While traditional marketing can still be effective, video marketing has become a necessary component of any winning strategy in the digital age.
With more competition for attention, audiences have more options – and lower attention spans – than ever. Video is a compelling way to deliver information that keeps viewers focused on the message, allowing you to earn their trust and recognition.
Still, videos are on the rise and adding to the competition for viewer attention. Your videos need to appeal to easily distracted users with enticing content coming from virtually every platform – from Facebook to TikTok to YouTube. Here’s how.
Understand Your Purpose
Your video needs to have a purpose, which may include:
Problem Solving
With the internet at virtually everyone’s fingertips, most people rely on a search to solve a problem – no matter how big or small. If you create a video that highlights a common problem that people have, and a solution that your product or service offers, you can draw more people into your brand.
For example, if you have a software service, you may provide advice on how to use different features, how to set it up, or other resources for new users who are looking to do it on their own instead of contacting tech support.
Of course, technical information like that is difficult to explain adequately in text. In a video, however, you can combine practical tips with screenshots, video shares, or other helpful details to make it far simpler for new users – ensuring they get all the value possible out of your solution.
In doing so, you’re showing that you care about your customers after the sale, earning their trust, loyalty, and possible referrals.
Demonstrating a Product
Quick video demos are an excellent way to show your audience what your product can do in a real-world context. Plus, if customers are researching similar products, it can help yours stand out as the best option.
If you are a music supplier, for example, creating demo videos that showcase different instruments helps customers with purchasing decisions – especially if they’re buying online. They know what the product looks like, but this gives them an idea of how it plays and sounds before they make the purchase and reduces the hassle of a possible return.
Sharing Your Brand Story
Not all types of commercial video marketing is directed toward selling a specific product. You can use video to highlight and humanize your brand and give customers more information about why you do what you do.
Good storytelling serves to personalize your brand and helps you stand out from the competition with more meaningful connections.
Plenty of brands harness storytelling to set themselves apart, particularly if they had humble beginnings. For example, a restaurant that began as a local food truck may share their brand history, and how they grew to have multiple locations across the country, by showing where it all started. This establishes credibility with current and future customers to set yourself apart from competitors.
Deliver Instant Value
Social media video marketing isn’t for long-form videos. If you want your audience to stick around, you have to capture their attention in the first few seconds. You can do this with:
- An entertaining opener
- Useful tips
- Actionable advice
- A glimpse into how your product or service can improve their lives
- A provocative question
You don’t need to hit on all your main points in those few seconds, but you do have to hook the audience early. Those few seconds can mean the difference between them stopping to watch your video or continuing to scroll.
For example, if you have a car dealership, do you think your audience would be more interested in seeing a sales representative talking about the dealership on the showroom floor or listening to a voiceover with footage of some of the most popular models in action?
If a viewer is considering a new car, the latter is a much more compelling visual. You can still feature the showroom and introduce some of the sales representatives but leave that for later in the video.
You could also offer value before the viewer even clicks “play.” With a platform like YouTube, you want to hint at the video’s potential in the thumbnail to get viewers to watch it.
Use Interactive Elements
You can improve your sales and provide a memorable experience for viewers with interactive videos that encourage them to learn more about your brand. According to research from Magna, viewers spend about 47% more time engaging with interactive video ads compared to non-interactive ones.
Here are some interactive elements to consider:
- Hotspot videos: These videos offer clickable hotspots with more information on a product or service.
- Built-in polls: These videos have embedded questions for viewers to answer.
- Branched videos: These videos have a “choose your own adventure” element that lets viewers take their own path.
There are many ways to include interactive elements in your video, but make sure you’re still using call to action phrases. A subscribe button or shop button at the end of the video goes a long way.
Use Subtitles
If you want your video marketing efforts to bring in viewers, consider adding subtitles to make them more convenient and accessible. While this may not seem visually appealing, subtitles are excellent for not only assisting people with hearing impairments but allowing people to watch a video no matter their environment.
Track Results
Video marketing can be fun and beneficial for your brand, but you have to make sure that your videos deliver the results you want. It’s important to set goals for your videos and track their performance.
Some key metrics to track include:
- Engagement
- Play rate
- Click-through rate
- Shares
- View count
- Conversions
- Watch time
You can use this data to compare different videos or formats to learn what’s working, what isn’t, and what you can do to make your future campaigns more effective.
Leverage Video to Elevate Your Marketing Campaign
Short-form videos are ideal for capturing the audience’s attention, earning loyal customers, and getting sales and conversions. If you’re not using video marketing yet, check out this Video Marketing Guide and follow these helpful tips.
Guest Author, Torrey Tayenaka, is the co-founder and CEO at Sparkhouse, an Orange County based commercial video production company. He is often asked to contribute expertise in publications like Entrepreneur, Single Grain and Forbes. Sparkhouse is known for transforming video marketing and advertising into real conversations. Rather than hitting the consumer over the head with blatant ads, Sparkhouse creates interesting, entertaining and useful videos that enrich the lives of his clients’ customers. In addition to Sparkhouse, Torrey has also founded the companies Eva Smart Shower, Litehouse & Forge54.
