A Quick Guide to Video Marketing
Using video in your content marketing strategy is not only effective but it can also be low cost. The world of video is such a crowded space so small businesses need to think about their mission and what the story that you want to tell. Video is by far the simplest way to do this.
By creating a short informative video your customers can get to know you or your product in detail.
According to new research carried out by Twitter, 82% of their users will watch a video on the platform, with 41% confirming they turn to Twitter to discover new video content.
Below I will explain the different types of videos you can create.
Vlogs
Vlogs are a cost effective way of producing regular videos. You can use a smart-phone, a selfie stick or tripod and a microphone. Then all you need to do is capture videos! This can be day to day life with fun little jobs you are doing, talking about the week and any projects you’re working on, or even teaching people things about your industry. There are apps available on your phone to edit video like: WeVideo, Magisto, Viddy and Cinefy.
You can also record on your laptop or PC through your webcam. If you are using sound, make sure you have a high quality microphone (available online for around £5-£15) as most webcam integrated mics are fairly bad quality. The free programmes for PC video editing are as follows: Windows Movie Maker, iMovie (Mac OS X), LightWorks or Avidemux.
About Us
An about us video is a great way to put a face behind your brand, and the chance to tell your story. Tell the world how you got to where you are, the companies beliefs and why you do what you do. Showing passion for your company and a kind smiling face looks good to customers and they can see what sort of people they will be dealing with.
Product/Service Demonstrations
Show off your products or services in videos to show customers what they will be getting when they part with their hard earned money. Seeing things in action give customers a sense of trust and shows that the products or your team do what it says on the box.
Let Your Customers Join In!
Why not put some customer testimonials on your website? Ask if you can interview them, and then put it onto your website. If your audience is very technology or fashion orientated (14-35) then get them to send over selfies of them with your product or in your store and they will go into a video.
Platforms
There are a few different platforms for you to get your video out there, and gaining traction on YouTube takes a lot of time, dedication and effort. People who are looking to get into video marketing can now use other platforms like Instagram as it blends video and photo together in one feed.
Facebook,Twitter and Instagram
These two social networks have rolled out their own video platforms which then get more views as they get priority in feeds. Research has shown Facebook and Twitter hosted videos get a lot more views than Youtube hosted videos, so make sure you upload your videos direct. Make sure the first few seconds of the video are engaging as they often play clips as people are scrolling. Engaging beginnings will encourage people to watch to the end.
Youtube
YouTube is definitely the big dog of video content with 800 million unique visitors per month, and roughly 72 hours of content being uploaded each minute, it is by far the most used video platform on the web. I guess it helps because they’re owned by Google. However, just because it’s the busiest does not necessarily mean it’s the best one to use. With the sheer load of videos, it’s hard to get your voice heard, and so sometimes a smaller, more niche platform is better. Youtube would be more used for behind the scenes and fun videos, or even how-to’s with your products or services. It is also more simple to embed Youtube videos onto websites and blogs.
Vimeo
Unlike YouTube’s much larger audience, Vimeo’s is much a smaller, niched community of film enthusiasts. It gets around 72 million unique visitors each month but its smaller size creates a more engaged community so you will get feedback on your advert. People would also be more likely to share it as they are more engaged. Vimeo would be best used for more creative videos to receive feedback and if good enough, possibly go viral (shared a lot of times)
Video Resources
iMovie – https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/imovie/id408981434?mt=12
LightWorks – http://www.lwks.com/index.php?option=com_lwks&view=download&Itemid=206
Avidimux- http://avidemux.en.softonic.com/
post by Kelly Culver.
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