What is Video Marketing? Guide with examples

In the coming year, the share of all online content will be 80%. And so business owners need to use this in their plans to take over the world.

And in this article we will analyze video marketing: what it is, how to implement and use it for the good of the company.

FOR WHAT?

Video marketing is already quite clear from the word itself. But it is likely that your expectation and reality do not coincide, so just in case, I begin with a definition.

Video  marketing is marketing and PR communications with the help of video content aimed at fulfilling marketing goals and objectives.

In general, this is business content, which is made in the video format. For example, if you sell equipment for furniture production on VKontakte, then you can record a video review instead of an article – this is video marketing.

Now there are few numbers, so according to the American marketing platform HubSpot 54% of consumers prefer video content in relation to other information formats.

And they say that the video on the landing page can increase conversion up to 80%, and the openability of letters in the e-mail newsletter (if the message’s subject line contains “video”) up to 19%.

In addition, 90% of customers say that it is the video that helps them make a purchase decision.

Yes, you yourself could notice that the video in the social. Networking gives coverage more than a regular publication with text and a picture.

But, of course, it is necessary to proceed from your tasks and preferences of the target audience.

For example, our blog is more textual content than video. And at the same time, we maintain our own channel on YouTube, so that some articles enhance the video and it is more interesting for the reader and he often returns.

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FOR WHOM?

To summarize, then video marketing for business, like air, is necessary for everyone. Why? See statistics and numbers above.

In addition, with the right approach, search engines will give preference to your site than a competitor that does not use video marketing on its site.

But just in case, when writing this article, I thought: “Is there a business that does not need video marketing?”. And you know, I have not found one.

1. If you produce turkey meat, then for your dealers, along with the price list, you can send a video presentation about the company, production and information about your feed suppliers;
2. If you are a feed supplier, then for potential customers you can make a presentation about your production, about your customers and talk about the benefits. Presentation of information in a video format will give greater involvement and response;
3. If you have a beauty salon, then on Instagram post beautiful videos of your events, trips to exhibitions, about masters or processes of interesting work. Fantasy in video marketing is not limited;
4. If you have an online store, then in the video on the site you can clearly show and tell about your product, company or production. This will increase user loyalty to you, create a more trusting attitude.

Therefore, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that someone needs him first, and someone last.

In which account is it for you to decide, of course, only for you, since everyone has different marketing strategies.

PROS AND CONS

Everything has its pros and cons. When planning, it is necessary to consider both. Since the “magic pill” always sounds beautiful, but the “reverse side of the coin” can destroy all magic.

Therefore, understanding the advantages of video marketing and assessing its risks will allow you to build a more correct strategy.

Pros :

• Increased interest;
• Increase site conversion;
• Trust and loyalty;
• Increasing the openness of letters in the mailing list;
• Simplification of the decision to purchase;
• Increase in coverage in social networks;
• Distribution improvement ( viral video).

Cons :

• The high cost of production and equipment;
• Difficulty finding a team;
• The waste of time.

Although there are minuses, but they are not as significant as the advantages of this tool.

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WHAT HAPPENS?

As in any direction of marketing, thoughtless use of content is a previously failed situation.

And in order to build the right video marketing strategy, you need to understand its varieties, because each view serves a specific purpose. And now in more detail.

1. Demo video

We often compare marketing communication with getting to know a woman.

And so, at the first meeting, inviting a woman to go to your home, you can easily cheer up from the arrived hand across your face. At least in most cases. Are you daring?

Therefore, a demo or demo video serves to introduce a potential client to your company or product.

If you will urge a person to buy immediately, then this is definitely a losing situation. And first of all, just tell us who you are and what you do. No importunity.

2. Brand video

Most often, such a video comes as an addition to some advertising company. That is why it is necessary to show oneself in it as a company with its own idea, mission and values.

Although, I think, you’ve already heard about image advertising, in which the goal is not the advertisement itself, but to highlight your brand, thanks to an unusual storyline and a clear slogan.

This is just our case, and therefore the goal of brand video is to intrigue and attract attention to the company.

3. Activities

This view shows your activity and development. For example, you are giving a presentation, a round table, a press conference, or a trip to China for production.

Or, if you have a beauty salon, shoot a mini-film. The plot may be how you went to a thematic exhibition.

Therefore, make a good installation, tell us about the results of your event and how it will affect customer service , so that the viewer can independently draw conclusions about you.

4. Expert Interview

When we want to learn something, we always carefully listen to our teacher, following all his advice. Therefore, we love to listen to experts who “ate a dog” in the field of interest to you.

Thus, interviews with internal experts or opinion leaders in a particular niche are a great way to increase credibility and build trust.

For example, if you sell grain, then it will be a plus to interview the chief agronomist of the region, who has authority and status. This will show you a good professional side.

4. Educational

In order for customers to be abundant, they must understand why they need your product, what problems it can solve, how to use it and even how to place an order. It seems obvious to you, but you should train your clients.

So one manufacturer of CNC machine tools in the VKontakte group created a series of training videos. In which he talked about chips, pitfalls found in the business of their customers.

And how to improve products using their CNC machines. After such maneuvers, Orders were scheduled six months in advance.

5. Cases and reviews

Social proof or social proof – this is what it is called. And in fact, everyone is interested in what other people who you have already worked with say about you. What problems did they have and how did you solve it.

One way to show this is to make a video call and pack it into a full case.

For example, you can mount this in the form of an interview, with all the details: what kind of problem the client had, what tasks stood, the difficulties that arose and what ultimately happened.

6. Life video

Speaking in Russian – live video. A better known option is live broadcast. So you can see that real-time surveillance acts magically on customers.

Therefore, live broadcasts on social networks or other resources are one of the most effective ways to increase audience reach.

For example, “DoDo Pizza” installed video cameras in its kitchens (above screenshot), which in real time broadcast the processes of preparing your pizza. I ordered and see how your pizza is cooked. Is it cool?

7. Answers to questions

We all receive messages, calls about pressing topics that interest our customers.

Therefore, you can collect the most popular questions and answer them in video format. So you will show your organization as a professional team that is always ready to help.

For example, the popularity of the unremarkable KubanZheldormash plant on the Facebook social network came, in particular, due to the video.

In which the plant manager answered questions from subscribers. And the fact that the leader himself prints out questions on paper, reads and answers to almost everyone, aroused great interest of the audience.

8. Selling

My favorite type of video content for business. As you understood from the title, this is a video in which you need to sell something.

And it differs from all others in that the rules of sales and copywriting must be observed in it. By the way, we have an entire article on this topic.

So, for example, in the first seconds you should interest the viewer, answer the questions: why should a person watch the video, why should he trust you and how will your product help solve the viewer’s problem.

And besides this, it is necessary to close the most popular objections, talk about the cost and urge to take action.

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FORMATS

It is logical that you can just take and shoot video on the camera, but also video content can be made in other unusual formats. The fantasy here is endless.

I will show you three for example. Moreover, two of them are very rare and very difficult to implement.

Animated video – video made in the form of “animated” infographics.

Suitable for situations where you need a strong visual component or a detailed process that cannot be explained “on the fingers”.

VR video or virtual reality – the effect of being at the scene. That is, the video is 360 degrees.

The viewer can spin around its axis. For example, such technologies are used by National Geographic, as well as hotels and restaurants.

AR-video or augmented reality is the addition of elements on the user’s screen, IKEA uses this technology.

For example, you can shoot an empty room on your smartphone and see how a sofa or other piece of furniture will be placed in it.

As you understand, video marketing is very diverse. So for each species there is a purpose.

And they can be combined or focus on one thing. But it’s not enough to shoot a good video, you still need to choose the right sites for its placement, so we’ll talk about them later.

PLATFORMS

Video marketing is so extensive that it can be used offline. But now the Internet and social networks have long entered our lives in a very dense way, so we’ll stop on these channels.

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YouTube

It would be strange if in the first place there was any other platform. Because YouTube is a giant.

And the number of users in Russia is 62,000,000. I intentionally wrote this number in numbers so that you can feel the full scale of this site.

That is, for almost all areas of the business, YouTube is an indispensable platform. In addition, this hosting was created specifically for video content.

And if you don’t have your own channel yet, then master it ahead. And pay attention to the article below, it will definitely come in handy for you.

Facebook

As you can see from the description of the previous site, Facebook is in second place by the share of video content.

Every fifth social network post is a video. In America, one in three. So the tendency, as they say, is “on the face”. Even if the popularity of this site is less than that of others in Russia.

Therefore, if your audience coincides with the Facebook audience, then there is a direct path for you. Only with video marketing, of course.

Instagram

No need to faint now. Yes, this fast-growing platform is inferior to VK, OK and FB in the number of video posts per day (166,000), ahead of only YouTube.

But … Instagram leads by a huge margin from everyone else in the share of video with comments – 41%. At the same time as YouTube, the closest investigator – 17.9%.

Now you can exhale and calm down. Therefore, if your audience is ardent fans of Instagram, do not look at the statistics and just implement video marketing there, and that’s it.     

Website

Your own site is also a platform. But here the criteria of the technical plan are important, for example, the video on the main page can overload the site if it is too large, as well as the video on other pages.

In addition, one video is not enough. And all because the text is needed for the CEO, so use a short description of the video or a preview for it. And remember, the main thing is not to overload the site.

For example, a presentation video, which shows the essence of your company and the benefits that the client receives, can significantly increase conversion. But to shoot such videos, you already need to contact the professionals.

STEP-BY-STEP IMPLEMENTATION

Everything, of course, is cool. We understand that video marketing for businesses is the trend of the coming years.

But what to do about it? How to implement it in your company? But here everything is much simpler than you think. We will analyze the main implementation steps.

Step 1. Goal

Everything in the world has a purpose. And your business is no exception. And who, if not you, (well, or your marketer) knows the goals of the company best of all?

It is clear that the development and increase in profit drive us, but here, in video marketing, we need to think strategically and in more detail. In addition, you need to start gradually, so the goal may sound like this:

1. Increase subscribers or create a YouTube channel;
2. Creation of selling videos for social networks;
3. Increase audience with Instagram review videos;
4. Development of a series of branded videos to increase recognition;
5. Placing a video about the company on the site to increase conversion;

In any case, each business has its own tasks. But the action plan should be on paper. Therefore, task number one is to set a clear goal for your video marketing.

Step 2. Audience and sites

On the understanding of its target audience, all marketing is built, in principle. Therefore, you must clearly understand: who will watch your videos?

What kind of people are these? Why should they be interested in your reviews or broadcasts? What action should they take?

Understanding your audience affects the definition of a site that we’ve already become familiar with. In general, be sure to remember that video marketing is built primarily on the interests of customers.

Step 3. Team

Naturally, to embed a video in your company, you need to make it. Here we must proceed from the goals that you have identified.

For example, if this is a branded video, then for its production it is better to attract a professional studio or a company that deals with video marketing.

If you want video posting for your own channels, then you will have to find editors, copywriters and operators. 

Plus, we need equipment and programs for production, and this is generally a separate topic for the article. But … I’ll simply say: “Get ready to invest.”

Step 4. Promotion

You know your goals, you know who your customers are and where they live, you know who will be involved in the production.

It remains to determine the strategy for promoting your videos. And all because without advancement there is no point in doing this.

“Well, how much will it all cost?” You ask. I hasten to upset you, but there are no specific figures. 

Since the cost will depend on the advertising platform, the duration of the advertising campaign and many other factors. 

And I do not want to, but I need a budget, just treat it like an investment and a long-term perspective.

Step 5. Analysis

This step is special because it involves actions after the implementation and implementation of the previous four steps. But … Do not forget about the indicators that must be determined at the very beginning.

If you do not know what will be the result, then it becomes difficult to analyze later.

And therefore write down the metrics that are right for you. This can be the average duration of views, coverage on social networks or reposts, conversion on the site or CTR video ads.

HOW TO DIFFER FROM COMPETITORS

Using video marketing in your company is a life hack in itself. And all because many still do not realize what development this leads to.

And even if you focus on this particular area, you will already be different from your closest competitors. But now to the specifics:

1. Use what is. It’s not necessary to create your own video studio or hire entire agencies. You can do with the usual filming of your production, service delivery processes or a story about your product.
2. Master the oratory. If you have a representative employee who expresses a desire to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming an actor, then send him to the school of oratory.
3. Release regularity. If you already decided to take up video marketing, then get ready for regularity. Since one video per month on how to use the product will not bring the desired effect.
4. Determine the timing. It is unlikely that a good and interesting overview of any equipment can be laid out in less than 7-9 minutes. A webinar, on the contrary, will be more interesting to the audience if their duration is less than 40 minutes.
5. Make friends with bloggers . This is not exactly a life hack, but a postulate that must be observed when promoting video content. But many forget about bloggers, and if they don’t forget, then they don’t know how to choose the right one.

If you look, then video marketing does not require millions of expenses, at the initial stage. Although if you look, then many are investing in huge amounts.

It’s more likely to say that video marketing in the first place is the content itself, and then the presentation itself. But at the same time, it is the presentation that makes the viewer peck at your material.

Mistakes

In principle, the mistakes that marketers make when embedding video in their marketing can be a continuation of the previous paragraph about life hacks.

Therefore, I have compiled a short list of errors that you can immediately take note of.

1. Bad video quality;
2. Lack of optimization;
3. Difficulty in conveying information;
4. Hard sale in the video;
5. Lack of broadcast brand;
6. Lack of call to action.

That’s all, it’s not so difficult. Therefore, I advise you to implement all the life hacks listed above and not to forget about common mistakes.

Then, you are surely provided with a difference from competitors, and remember about creativity, because video marketing requires it.

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BRIEFLY ABOUT THE MAIN THING

You have probably heard about the human channels of perception of information. Where 60% is the visual channel, 30% is the audio channel and 10% is the semantic.

That is why people prefer to watch a video rather than read a text.

So if you are not using video marketing yet, I advise you to implement it faster.

And remember that, like in any other tool, video marketing cannot do without strategy and numbers. So introduce, consider, improve. And get ahead of the competition.