7 Steps to Creating an Effective Video Marketing Strategy

 On average, this is probably what your routine looks like this:

 

The 7.00 a.m alarm you've set on your smartphone goes off. You wake up to turn it off. Then you unlock your screen to check for emails and messages you received overnight.

 

The toaster goes off, and your breakfast is ready. You enjoy your PB&J while scrolling through Twitter to see what's going on and watch some videos you find enticing. On slower mornings, you choose to see what's trending on YouTube or turn on your TV to catch up with the local news.

On your way to work, you encountered several video billboards with ads from several brands you know and countless other brands you don't know.

 

Now you're at work, and you turn on your computer to do your job. Doing online research on work-related stuff, having Skype meetings, and maybe check on your friends on Facebook now and then.

 

Once you're home, you immediately check your smartphone for messages and load up Netflix to catch up on the latest episode of that one show you're following.

 

Suppose the screen is everywhere throughout your day. Like it or not, digital videos are taking over the majority of our lives.

 

According to Statista, 81.1 percent of online users in the United States accessed digital videos online. This number is projected to reach 83.3 by 2020.

 

What does this mean?

Our daily lives are intertwined with digital video content, and as we're shifting towards a more digital lifestyle, so are the marketing approaches that companies use to reach us.

 

How much-branded content (NOT ads) do you think is involved during those hours you spend looking at your computer or smartphone screens?

 

Chances are, this video might have been played on one of the video billboards on your way to work. Or you've stumbled across that video in your YouTube or Facebook feed. And perhaps you're wondering how these things can reach you even though you don't like Gatorade.

 

Here's the answer: an effective video marketing strategy.

 

A Brief Introduction To Video Marketing

 

A video marketing strategy is a list of steps and directions formulated by a team of marketers to amplify the reach and results of a branded video. An effective video marketing strategy takes a while to develop. You can be sure that the folks over at the Gatorade marketing office cooked up the plan for this video long before it was the script.

 

The reality is, these days, we're so connected that we're only an arms reach away from branded content. If you're a marketer, you should have realized this and adjusted your strategy to turn this video-ridden era into magnificent growth for your brand.

 

But, how do you cook up an effective video marketing strategy to reach your target audience and generate as many results as possible?

 

This article will guide you through the steps to formulate effective video marketing strategies from scratch.

 

#1. Understand The Purpose of Your Videos

To measure the success of your video marketing, first, you need to know what you want to achieve with it.

Generally, there are five purposes of a video marketing strategy:

 

Increasing Conversion & Sales

A statistics compilation by Insivia says that including a video on a product landing page could improve the conversion rate by up to 80 percent.

A recent report published by HubSpot also says that 99 percent of respondents who have used video marketing will continue doing so in the foreseeable future. That says enough about the efficiency of videos in the eyes of marketers.

WordStream suggests that you use the lead capture form in the earlier part of your videos to improve your odds of scoring hot leads.

 

Improving Brand Awareness

Videos also work as a great tool to boost brand awareness.

You might be familiar with Neil Patel, an infamous content marketer who relies heavily on long-form articles to build his expertise. He admits that videos still help him expand his audience and bring in new leads, even with his blog post-oriented content marketing reputation.

 

Maintaining Customer Base

Maintaining an existing customer service base can also use videos. Depending on the product or service you provide, you can create an array of topics surrounding frequently asked questions, new features, or general use-case tutorial videos.

 

Ahrefs, a prominent keyword research tool, uses video to maintain their existing users by showing them tips to use their agency and highlighting new features in the product.

 

Public Relation

Public relations and corporate communication are two essential images that any big brand should manage adequately. Generally, all the videos you publish contribute to your brand's image to the public.

However, using videos to address specific PR issues such as public backlash and employee-related cases has proven valuable and practical.

 

Website Page Enrichment

Videos also work wonders when it comes to adding more flavors to your website. Whether on the homepage or a supplement for your latest case study. There's always a plus of using a video.

As a rich media, a well-optimized video could take your page to the first page of search engine result pages (SERPs) -- more on this below, keep reading!

 

#2. Determine The Topics And Types You'll Create

The first thing you need in establishing a reliable video marketing strategy is to determine the topics of your content and the types of video you'll develop them.

Let's talk about topics first.

 

The topics you use for your video marketing should be relevant to your niche and reflect your brand's expertise and views. It's proven that if a brand has opinions that resonate with a group of audiences it always results in positive responses.

 

Take, for example, this branded video from Dove (yes, the shampoo brand -- not the fowl), in which they reflect their brand's view on self-love and acceptance as opposed to following the beauty standards set by society.

 

Another brand that's famous for its video marketing strategy is Nike. The majority of their video reflects the brand's views on sportsmanship, hard work, and achieving dreams, echoing their infamous slogan: Do It.

 

Now that you have a clear understanding of how you should decide the topics for your videos, let's talk about the type of videos to use.

 

Branded Content

For the uninitiated, branded content marketing is often associated with entertainment content such as creative skits and videos. The purpose is to resonate with the customer persona on an emotional level rather than selling a product. This type of content is excellent for gaining virality and generating organic brand recognition in online platforms, mainly social media networks.

 

Partnership with Creators

Creator partnership is subtle advertising which is an ambassador by influencers and social media personalities. As opposed to paying for advertising spots on Google Ads, Facebook Pixel, or other advertising platforms, you pay a creator to give a shout-out for your brand to their followers.

 

Advertising

In-stream and on-site advertising should only be a supplement to support all other organic video marketing efforts. Since it requires a constant budget stream to run, you should consider this a tertiary option to boost your video's reach (if necessary).

 

#3. Establish Who Will Develop Your Videos

Now that you've figured out what you want to achieve with video marketing, as well as the topics and types of videos you want to create, it's time to decide who's going to make them.

There are two possible options:

 

Making Your Video

If you're a believer in the statement "If you want something done right, do it yourself," -- then you're going to make your video.

Making your videos requires you to allocate time and resources. It's the list of things you'd likely be spending money on if you decide to make your video:

●     Camera kit (for live-action videos)

●     Microphone

●     Lighting

●     Studio/space

●     Computer (for editing and animation)

●     Software (for editing and animation)

Hiring An Agency

Deciding to hire an agency (like many other companies) is a more sensible option if you're low on resources and time.

Here's what you should be looking for in a video production (or marketing) agency:

●     Solid and genuine portfolio.

●     Past client's testimonials.

●     Eligibility for you to be involved in the project.

The last point is crucial because not only are you the client, and you know better about your product and brand than they do. It should imply your expertise throughout the video for it to succeed.

 

#4. Choose Your Content Distribution Platforms

Once your video is finished, you need to choose which platform you will publish it on first. It's important to note that it's completely okay to use multiple platforms, but it's recommended to prioritize one where most of your audience is.

Here are several reliable video content distribution platforms to choose from:

●     YouTube

●     Facebook

●     Instagram

●     Vimeo

●     Twitter

 

#5. Optimize Your Video for Search Engines

Before you upload your videos, you should optimize them to get the best possible outcome. If you're reading this, chances are you are familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

The thing about search engines is that each site listed above has its algorithm for choosing which content to show first.

However, there are similarities across all the platforms. Regarding which part of the video their crawler bots are looking at.

 

Write an Enticing Title

The title is the heading of your videos -- it means your title should be a perfect mix between valid content and click-baiting. Also, don't forget to ensure that your video's metadata is the same as your intended title.

 

Use Your Target Keywords in The Description

Search engines still rely heavily on text to determine whether a video is an excellent candidate to show for a query. In other words, crawler bots can't "watch" a video to determine its content. They only "read" the video and decide if it's related to a query.

Using your target keywords in the video description helps crawler bots decide if it is related to a query. However, avoid keyword stuffing since it could impact your video negatively.

 

Make Use of Tags

Many SEO experts are still debating whether or not tags are helpful for crawler bots. Nevertheless, tags are helpful for a more effortless content organization for both you and viewers (if they want to browse your other videos).

 

Customize Your Thumbnails

"Never judge a book by its cover" is a good school of thought -- but not for videos. For your video to get clicks, you need to make the "cover" look inviting. You'd be surprised by how much of a difference a simple thumbnail change can make.

 

Build Backlinks to Your Video

Spreading the word about your new video to your friends and followers is never a bad thing to do. Even better if you could build a backlink to it. The more link you can get to your page, the more reliable it will be in the eyes of search engines.

#6. Measuring Your Video Marketing Performance

In every marketing campaign you launch, you should always measure the metrics to indicate results -- video marketing is not an exception.

Here are the key metrics that you should pay close attention to in your videos:

 

Drop-Off Rate

The drop-off rate is the percentage of people who don't do what you'd like them to do. This point could mean many things for videos, including clicking on-screen Call-to-Action, finishing the video, or subscribing to a newsletter.

If you're still new at video marketing, you can start by monitoring how much of the video people are watching -- this is called audience retention rate. The more people tend to the entirety of your video, the bigger the audience retention it has. That means you've found the right video formula that video could use for your future.

 

Click-Through Rate

Click-Through Rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who click on a link. In video marketing, CTR could mean two things:

●     Watch Click-Through Rate

Watch Click-Through Rate is the percentage of the number of times your video shows up in a search result (e.g., YouTube) and the number of times people click on it.

●     Link Click-Through Rate

Link CTR is the number of times people who have watched your video click on a link you attach to the video (or the description).

 

#7. Consult the Experts in Creating Branded Videos

Breadnbeyond excels in creating branded animated videos, or commonly known as an animated explainer video, for startups and established brands from all over the world.

 

Author Bio

 

Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).

 

Twitter: @breadnbeyond

Email: andre@breadnbeyond.com

LinkedIn: Andre Oentoro