It’s 2019 and there’s mounting evidence of the popularity of video marketing. HubSpot writers call it the “strategy of the future”, a revolutionary format that is changing how brands interact with customers. Consequently, the demand for this digestible, attractive video format has created a chain reaction within social media platforms. For instance, Instagram has IGTV and Instagram Live; Facebook’s video content influences purchasing behaviour; and the video content is 6x more likely to get retweeted than photos on Twitter.
Whether you’re a big shot company or a start-up, you cannot afford to dismiss the benefits that video marketing can give you! Here are some video content tips and types that your brand can explore to help maximise your video marketing initiatives!
As we go along in this article, we will tackle some video marketing tips that cut across different social media platforms and optimise your content better, like:
- Telling an impactful story and getting personal (yet on brand);
- Grabbing viewers’ attention within the first three seconds;
- Including engaging captions;
- Clarifying a cohesive call-to-action; and
- Trying short-form videos
Additionally, we focus the spotlight on some interesting video content types you can explore to make video marketing effective for your brand:
- Company Culture
- Tutorials or “How-to”
- Events
- Product and Service Explainers
- Testimonials
Video marketing tips that work across social media platforms
Tell an impactful story and get personal (yet on brand).
Brands often try hard to sell their services and products, but hard-selling is often counterproductive. By now you’ve probably heard about the expression “People don’t buy the product; they buy how a product makes them feel” and this has a lot to do with emotional connection. Instead of hard-selling, you can evaluate the value that you can offer to your customers and create videos that reflect their aspirations and address their concerns. There’s nothing wrong with including topics or social causes into your video marketing campaigns, especially those that speak volumes about your company’s deeper connection with the community.
Grab viewers’ attention within the first three seconds.
A video’s effectiveness comes down to how impactful its first three seconds are. So, make sure that you establish value within those first seconds. It should be impactful and “eye-catching” to spark your viewers’ attention and raise the probability of them watching the video in its entirety. Take some ads, for instance, like those on Youtube. Youtube’s Skippable In-stream ads are only skippable after the first 5 seconds, so brands should make sure to capture viewers’ attention within those first seconds.
Include engaging captions.
Captions engage your community or prospective buyers better. It can start and keep the conversation alive and going. More importantly, video captions are imperative for making a video experience better for social media users with hearing disabilities. Additionally, data suggests that 85% of viewers watch videos without the audio on. Sound is an option, but apparently, not a requirement. So your content would have a greater chance of being watched when you add open or closed captions on your videos. An open caption is always overlayed or “burned” unto your video, while closed captions can be turned on or off. Either way you want to do it, textual transcripts can impact your video metrics greatly.
Clarify a cohesive call-to-action.
It can either be placed within the first few seconds as a way of capturing viewers’ attention or at the end to help viewers make decisions. Furthermore, video marketing doesn’t just entail for you to have an interesting topic at hand, but more so an articulate call-to-action that explains what you intend to achieve with the video. Keep it brief, yet straight to the point. Also, be proactive and add dynamic phrases like “Act Now” or “Learn More” to influence or incite action.
Try short-form videos.
People’s attention span has dropped to just 8 seconds, which greatly affected how marketers navigate social media nowadays. Most wouldn’t patiently sit-through excruciatingly long videos as there are already so many distractions or content competing for attention. So, investing in short videos would allow consumers to digest a point better and quicker.
Engaging video marketing content types that viewers love
Company Culture
People engage better with brands who have personalities, or brands that exhibit their values and missions clearly. Gone were the days of surface-level transactions. Nowadays, it’s a race towards establishing that emotional connection with the audience, and a video that exhibits your company’s unique culture can do that! Truly, it humanises your brand to customers. You can exhibit what a typical day looks like for your employees, do interviews, publish “office or organisation pranks”, show birthday celebrations, or display behind-the-scenes. These videos explore slice-of-life interactions that help your brand’s personality shine and connect with the audience better.
Here’s a video we produced featuring two Ngee Ann Polytechnic students in a CCA Swap video kicking back from school stuff to “swap” and attempt each others’ talents! Videos like these are a great way to humanise your brand by showing a fun, playful side of the company or institution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbGYNvvJOVk&feature=emb_title
Tutorials or “How-to”
Singlegrain talks about how viewers value actionable insights. When viewers watch tutorial videos, they do so to learn how things work. Moreover, tutorial videos walk customers through a process or educate them about the best way to enjoy products or services. It doesn’t have to follow a rigid, school-based format that may bore viewers, so have fun with it! Introduce a person into the video who could act as your primary source of information, or try animated tutorials. Tutorial videos can be quick, but it can also be long and in-depth. Whatever path you choose to take, make sure you keep your viewers’ interest high.
Events
Events are brand milestones that must be celebrated. Live broadcasts of special brand events allow viewers who couldn’t be there physically to join in on the experience. You have an option to set-up everything so that the video covers all the monumental snippets of your event. This may be costly, but it gives out an air of professionalism that viewers would surely appreciate. You can also leverage social media features related to video streaming. These are more cost-effective and quicker to execute. Try to create live videos with Facebook’s Stories or set up Instagram Live.
Product & Service Explainers
Basically, this is a case of hand-holding; it heightens customers’ trust and helps them understand the value of your products or services better. Explainer videos influence how viewers react to your products or services without looking too conspicuous or demanding. Product or service explainers can answer questions that customers may have about your products or services. It cuts through the confusing aspects and lets viewers focus on your value.
Testimonials
Word of mouth is still an effective marketing technique. Customers listen to others, and they value the insights others give about certain products or services. Testimonial videos are interesting in that they gauge viewers by showcasing the value of your brand from other users’ or customers’ points of view. Additionally, it helps rack up your brand’s credibility and overall character, which can increase your relevance. Testimonial videos can feature interviews with satisfied customers which highlight the emotional impact that your brand or product does for users.
Here’s another video of ours about one of our clients, Repton Schoolhouse Singapore, on how their latest partnership with us helped their brand be recognised by the community better!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qgwjjk_VhQg
Video marketing not only interests; it engages consumers better.
Video marketing works well at engaging people online. Additionally, it spreads a brand’s message better. As a result, brands can clutch viewers on a level that goes beyond one time, neutral transactions.
Videos may just be the push that your brand needs to engage and connect with your consumers better! Have no idea where to start? The great thing is, our reliable team does. See the difference your brand can make by tapping into our comprehensive digital marketing approach today!
