What exactly is Video Marketing?

Marketing your products or services through video is more important than ever before. It’s not as easy as producing one high-quality video for your social media channels and website.

Video marketing requires an ongoing strategy with well-defined goals and a series of clips for your online presence to improve your business. This part of your marketing plan is crucial to achieving this year’s goals, like turning leads into sales.

Consumers are 64% more likely to purchase after watching a video about a product or service.

The key to video marketing is choosing the appropriate platform, length, and message that showcase what your brand has to offer consumers and the community.

For example, videos that perform well on Instagram and Twitter are shorter than those getting lots of shares on Facebook and LinkedIn.

If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, these video types are great ways to increase engagement, drive more traffic to your site, and help consumers understand what you have to offer them.

Brand Videos
These videos are excellent for showing off your team, explaining your company’s mission, and going over your services. Brand videos are great for landing pages, your Facebook business page, and LinkedIn.

Customer Testimonials & Success Stories
Customer reviews and success stories are often the bread and butter of any business, as reviews are a major influence on what we buy. Review feedback influences 95% of people’s purchases. Videos affect 90% of customers’ buying decisions, which means a happy client’s video testimonial will do well on virtually all social media channels.

Demonstration Videos
These short clips about a product or service you offer can not only help you troubleshoot issues for your customers but make potential clients understand why they need it. Demo videos can live on the product pages on your website and do well on YouTube and most social media channels.

Expert Interviews
Whether it’s an employee or someone who partners with your company, featuring expert interviews lets consumers know that you’re dedicated to offering high-quality, up-to-date products and services. These interviews do well on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

“How-To” Videos
Educational videos show potential consumers how to use your products or why they need your services. Depending on your business, these videos may be short, 30-second clips, or a 3-part series. “How-To” videos do well on Instagram and Facebook and are good additions to product web pages.

Event Videos
Conferences, fundraisers, and other events can showcase your business as a driving force in the industry and spread awareness for charities or causes you care about—Studies show consumers prefer a brand that gives back. Our recent post shows how much video marketing can help you increase charitable donations.

While you might not be able to incorporate every type of video into your marketing strategy, varying your content is a great way to engage with more potential customers and build your relationship with your followers online.

Video needs to be a significant piece of your marketing plan. From email blasts to YouTube, this visual medium can offer a higher return than written content when you consider these statistics from Hubspot Research:

• Conversions on landing pages with video content are 80% higher than those with just text and images. 
• Email blasts with “Video” in the subject line increase open rates by 19%. 
• 93% of businesses on Facebook in 2018 reported gaining customers from videos on social media. 
• Five billion videos are watched on YouTube every day. 
• Consumers report wanting video marketing over all other marketing forms such as newsletters, articles, and social images. 

Video marketing is more than posting a short video on your YouTube channel every few months. You need a plan that targets the right audience and accomplishes the goals for your business, bottom line, and social media reach.

That’s where Markins Media can step in. We can help you turn a blog into a video, write scripts, prepare your team or talent, and provide a polished video you’re proud to show off.

Your video marketing strategy must consider the needs and best practices for each social network. You’ll want to make the videos enjoyable without audio as many consumers scroll their Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn feeds with the sound turned off. Helpful text pairs well with videos on social media, especially educational or demonstration videos.

DIY videos definitely have a place in your social media strategy. People respond to these real-life clips and share them freely.

However, when it comes to your overall video marketing strategy, you need to have professional, high-quality videos pinned on your profiles and featured on your website.

This mix of amateur smartphone and professionally produced videos is the best strategy for every brand to present themselves in a polished yet personable manner.