YouTube is loaded with videos produced by businesses that do nothing to drive traffic to their websites or increase their sales. Most of this clutter is a result of companies jumping into video without a clear idea of their goals and objectives. They simply produced content with a, “me too” attitude. They know they need to produce video, so they slap something together just to join the party. Approaching video in this way will do nothing but waste time and resources. A key element of an effective strategy is matching the right types of marketing videos to your business. Understanding which formats will help drive traffic and sales will increase the odds that your video marketing campaign will be a success.
Know Your Objectives
You can’t create videos without knowing why you are producing them. You can use your business objectives as a guide to understanding your campaign goals. Is your mission as a company to educate? Is it to streamline processes for companies in the energy sector? Examine your corporate goals and choose video formats that will support your mission. This might seem like common sense, but a lot of companies miss the mark. Take your time and create a plan for your videos that lines up with your objectives as a company.
Four Common Types of Marketing Videos
Product Videos
Product videos can be used to help your customers make a final buying decision. These are extremely useful in the B2C space, for eCommerce websites, and any company that hopes to close sales right on their website. The objective of product videos is simple: get visitors to click “add to cart.”
Product videos should be brief. Highlight the best aspects of your products and be sure to include benefits of these unique features. Show how your product is superior to similar products on the market.
When you create product videos, they should be securely hosted directly on your website. There is no real benefit to adding them to YouTube or Vimeo. You can create other types of marketing videos to promote your online store and host those videos off-site, but your proprietary product videos should remain on your website proper. If a potential customer finds your product videos on a third party website like YouTube or Vimeo, they will be far less likely to go back to your website, search the product, and then purchase it. There are just too many variables. So keep your product videos on your website to increase conversion rate.
How To Videos
How to videos are fairly straightforward. You produce a video that teaches your audience how to do something. There are endless possibilities for creating how to content. These are great videos for small businesses as they can be produced right at your location. You don’t want to teach anyone how to do something that is proprietary. But you can create an awesome series of basic how to videos that will position you as an educational resource in your industry.
For example, plumbers might consider posting simple how to videos about unclogging shower drains or toilets. Custom framers could produce videos about the best way to hang heavy art. Flooring companies could do a series on correcting scratches, stains, and nicks in hardwood or laminate floors. These types of marketing videos provide useful information and help introduce your brand to the market, and help establish you as a go-to in your industry.
Demonstration Videos
Not to be confused with how to videos or product videos, demonstration videos show your products in action. These are great for new product launches and for companies whose products are too big to lug around for in-person demonstrations.
The key to creating a demo video is to make a clear case for the point of pain that your product addresses, while remaining interesting and engaging. Highlight benefits, not features and always include a specific call to action in your video. You have to tell people what to do next, or they won’t take any action after viewing.
Image Videos
There is an entire school of thought that image advertising is worthless. Think of the full-spread image ads you see in magazines and newspapers that offer only the name and tagline of a business. Or a “congratulations on 20 years in business” spread that offers only photos and the business name. These types of ads provide no call to action, and there is little proof that they do anything other than help the marketing department feel useful. These ads are usually created without a sales goal in mind. People think of them as a form of branding, but they are often just a complete waste of money.
Image videos can be just as superfluous – if they are done without a goal in mind. There is a time and a place for an image video and they can be quite useful if you incorporate them correctly. They can be extremely effective during a rebranding campaign. Startups can create an image video campaign to introduce themselves to the marketplace. And anyone who has undergone a recent bout of bad PR might wish to consider image videos. Understand why you’re creating image videos and be sure they fit in with your overall marketing strategy to ensure they are effective.
No Matter What, Don’t Skimp on Quality
No matter which types of marketing videos you choose to promote your business, it’s critical that you don’t skimp or cut coroners. In order to be taken seriously by your audience, your videos must look and feel professional. Your videos are a representation of you and your brand. Don’t settle. You don’t want a potential customer’s first impression to be a bad one – because it will likely be their only impression. Take your time; create high-quality videos with a clear purpose and clear calls to action that can actually have an impact on your bottom line.
How did you decide which types of marketing videos to use in your campaign? Let us know in the comments.