Video marketing refers to using videos to promote and advertise your product or service. It helps increase interaction on your social channels while educating your customers. Although static content such as white papers, case studies, graphics, and blogs still has an engaged and loyal audience, things are currently changing. Lately, video content has been influencing consumers’ interaction with a brand.
Video marketing plays a crucial role in businesses since users can learn about business operations through them or register for a service after a success story. Today, static content alone is not enough to yield results. Therefore, managers are investing heavily to improve their video marketing strategy. Some of them may even be looking for how to make a how to video.Â
And for that, we have listed the do’s and don’ts that marketers entering the video world should know.
1. Do Share Authentic Content
The audience encounters a lot of video content online and quickly identifies unreal videos. It’s essential to add an aspect of reality to your content to satisfy your audience. For instance, when putting content together, make sure your videos don’t portray a perfect scenario to your audience. Casual content relates more with the audience.
Consider sharing your business struggles with your audience. While it’s natural to share when things are great, engage your audience in challenging moments too. Moreover, speak to your audience as if you know them. The way you interact with your friends and family, use the same language in your content to make it feel more authentic.
2. Do Align Your Strategy To Your Goal
Businesses that are new to video marketing make the mistake of not aligning their video content with their sole mission or goal. However, you should make video content to connect with marketing initiatives and level up your business.
Various types of video content serve different purposes. For example, “About Us” videos help create awareness, while product demonstration videos aim to increase purchases. If your strategy starts with video execution rather than your goal, it may not yield desirable results for you.
3. Do Educate, Engage, and Entertain
While a strong focus is on conversion rate and channels that will lead to success, initial impressions of your business are crucial. For instance, an audience can picture your business through a video they encounter online even without visiting your website. So, it’s vital to understand that your video may be the first time your audience is interacting with your brand.
Ask yourself questions like:
- What are the challenges faced by your audience?
- What are the commonly asked questions in your sector?
- What is your user’s priority?
Answering such questions helps you create powerful content that will encourage conversations and make you engage with the community.
4. Don’t Produce Long Videos
The length of your video helps determine the engagement rate of your video. Short videos (five or fewer minutes) may have a higher engagement rate than longer videos. However, it varies depending on the platform. For instance, a five-minute video may be engaging on Facebook and YouTube. On the other hand, shorter videos may be more engaging for Instagram and Twitter.
Longer videos are great for encouraging conversations and insights, while shorter videos are perfect for engagement and awareness. Therefore, it’s best to understand the purpose of the video rather than following one rule.
5. Don’t Forget A Call To Action
Businesses often forget to incorporate a clear call to action in their videos. It is a small but very crucial tactic for a video marketing strategy. After your desired audience has engaged and interacted with the video, it’s essential to let them know what step to take.
A clear call to action allows for higher customer engagement, leading to an increase in conversion rates. As you develop a video, conclude with a clear call to action. For instance, you can end your video with a question or a comment.
6. Don’t Waste The First Seconds
People have little patience online. When they encounter uninteresting videos, they skip them right away. In fact, most people quit watching boring videos within the first ten seconds. Use the first seconds of your video to grasp the audience’s attention and keep them watching.
How you introduce your video will determine its performance. You can begin your introduction by giving people a hint of what they can benefit from in the video. After all, people will want to watch your video if there is something in for them.
The Bottom Line
Video marketing is becoming effective every day. Hopefully, the do’s and don’ts you’ve learned today will help you create videos with a high engagement and conversion rate.