The pandemic may have brought the world to a standstill, but, thankfully, with the help of various social media platforms, staying connected with friends and family and being up to date with the latest news have never been easier.
Out of all the types of content that appears online, nothing is more compelling and effective than video. Video marketing statistics by Social Media Today highlighted how users these days view over one billion hours of video content per day through YouTube alone. If you factor in other platforms that allow users to post and view videos, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say that videos are close to being the most consumed form of media.
This growing need for videos is one of the many reasons why businesses are boosting their video marketing efforts. This is despite it being more difficult to create videos than regular content.
According to an article by Small Biz Genius, the primary reason why a lot of businesses are still at a loss when it comes to leveraging videos to their advantage is that video production tends to require more resources and planning than any other content. In fact, the article notes how 64% of marketers consider video the most difficult content to create. So, organizations must keep up with the times and start producing videos for their businesses.
With that in mind, here is a breakdown of the best ways to improve your video marketing, as well as the benefits.
Benefits of video marketing for businesses
Aside from the increased exposure, videos can also:
1) Dramatically increase social engagement with social videos having a 1200% share rate.
2) Improve mobile appeal as it is an important factor these days as much of the world accesses the internet through their smartphones.
3) Help boost SEO rankings.
4) Showcases brand personality.
Of course, before brands can reap all these benefits, they need to focus on making quality videos. As of May 2019, more than 500 hours of video content were uploaded every minute on YouTube. With the emergence of TikTok, Snapchat and other popular social media platforms that cater to users who want to put out clips, one can only imagine the hours of video content being uploaded on the web day-to-day basis.
These realities make it imperative for brands to zoom in on the quality of the videos they put out. If you are one of those businesses that is venturing into the world of video marketing, here are some of the things you might want to take note of when creating video marketing campaigns:
Determine your video’s purpose
If you want your organization’s video to stand out, the first thing you have to do is determine your video's purpose. Entrepreneur’s video making tips post explains how there are four general kinds of videos based on purpose. Some videos wish to: educate by giving people tips, videos that showcase how a certain product or service can be used, provide extensive knowledge on certain topics, and finally entertain through creative and compelling content. Though videos can fall under more than one category, finding a primary focus for your creations can help define your priorities, shape your video’s overall message, and aid you in finding your target audience.
Perform market research
In terms of your target audience, conducting market research is also important in video marketing. Even though companies are given free rein over the kind of videos they want to create, as a business, you will want your videos to align with and appeal to your target audience. The only way you can make sure of this is by performing market research. Through this process, you will be able to identify how both existing and potential customers might view your content, determine gaps in customer expectations and minimize risk by getting familiar with the topics and styles that customers love and hate.
Invest in the right equipment
Now that you have a purpose and a target audience to use as an inspiration for your video’s story and overall message, it’s time to create the video. If you are planning on making promotional videos that will stay on your website or socials for extended periods of time and are solely made to introduce your brand and the products and services you offer, it is best to hire a video production company. The level of expertise professional agencies offers, along with the quality equipment, should ensure high-quality content. Of course, aside from these kinds of videos, you’ll also want to post regular ones that will keep your audience engaged.
Using video production companies may no longer be necessary for these kinds of videos, but professional video equipment is still vital. Even so, there is no need to go for crazy expensive ones. Contrary to popular belief, professional video equipment doesn’t need to be expensive or bulky, as there are many different brands out there offering a wide range of models for every price range. There are live streaming cameras out there with facial tracking, content creation features, and interconnected lenses, available at around $200 to $300.
Get good software
In addition to investing in some professional equipment, it’s important to spend some money on reliable video editing software. Some of the best ones come at reasonable prices, including Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Final Cut Pro X, Cyberlink and Adobe Premiere Elements. While you are still working on a budget, you can also use free software. While it may lack some features, it should still help to produce quality videos. Some examples of free video editing software include Lightworks, Blender, Shortcut, and HitFilm Express.
Producing original video content can be quite overwhelming, but thankfully, there are many video production services out there that are well known for providing great results. ReyFilm produces everything from narrative films to video commercials and corporate videos for social media marketing. Check out our sample video reels to see what our production team can do for you.
Exclusively written for REYfilm.com
By Rebecca Jekell