Small Business Video Marketing Tips
In this article, we will be looking into Small Business Video Marketing by look at the top 10 small business video marketing tips.
In 2012 Dollar Shave Club released their first promotional video “Our Blades Are F***ing Great” featuring CEO Michael Dublin explaining why Dollar Shave Club blades are the cost-effective and convenient alternative to buying retail. The video was an immediate hit pulling in 12,000 orders in the first two days after it was released. Since then it has attracted over 20 million views.
The success of the Dollar Shave Club shows the impact that a single video can have on the success of a business. After all, 70% of marketing professionals say that video converts better than any other medium. And it’s not just consumers who are watching videos either. Video can work wonders for B2B businesses as well. A Forbes insight study showed that 75% of business executives watch at least one work-related video a week.
While the success of Dollar Shave Club is obviously an outlier, the impact of the video should not be underestimated. A well planned and properly executed video can be a game changer for your online marketing.
Here are 10 actionable small business video marketing tips which you can use to ensure that you are getting the most from your video marketing.
1.Identify Your Video Marketing Goals
The first step when creating a video is to align your video with specific business goals. Videos can serve a wide range of business goals from developing brand awareness to educating consumers about the benefits of your products to direct sales. The goal of your video will impact it’s format, style, content and budget.
2.Select What Type Of Video You Require
Once you understand the goals for your video you can choose what type of video that you require. If you want to produce a social media friendly video that develops brand awareness you will want to focus on creating a video which is humorous, exciting or story-driven, while avoiding overt selling. One company that does a great job of this type of content is Red Bull.The majority of the video content that they produce is extreme sports action footage with very little direct selling.
If instead you are looking for a video which explains the key features and benefits of your product then an explainer video may be a better option. Take a look at this animated explainer video for the team building GoTeam app.
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Testimonial videos are an excellent way of improving the credibility of your sales message. A testimonial from a qualified third party can help move a prospect towards a buying decision. See how we used an industry expert to reinforce the benefits of the Baseline educational app below.
3.Use The Power Of Storytelling
When creating a video for an online audience it is important to remember that you don’t have a captive audience. If your video is not sufficiently engaging then nobody will watch it. Storytelling provides a way of creating that engagement. Humans have been telling stories to one another for millennia and so are preconditioned to find traditional story narratives engaging. Wrap your marketing message within a story and you will find that it is much easier to retain an audiences attention.
4.Think Creatively
As the success of the Dollar Shave Club video shows, thinking outside of the box and delivering a unique concept can make all of the difference. In particular the right concept is critical if you want to have your video go viral. No matter how well made or visually appealing your video is, without the right concept then your video is going to have a limited reach. This is where the help of a video production agency can really help. They can help with concept development to create something unique.
5. Animate When Appropriate
Animation has become a popular choice in recent years for video marketing – especially for explainer videos. While there are low cost options for producing animated video (be careful as these can damage your brand) in general animation will be more expensive than a live action video and take longer to produce. A live action explainer video can usually be shot within a single day. If you use your own employees or clients in the video then the costs can be kept even lower.
That is not to say that live action is always the best approach however. Animation does have some unique advantages that can make it a compelling option. Animation allows you to present a lot of information in a very short space of time. Take a look at how we created this animated infographic for Ancestry which shows how statistical information can be presented in a visually engaging way.
Animation can also have a fun and approachable feel which can be very useful when explaining a technical product. But the real benefit of animation is the visual possibilities that it opens up. What you present in an animated video is really only limited by your imagination.
6. Strategically Integrate Your Video With Your Marketing Strategy
Video is most effective when it is strategically integrated as part of your overall marketing strategy. Used correctly video can help move a prospect through your marketing funnel and convert them into a buying customer. Different videos can be created for each stage of your marketing funnel. This is a strategy we applied for educational app Baseline. You can see each step of the video that we created to take a person unfamiliar with the brand through to a qualified lead to a converted buyer.
7.Consider Your Budget
Establishing a realistic budget will help your video production agency to determine the best way to achieve your goals. Generally, speed of delivery and price will be inverse and so if you need it quickly then you may need to increase your budgetary expectations. Your budget will also impact your concept. If you want 3D animation or a 360 interactive video then you will need to budget accordingly. If instead you want a simple talking heads customer testimonial then your costs will be significantly less.
8.Think In Terms Of Mobile
The importance of mobile is difficult to overstate. After all, online video now accounts for 55% of all mobile traffic. Considering how your video will appear on the smaller mobile screen is therefore very important. If your video features a lot of onscreen text it will need to be bold enough to be read clearly. Mobile video also needs to feature strong visuals and to convey it’s message succinctly.
9.Determine The Right Length
Studies suggest that most viewers will not watch a video past the first couple of minutes. The trend towards mobile viewing has reinforced the importance of getting to the point with small business videos. That said shorter video is not always better. The ideal length for a video will depend on the type of video you are creating and the target audience. Story driven content for example may work better with a longer video length.
10.Optimize Your Video To Make It Easier To Find
Finally, there is a lot of competitions for viewers attention and so you want to make sure that your video is easy to find. Optimizing your video for the search engines (SEO) can help with video discovery. When uploading your video to video sharing platforms like YouTube or Vimeo use targeted keywords (search terms) in your title, description and tags. Select a thumbnail image which will compel people to to watch your video. Write a full description for your video and consider adding a transcription of the video content. You can find more video search engine optimization tips here.