Chances are you here because you know that businesses cannot thrive in the digital age without an effective content marketing strategy. With millions of users consuming and sharing content online, you can expect to find and reach your target audience if you market your brand correctly.
A vital part of content marketing is video marketing. As you probably know by now, videos tend to drive more traffic, get shared more on social media, and create more engagement. Videos also help humanize your brand and allow you to present yourself as a real, reliable, trustworthy, and credible brand. If you want to stand out and stay on the top of your game, you need to come up with a video marketing strategy and follow it. Consider going for HubSpot video marketing.
How do you build a video marketing strategy?
Here are the main steps you need to follow to create a solid video marketing strategy:
Define your video marketing goals
The first step to building your video marketing strategy is defining your goals. Be sure to create a video for each stage of the marketing funnel. The stages are – awareness, consideration, and decision.
- Awareness is the stage where the viewer realizes there is a problem and wants a solution. Creating introductory videos to make them aware of your brand is the ideal thing to do in this stage.
- In the consideration stage, the viewer does research, finds options, and tries to choose the best one. In other words, you should consider creating videos for product reviews, addressing common issues, and so forth.
- The decision stage is the third stage where you need to show your prospect that your product or service is better than that of your competitors. You need to prove your worth. Consider putting out video testimonials.
Find your niche and target audience
Now that you have your goals in place, you need to find your target audience. You will not be effective in your video marketing if you cannot find an audience to cater to. Identifying your target audience before you start creating videos is critical.
Ask yourself who your product or service is for, what you want to accomplish with your video, and where you can find your target audience. Once you have the answers to these three questions, you can create videos that trigger interest and curiosity.
Storytelling
This step is probably the most rewarding and challenging part of your video marketing endeavour. If you want people to watch your videos and share them to boost traffic, you need to give them a reason to do so. In other words, tell a story that inspires. People share emotions, not facts or statistics.
Start by creating a structure for your video. This structure should include a goal, a protagonist that appeals to your target audience, your customer’s pain point, which is also known as conflict, how you introduce your product or service, and how it can solve the problem your viewer has.
You need to create videos that evoke feelings and take your viewer on a journey that matches your brand’s mission and vision. Doing so is a sure-fire method to make yourself memorable and boost traffic, leads, and conversions.
Set aside a budget
While you need to create and plan your content, budget planning is essential. An unrealistic budget can plague your content and video marketing strategy. You need to save money well in advance and plan your shoot. Once you have a plan in place, you will know approximately how much you will need to spend on your video shooting and creation.
Be sure to find out how much you need to pay for services like audio editing and production, scripting, distribution licenses, etc. Once you have all the information you need, make sure you save a little more than you think you need to take care of unprecedented expenses.
Also, keep in mind that certain types of videos and features cost more than others, which means you will need to have different budgets for different videos. Before you spend on anything, you need to know what types of videos you want to create and publish.
Stick to a schedule
A schedule creates accountability. Not having deadlines to follow can cause you to take things lightly and get things done at a glacial pace. You need to have timelines in place for every part of your video production and marketing, i.e. your overall timeline, production timeline, distribution timeline, etc.
Having a timeline in place allows you to get things done on time, show you how much progress you have made, and how much you need to work on. Timelines are crucial.
Creating a viral video campaign
The term “going viral” refers to any digital content that spreads rapidly from person to person, reaching critical mass to make a considerable impact on a population’s popular culture. But before you get any ideas, there really is no secret manual to viral success. Many viral sensations were not intended to become so, while others had little to no help in terms of paid boosting.
The main thing to remember when trying to create a viral hit is to make something that is relatable to people: as universal an idea as possible. By creating something that anyone can relate to and touches people on an emotional level, they are more likely to share and engage with your video. Write content that you think many people may find value in, be it a funny video or a dramatic video.
As mentioned, it’s good to make your viral video campaigns accessible to people all over the world: as many as possible. Much of the video content that goes viral now is available in multiple languages. The idea is that a video with a message that is universal would benefit from having different subtitles available which increases reach and engagement.
Another thing to keep in mind is that viral videos should not feel forced. They don’t push a product too hard or try to milk a gimmick too hard. People tend to overthink when they try to recreate a viral hit and that’s where everything goes wrong. The best viral video campaigns feel natural, organic and not in-your-face.
What types of video content can you post?
There are tons of video types to experiment with. You could post webinars, go live, vlogs, and many more. As far as your content goes, here are a few commonly used video types:
Informational videos
Informational videos are vital to reach your target audience and have them follow you. You need to create content that helps your audience if you want to drive up your traffic, engagement, leads, and sales. You can post videos to tackle complex ideas and concepts, short videos to give direct answers, etc.
Instructional videos
Instructional videos work very well for people who have already purchased your product or service. These videos can help them set up and use their products. If you want to retain your customers, instructional and support videos are critical.
FAQ Videos
If you want to save time and help your followers and customers at the same time, list the most commonly asked questions and make videos to answer these questions in detail. Also, make sure you use a screen recorder to record these videos for later use.
