What is video marketing?
Simply put, video marketing is the practice of including videos in your overall marketing campaign by incorporating them into various locations such as a website or blog. Video marketing is often used to promote a product or service; many companies also use this medium for general promotion as well. As the number of companies seeking to leverage new kinds of media content we are sure to see a rise in the number of businesses utilizing video marketing in their campaigns!
Think about it; there really are no reasons NOT to give video marketing a try. Studies have shown that a good video has just as much if not more marketing value than a piece of evergreen content on your website or blog. In fact, video is a highly versatile marketing tool that can be well worth the time and effort of production; once finished and released the same video can be used in multiple locations from your website’s home page to your social media profiles, and even your email campaigns! Who doesn’t want a shot at better Google rankings, higher click-through rates, and the potential for more conversions?
What makes video marketing great
Video: Why You Need Online Video Marketing
It’s “easy”
Thanks to the improvements in recording technology in the last few years we now have access to hand-held miniature camcorders that can record HD video and upload it directly to YouTube if that’s what we want, and all for under $150! If you want to get a little more high-tech you can do so and still stay well under $500 while still getting a device capable of recording high-quality video content. Add a copy of a professional-grade video editing application like Adobe Premier and you’re ready to get to work recording your videos. If you are worried about post-processing, don’t be! With a little care for lighting and backdrops while you’re setting up you can eliminate the need for color correction and lighting adjustments after the recording phase is done. Many successful marketing shorts and web shows have a consistent background and set-up, making it easier for them to take care of business time and time again.
Video ideas, how-to’s, and other juicy tidbits:
- HOW TO: Make a Successful Marketing Video for the Web – by Scott Gerber
- How to make cause marketing video that doesn’t suck - by Steve Stockman
- How To Shoot Your Own Promotional Marketing Video From Start To Finish – by Bakari Chavanu
- How to Make a Successful Marketing Video Presentation: 5 Must-Know Tips for the Presenter- by Sam Mauzy
It can reach new audiences
Some people just like to read. They can spend hours pouring over content that they found online, devouring good blog content as quickly as they can find it. These people are the audience that every blogger dreams of because they are relatively easy to please, just write great content for them to read! Other people like to watch and listen to absorb information. The same blog entries that delight the avid reader are not received with the same level of enthusiasm by this second group. This group wants to have the content presented to them, allowing them to consume it in a more passive way. It might seem wrong to associate reading with work, but it does take time and effort, and listening to someone read something to you versus reading it yourself is a bit easier. By adding videos to your blog posts you are enabling this second group to enjoy your posts just as much as the first one, increasing the number of satisfied consumers of your content!
More in the reach of video as a marketing tool:
- Web Video Marketing: Get Results & Increase Conversions – by Ren Scott
It caters to (almost) everyone
Video is –generally speaking- convenient and easy to digest by the majority of internet-capable households. Video marketing can extend far beyond the home computer and with the advent of more and more capable smart phones it is not unreasonable to expect the popularity and influence of video to continue to reach out to people all over the world. It’s common knowledge that in the “I’ll-take-that-to-go-yesterday” mentality that has only been encouraged by the internet has caused audiences to have a different attitude regarding marketing when compared to people from even as little as 20 years ago. Video is one of the easiest ways to deliver your message to someone, and one of the best ways to ensure that your message even gets the time of day in the increasingly jam-packed schedules of today’s audiences. Someone can pull out their phone or tablet on the go and surf the internet with ease, finding and watching your video in the time it takes to ride the bus, or walk from one building to another.
It makes things personal
Which seems more personal to you, an article with a small photo of the author beside it, or a video of the author speaking about the same topic? Most people would choose the video option, and they’re on to something. Studies have shown that people respond more positively when a “live” person is delivering content to them, in the case of video this would be a person speaking on screen with their face visible to the viewer. This gives the subject matter of the video a face so to speak, and gives the viewer something that they can connect to while absorbing the information in the video. Just think of the possibilities you could encounter just by having someone read that awesome blog post you wrote out loud? You could then add the video to said post and give even more people an opportunity to enjoy your work and get your message.
The reach of video marketing is vast and it is expanding every day. As digital media devices are becoming more and more mobile, faster and more capable of storing and streaming video than ever before, there is no time to waste! You need video marketing; if you’re not convinced, give it a try over a period of a few weeks and see what happens. Makes a few videos and post them to your website, your blog, and share them through your social media accounts! Then sit back and watch as more and more of your target market turns their attention toward your brand and takes notice of what you have to say.
Still not convinced? Take a look at these:
- Online Video Offers Low-Cost Marketing For Your Company – by Kermit Pattison
- Video Marketing: Well Within the Reach of Small Businesses – by Kern Lewis
Do you currently include video marketing in your overall marketing strategy? If no, why not?
