How to effectively improve your video marketing strategy | A beginner’s guide

What is video marketing?

We have always heard that a picture’s worth a thousand words. A video is a collection of different photos put together. Now think of the worth of a video (PS: A video may contain 24 to 30 frames per second. Which means a minute-long video is a set of 1,440 to 1,800 pictures).

In simple words, video marketing is the process of making videos for the promotion of a product or service and then distributing it to the audience on different platforms.

The motive is to improve user engagement on different social channels and improve sales of the product or service that is being displayed.

Let us make it even more simple. It is making videos for promoting a brand, its product, or service.

I believe that this is a direct method of disseminating the message as the main motive is to convince the viewer to buy the product or the service.

However, many brands use the indirect method of sharing the message. Yet they manage to make an impact on the users.

Just have a look at this advertisement by Tata Salt. You will understand how beautifully they have displayed their brand without talking much about it.

A post shared by Tata Salt (@desh_ka_namak)

Importance of video marketing for a brand

A very important question! How important is video marketing for a brand? Why should I invest in video marketing when I have other campaigns to focus on?

Well, to answer that, we have some facts for you.

• The expenditure on digital video ads is forecast to reach $12.66 billion by 2024.
• 85% of the marketers say that video presentation is an effective way to get the audience’s attraction on the internet.
• Tweets with video attract 10x more engagements than Tweets without video.
• Video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy, overtaking blogs and infographics.
• 66% of people say they’d most prefer to learn about a new product or service by watching a short video.

Do you want any other reason to invest in video marketing?

In today’s era, video marketing has become a vital component of the branding and marketing teams of major companies. Not only the well-established brands but small-scale businesses are also using platforms like YouTube and TikTok for their marketing and promotions.

Understand the basics of video making

Video making is not just picking up the camera and shooting randomly. There is a thorough process involved in video making.
We have made it easier for you. There are three major stages of video making.

• Pre-production
• Production
• Post-production

The pre-production stage includes all the planning for the shoot. Many people think that shooting videos is the toughest and the only part. But all the brainstorming is done during the pre-production stage.

Scripting, planning and scouting the locations, shot-divisions, storyboarding, casting, research, etc. is a part of pre-production. A comprehensive process is involved, even to make a small video of 2 minutes.

Although, it completely depends upon the genre and type of the video. For example, when it comes to travel vlogs, not much planning is involved for pre-production. The more you explore, the more content you get.

Whereas the making of a commercial video advertisement includes all the major parts of pre-production.

The production stage is when the video is actually being shot. All the work related to cameras is involved in the production stage.

In simple words, if pre-production is the planning stage, production is the stage where you implement most of the part you have planned (I am saying “most of the part” because a lot depends upon the post-production stage also).

Shooting according to the script, on the right locations, with subjects delivering the right messages, is made sure in the production stage.

The camera crew does a major job in the production stage. There is no doubt that the production team is always in a rush as they have to look on to different aspects like locations, art design, logistics, etc.

Undoubtedly, a lot of mistakes are made during the production stage. All of those mistakes are rectified in post-production.

This is when all the footage of the video is edited using editing software. Just have a look at this video by Daniel Schiffer. He is a YouTuber based in Canada who makes commercial video advertisements.

You will easily understand how different is the outcome that we see, from the original video shot in the production stage.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6yt1rbIOW0U" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> In the post-production stage, it is made sure that the final product looks perfect. Because there is no looking back once it is completed.

For beginners, going through all of the aforementioned processes is very tough. A hefty budget is involved in it.

But surely, one has to think as a content creator. One has to think creatively.

As a beginner, understanding the basics of video making and implementing those to the video marketing campaign is more than enough. What matters is the quality and the creativity that you deliver.

Importance of research in video marketing

We have shown you the stats displaying the importance of video marketing. A lot of marketers are aggressively using it.

Keeping track of your competitors’ video campaigns is important. The audience is always attracted by unique and relevant information. Find out the key factors missing in your competitors’ campaigns and plan your content accordingly.

But for that, research is important.

Choosing the type of video content to be delivered to the audience is another important aspect of research. Different types of video content used by various brands include

• Explainer videos
• Product demo videos
• Testimonial videos
• Behind the scene videos
• Company culture videos
• Sales pitch videos
• How-to videos

Analyze what works best according to your business type and choose wisely. Video marketing is on a boom because the audience always looks for easily consumable content.So, research as much as you can and portray the content that works best for you.

Define your target audience

Audience analysis is one of the bedrock of a strong marketing campaign. Knowing your key audience is very important.

Keeping in mind your brand, you should understand who your potential customers are and who should be your target while making video content.

Let’s take a very basic example. If you sell combs, a bald man is definitely not your potential customer. But if you add on to your product list and start selling hair-growth products, you can make a sales pitch to the same man.

Therefore, it is important to understand who can be your potential customer and how can you make your video marketing content to improve your sales.

Making video content for a general audience can be a good idea, but it does not provide enough qualified leads.

If you target a specific set of people and do video marketing accordingly, chances are higher that you get qualified leads.

Think like the audience

Just remember! It is not about you but your audience. Your audience will consume your content, not you. I know you must be thinking about your brand’s benefit but your content must reflect a selfless spirit.

Just think once like the audience. What would be your reaction when you search a brand on YouTube and find only promotional content on the page? You won’t like it, right?

So, avoid just being promotional. Your brand’s video content should be of high value to the audience.

I know the foremost goal is to improve sales. But brand’s credibility is also equally important.

Once your brand gains credibility on several video streaming platforms, user engagement will increase which will eventually lead to more sales.

Brands make different “How-to” and explainer videos about their products or services. Such videos are frequently made by restaurant chefs to give the audience an essence of their kitchen. The audience is always curious to know something new.

Other than this, webinars and tutorials are also aggressively used. Informative and relevant content is the key to gain the brand’s credibility.

Devise your budget

We know it is difficult for startups to shell out money on several aspects of marketing. Also, a person hesitates to invest the money where the results are not immediately visible.

We do not want you to put all the expenses on your video marketing campaign only. Devising a budget can help. Research and planning are two important aspects. For two different types of videos, the budget cannot be the same.

An explainer video is all about the presentation skills and how your ability to deliver the message concisely. Great quality content can be achieved on a minimal budget. Whereas a hefty amount of money is involved to make a commercial advertisement.

Therefore, it is important to decide on the niches you want to focus on. It is important to research and analyze what type of content your audience likes to watch.

Not only for production, but you will surely have to decide on the budget for the marketing of your video. Just uploading the content on the platforms won’t work. You will have to set a budget for promotions as well.

Creativity is the key

Most of the time, we find it difficult to bring out our creative element. Byt there are several methods you can adopt to improve the creativity quotient for your video marketing campaign.Always remember that there are no boundaries when it comes to creativity. Brainstorm as much as you can. Get ideas from the internet. Think like a creator.

Other than this, you can add new people to your marketing campaign. The more the merrier. Why? Because when you are around the same group of people, similar ideas jump up again and again.Find inspiration around yourself. Always be attentive and know what is happening around you. No one knows what inspires you to create something great.

Choose different distribution platforms

Almost every social media platform supports video content. Be it YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or Twitter.

It is essential to showcase your presence on every social media platform. Your potential customers can be anywhere on the internet.

But it is important to choose a few platforms where you want to promote your content. Just posting a video on YouTube or Instagram won’t give you results. Sorry to say that, but it is true.

Initially, you have to invest money to expose your video as much as you can. Then only, the brand awareness will improve.

Here are some stats to give you an idea of the outreach of videos on different social media platforms.

• People watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day. (Source- Hootsuite)
• There are over 2 billion video views on Twitter each day. (Source- Twitter)
• Tiktok has revolutionized short-length video content. Its users spend nearly 500 minutes per month on the app. (Source- Influencer Marketing Hub)
• Instagram has seen an 80% increase in the time that users spend watching videos on the platform. (Source- Backlinko)
• More than 1.25 billion people visit Facebook Watch every month. (Source- Facebook)

Be consistent

Consistently making great video content and delivering it to the audience is very important. Undoubtedly, it will take some time to see a graph going upward.

However, this is possible only when you keep creating. Leaving the boat mid-way is not a good option. Rather keep a slow pace than quitting.

Treat it like a relationship. The more you give time to it, the more it will grow. The more you will understand it.

The more you create content for video marketing, the more you will understand it. You will understand the algorithms of different platforms. You will get to know the loopholes and also, the key performing indexes.

The best way is to make a content calendar beforehand and then strictly following it. Planning is the key to it. Decide the days of researching, shooting and editing and follow the plan accordingly.