Video is one of the most ubiquitous marketing tools available. YouTube users watch over 500 million hours of video and over half a billion people watch videos on Facebook each day. This broad reach makes your video marketing strategy critically important when driving top-of-funnel awareness and keeping loyal customers connected to your brand.
We know that video marketing can be a daunting prospect, so our video team has compiled three foundational principles that will help guide your strategy.
Use your video marketing strategy to tell a story
Last year, the most watched video ads were from Samsung India’s customer service team and app-based gaming company Clash Roayle, with 150.5M and 110.7M views respectively. Neither ad spends time discussing price or features. They simply tell compelling stories. While this isn’t to say that educating your customers or taking them behind the scenes isn’t valuable, these statistics support growing evidence that consumers don’t respond as well to “hard sales pitches” as they do to emotionally engaging content.
Infuse your video marketing strategy with strong story narratives to set yourself apart in saturated or mature markets where your competitors have similar feature sets and pricing margins. By sharing unique customer stories or communicating something meaningful about your brand values, you can appeal to customers in a way that transcends ever-changing price and feature wars.
Know which channel your video is intended for
There is no one-size-fits-all channel strategy. Facebook ads are known for their viral, often educational or humorous content, while Instagram ads are usually silent, dreamy appeals. YouTube is the single biggest video-based search platform in the world, while a brand’s Snapchat account can offer a raw, unfiltered look into their values and products.
Although a single concept or storyline may be appropriate for all of these channels, the video itself should be edited to fit the tone, average length, and style of the channel where it will appear. If you aren’t an editing expert, don’t worry! Learn more about how our team can help you storyboard and script, manage talent, stitch together and refine your videos to fit perfectly — wherever and whenever your audience needs to find them.
Introductions and endings are important
Your videos should always be bookended by an attention-grabbing introduction and a concise ending that features a clear call to action (CTA). The average person spends less than 5 seconds deciding whether a video is worth watching, so the first three seconds should provide viewers with an emotional hook or value proposition to keep watching. The meat of your video needs to keep viewers engaged while reinforcing important information about your product or brand, then signal when your viewers should start paying attention to contact details such as your URL or a special offer that will take them to your app or website.
The goal of any video is not to keep them there, but encourage viewers to transition to a platform where they can learn more and make purchases. Make sure your CTA is short and sweet so viewers don’t have a difficult time remembering the exact details to make that jump.
When leveraged properly, video can be a powerful appeal to new and existing customers that highlights what makes your company unique and special. Reach out to our team today for a free consultation on your current video marketing strategy and learn how we can transform your brand together.
