In our last blog, we discussed how to create social media videos for multiple platforms. But what should the content of those videos be, and how should they be scheduled for release? That’s where your video marketing strategy comes into play. A great video marketing strategy will plan and coordinate video launches for maximum impact, take advantage of the latest marketing trends, and use key metrics to track video performance.
How do you Plan a video marketing strategy?
Instead of making a video here and there and hoping for the best, set your video campaign up for success by creating a strategy. The first step is to answer a few key questions:
What is the goal of your marketing campaign?
Your answer will inform all other video marketing decisions. You may think the answer is simple, e.g. “to drive new business.” But such a broad view is too nebulous to get great results. Instead, focus on how you want to drive business. Do you want to:
- Increase overall sales?
- Increase sales of a specific product?
- Increase your conversion rate?
- Increase your social media followers?
- Increase your video engagement?
- Or do you simply want to raise consumer awareness?
While increasing any of these metrics may drive business, they are distinct goals and require different strategies. Choosing a primary goal will streamline your decision-making process.
Who is your target audience?
There are more tools than ever to track and target specific audiences. Keep your audience in mind so you can take full advantage of these tools. You should consider whether your audience is already a customer or not, their interests, age, ethnicity, gender, income, and so on. Your audience will influence how you distribute your video (it is unlikely you will be creating TikTok ads for seniors) and the content of your videos too.
In this online ad we created for PetMeds, we researched every aspect of the target demographic. The findings informed our footage, script, and VO characteristics. We made sure that the family depicted, the number of pets, and the age of the pet owners corresponded to the audience our client wanted to capture.
What kind of videos will you make? Traditional ad, explainer, tutorial, personality-driven, testimonial, or something else?
Different types of videos appeal to different audiences and help achieve different goals. If you want to convert visitors to your Amazon page into customers, an explainer video, tutorial, or testimonial video may be the way to go. These videos answer important questions about the product and demonstrate your product’s quality in action. If you want to appeal to a younger demographic raised in the personality-driven social media landscape, a vlog or a video featuring an influencer may connect best. Or, if you want to make a quick and strong impression, the tried and true 15s to 30s slick professional ad may be your best bet. Your video marketing strategy should include a few different kinds of videos that complement one another to achieve your objectives.
What platforms should you use to launch your videos? And how can you format your videos for each platform?
It’s easier than ever to reach huge numbers of potential customers over the web. The downside is that there are many popular platforms and many use different formats. To ensure you’re taking full advantage of a platform’s features, you’ll need to customize the videos for each platform. For more details, please see our blog, How Do You Create Social Media Video for Multiple Platforms?
Will you hire a professional video production company? Or try to make them in-house?
82% of internet traffic is now video, so it’s more important than ever to stand out from the crowd. You can shoot and edit videos yourself, especially for smaller-scale social media posts, but you’re much more likely to find success by hiring experts who can elevate your videos from amateur to professional. All your careful planning is worthless if your videos don’t engage or impress. And professional video production companies have the resources and pipeline to create videos on schedule and keep your marketing campaign on track.
What is your ideal video production and release schedule?
Just as important as HOW you release your videos is WHEN you release them. You don’t want to make one video, find out that it has been successful, and miss the boat on the next release. That’s why you should batch-produce your videos, filming multiple videos during each shoot and editing them ahead of time. This will save money and ensure you stay on a regular schedule, which platform algorithms reward. Plan multiple video series, such as once-a-month company updates. Create seasonal variants of your ads. And pick specific events and holidays to build videos around. For example, a cookie company wouldn’t want to miss having a video ready for National Cookie Day.
There is one caveat: If you make too many videos in advance, and find your released videos are not performing to expectations, it can be difficult to change course. A sweet spot is to plan videos quarterly so you can react to the response to your previous videos and any internal changes that may impact future video priorities.
What are the video marketing trends of 2022?
The world of video is constantly changing and so are consumer expectations. Below are some of the latest video marketing trends.
What Are Interactive Videos?
In 2022, videos no longer have to be static. By taking advantage of video interactivity, you can increase engagement and activate more users. For example, when advertising on social media sites such as Instagram, you can overlay a shopping link. With just a tap, the viewer can directly access the webpage to buy the advertised product. We live in an age of convenience, and there’s no guarantee that even an interested customer will take the time to search for the product or remember your ad later. Utilize shopping links to immediately convert viewers. And make sure the shopping link pops up during an optimal part of the video when the sales pitch is at its peak.
You may also wish to incorporate polls, quizzes, questions, and other links to create an interaction they’ll remember.
What Are Branching Videos?
Here’s a common conundrum: you are launching two products but are struggling to ensure the correct consumer persona for each. You could spend time and money on research and targeted ad buys, or you could let the consumer self-select their interests through a branching video.
A branching video lets the viewer choose what happens next. Let’s say your products are a stain remover stick and anti-stain detergent. The video begins with a toddler spilling food on their shirt. Then the viewer gets a choice: Do they want to learn about the stick or the detergent? They choose.
This gives them an experience better aligned with their interests. They might also be curious enough to check out the other branch, effectively giving you two ads in one!
Why Has Their Been a Rise of Short-form and Long-form Video?
Videos have been getting shorter. TikTok, the most popular new social media platform, is filled with super short videos. And video stories on Instagram and Snapchat are normally in 15-second increments. This caters to short attention spans and makes an impact fast.
However, a counter-trend is livestreams with deep dives or important technical details. These have become a mainstay of video marketing strategies and are an amazing way to generate buzz.
For a great example, check out any of Apple’s recent “Event” videos.
How Do You Use Vlogs and Personality-Driven Videos?
Vlogs spotlight a relatable personality through a simple filmmaking approach. Viewers feel like they are hanging out with the personality, and sponsored videos appear authentic. While a friendly and casual video does not fit every situation, it is a great strategy when applicable. You can post short clips of retail workers showcasing their favorite products, or a software engineer demonstrating development updates.
Find someone to be the affable face of your brand. Flo, from Progressive, but a real employee. This gets your customers invested in the people who make your company great. Feel free to utilize user-generated content to combine fan stories and testimonials in impactful videos.
What is the Metaverse?
VR transports you from our world into augmented digital landscapes capable of rendering the impossible. Many disciplines combine to create these immersive experiences with video playing a strong role alongside software development.
Use 3D VR video to show off your store or facilities. The user will feel like they are actually there. Create a to-scale, interactive model of your product for users to try out without having it in person. And allow customers to see your products in their living room just by looking through a phone camera. The possibilities are endless.
How do you track the success of your social media marketing strategy?
You released your video but was it successful? Did it move the needle on the metrics you were targeting? Start by tracking view count, likes, shares, comments, and followers gained / lost. You can learn a lot from if these metrics moved in the direction you hoped. Then consider more specialized statistics such as click-through rate, duration of video watched, play rate, and conversion rate for a more nuanced evaluation. Viewing these metrics is platform-dependent, but YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok all provide analytics pages. There is also the invaluable Google Analytics. While the amount of information available can be overwhelming, remember the goals you chose for your video marketing campaign and be sure to focus primarily on the relevant statistics. Then investigate other metrics to see where there is room for improvement.The world of internet video is complicated and competitive. A thoughtful approach and skilled execution are required to find success. We hope this overview has been helpful and, as always, feel free to reach out to Indigo Productions with your video needs.