So you’ve decided to include video marketing in your brand’s promotional strategy.
But you’re probably wondering about best practices, common pitfalls, and other hacks to make your videos a success.
In 2020, online content is more important than ever, and for many small businesses, video content is now the main way to connect with customers.
From Facebook Live streams, to how-to videos on YouTube, to Instagram Story video ads and TikTok, there’s an endless variety of ways to incorporate video into your content plan.
As with everything in marketing, it can be helpful to reach out to the experts and see what they have to say.
We polled video marketing leaders for their number one video tips for small businesses, and they delivered.
Let’s get to it.
“My number one tip is simple but absolutely non-negotiable: you must be uncompromising when setting the standards of quality for your video content. We know the research behind user behavior and how digital algorithms manipulate user experience.
Producing impactful, compelling content that moves viewers to opt-in and continue watching despite the endless options awaiting them behind another swipe or click is absolutely more important than ever.
Quality over quantity always.”
“Creating high-quality content, not necessarily high production value, that educates your target audience and answers their questions is key for your digital strategy.
The number one category on YouTube? How-to videos. I tell our clients to start with sharing tips, tricks, and even behind-the-scenes of their operation on video.”
“Create a clear transcript using your target keywords. YouTube auto-transcribes video and your video can be found for keywords that are present in your video.
Focus on mentioning your target keywords in the first few seconds, and throughout the video in a natural way.
Bonus tip: Edit your transcript once you’ve uploaded your video to YouTube to ensure accuracy.”
“According to Facebook for Business, 65% of people who watch the first 3 seconds of your marketing video will watch at least 10 seconds. 45% of those will watch for 30 seconds.
You could have the most amazing, enticing marketing message later on in your video, but if the first 3 seconds don’t capture your audience, the whole rest of the video will go unseen.
Try including an attention grabber to begin your marketing videos that will make them stand out. You may also want to include emotional appeal in your video intro to pull your audience in.”
“For brands looking to create the biggest impact and leave consumers with a lasting impression, they need to focus on aligning innovative video formats to specific marketing channels.
Mobile optimization is now standard for video content, and it is increasingly important to optimize your content independently for each platform, whether Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and so forth, as displays are different.”
“A lot of small businesses I speak with are hesitant to even adopt video marketing into their overall strategy due to cost and manpower constraints.
Starting somewhere, even if you’re recording videos with your smart phone, is better than not being visible at all.
Bite the bullet and get started.”
“Get video testimonials from your best customers. Happy customers can usually sell better than you can. It’s not difficult and you can do it very quickly.
Contact a few happy customers, shoot their testimonial on your phone, edit it down to most important information and then post it on your social channels by buying geo-targeted ads. Post them on your website and use them in an email campaign to your existing customers.
Let your customers sell for you. I know this will work because we have been using this strategy for over 30 years in our business and it is a huge part of why we have generated millions of dollars in sales for clients.”
“All small businesses require growth, brand recognition, and customer loyalty. Video marketing can help you with all of that.
Although there are various video marketing tips that can help small businesses, in my opinion, live video interaction with your audience really stands out. Hands down, there is no better way to interact with your audience than to speak to them directly.
With the help of live streaming, you can connect with your audience and customers any time you want.
You can use live video to schedule a Q&A session with your customers in real-time. Such Q&A sessions are a great way to make your audience feel like they’re a part of something special and to present yourself as an expert in your industry.”
“Add video diaries to your video marketing. You can do these monthly or weekly or whatever works best for you, but make sure you are doing regular vlogs where you talk directly to clients or prospects on what your company has been doing, what you’re working on now and what you have planned for the future.
These videos create a personal relationship that is so hard to get these days, they convey useful information, they display your company culture and best of all; they’re very inexpensive to produce.
So find someone with a great on-screen personality or a high-ranking employee and do these regularly. You’ll be amazed at what these can do for a small business.”
As a small business, starting a video marketing strategy can feel overwhelming. That’s why we reached out to our network for their advice to give you the confidence to get started.
When launching a new marketing channel, remember to set your goals, create valuable content for your target audience, and stay true to your brand.
And as always, measure your results following a campaign to see what worked and what didn’t so you can optimize your strategy for next time.
Bella Mello is the Inbound Marketing Specialist for Hearst Bay Area. Having previously worked in a wide range of industries including hospitality, arts & entertainment, and higher education, she enjoys helping B2B and B2C businesses achieve success with digital marketing.
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