Even if you’re not big on the idea of creating videos, you should consider doing them for your business. Video marketing engages your audience and encourages them to take action. It’s a great way to market products and services, whether they’re yours or affiliate products. People love watching videos, and so it makes it easy for you to get your point across.
When you create a video, it’s more than just about the video. It’s about the story behind the video. It’s a promotional tool, sure, but it’s a lot more than that as well. It’s an opportunity to share your story, establish trust, and create meaningful connections. It’s cost effective (it doesn’t have to cost anything!) as you only need your smartphone. It’s engaging, and is an interactive form of marketing that can hugely impact your business.
For your videos to be successful, you need to know the basics of video marketing.
Start With a Clear Message
What is your goal of the video marketing campaign? Write that down so you don’t forget it. A clear message will help you stay on track. You’ll avoid being distracted by other ideas, and can better communicate your message.
What do you want people to do after they watch your videos? Do you want them to visit your website? Do you want them to buy a product? Once you have a goal, it’s easier to develop the message for your video marketing campaign.
Be Helpful
No matter what you’re talking about, make sure you’re helping people. You could be reviewing a product, educating people on a subject, or even just entertaining them. If you’re reviewing a product, make sure you share the good as well as the bad. Try to give them the information that they’d need to make a choice whether to buy or not. If you’re educating people, make sure you’re giving them the knowledge that they need, and that they’re looking for. If you’re entertaining them, make sure that you’re entertaining! In other words, try to be as helpful as you can.
Make Sure Its In Focus
There are many different ways you can do a video. You can be in the video yourself. You can show a product in the video – with or without yourself in view. You can show a computer screen or have a PowerPoint presentation while you talk over it. The one thing that matters is whatever is on the screen should be clear and in focus. If it isn’t, everyone that gets to your video will click off of it in seconds. No one will watch the whole thing through, and they certainly won’t be interested in watching other of your videos. They also won’t be interested in following any calls to action that you have.
Optimize Your Videos for Social Media
It is important to know how to optimize your videos for each social media platform. For example, if you upload your video on YouTube, you should make sure that you have a thumbnail image. Make sure that you have a title that will attract viewers. Also make sure that your description is helpful as well. If you think that they’d need more information, make sure you put a link to your website, or wherever else they can get that information. Likewise, on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, you should post videos with short captions or subtitles to catch the attention of viewers. When helpful, make sure you use hashtags so that it will be easier for people to find your content. This will get more people watching your videos who are looking for that type of content.
Get Their Attention
You’re trying to get and keep the attention of your viewers for as long as the video lasts. So make sure you are interesting. Whether it’s having a nice background, or are making sure your voice is upbeat. You might consider using some humor depending on the topic as well. The goal is to get someone to watch your entire video, and then follow your call to action. Make sure when you’re creating your videos that they are something that is interesting and will keep your audiences attention.
Add Subtitles and Pick the Right Audio
Subtitles are important because they are the only way a deaf or hard-of-hearing person can enjoy a video. They also provide context for people who cannot hear well. The good news is that if you use YouTube, subtitles will show up automatically if someone clicks on them. There is nothing that you need to do for that. The audio track is just as important as the video and should not be overlooked. This is especially true for music videos and any other video with dialogue. If you try to make your viewers calm, the music should match.
End with a Call-To-Action
Ending a video with a call-to-action can be an excellent way to increase the likelihood of your audience taking action. Providing viewers with a clear understanding of what they should do after watching the video is imperative to your success. Remind viewers what the ultimate goal of the video was.
If your goal is to get your viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel, for example, then ask them to subscribe. If you want them to go to your website, then tell them to go to your website (and put it in the description of your video as well.) If you want them to purchase something, then make sure you mention where they should go to purchase the product.
The call-to-action you choose depends on your marketing needs and goals. If you don’t tell them what to do when they finish watching the video, they’ll move on to something else. So make sure you tell them what you want them to do next.
Incorporating these video marketing fundamentals is vital if you want to see results. Videos are highly attractive, making them an easy tool to take advantage of in order to reach your target audience and engage them more effectively. So, the next time you go to market a product or service, consider these video marketing fundamentals to improve your results.
Enjoy,
