investment. Make the most of it!
