Video has revealed itself as one of the rising stars in the marketing tool world. With any new messaging approach or device, there are new challenges. Today, we’re going to talk about the value in adding video to your marketing strategy and some tips on how to properly manage this new initiative.

Why is video so valuable?

• Videos are ranked as high-value content in search engines, with a lot less competition
• Videos are very easy to consume, extremely sharable and likeable
• Videos are excellent for educating, entertaining, introducing, and promoting

Social Media & Video

Overall, Facebook and Instagram have dramatically increased the visibility of motion-based content. To encourage more native video uploads (videos not linked to external sources), Facebook gives priority to this type of content posting, as statistics show these tend to perform better and provide a better experience to the viewer. Native video uploads receive 30% more views than links to videos posted on other websites, and have images up to 10 times larger in the news feed.

Facebook video views have grown from one billion per day in September 2013 to over four billion per day presently. If your company manages a Facebook business page, utilize this channel to promote organic videos that showcase your products, services, or company as a whole — the numbers speak for themselves. When brainstorming your video marketing initiatives, keep in mind that 75% of video views on Facebook are on phones, which means your video should be as high-quality as possible, clear and easy to follow, and brief — shorter videos are more likely to be watched from start to finish.

The success rate of video on Facebook goes hand-in-hand with Instagram. Although Instagram was initially based solely on photos, the potential of video marketing proved irresistible. Instagram has accommodated this opportunity with Instagram management tools. The value in marketing through social media has never been more beneficial than now, with the integration of video and the right tools to manage it.

Video Marketing Strategy

The age of video marketing has arrived and is making a big splash in almost every marketing and promotion channel available. And, like any marketing initiative, the results of video marketing efforts can be greatly improved through the use of a fundamental strategy.

Publishing schedule

Take a wider-view look at what you are going to publish, where you plan to post, and what overall story you are trying to tell. Should you create a single video, or would it be more effective to produce smaller vignettes that as a whole tell more of the story? Create a schedule by compiling a list of topics that will become videos and add them to your marketing calendar.  A schedule will ensure there is consistency among your topics and promotions, as well as the frequency of posts. It also serves as your monthly reminder to start brainstorming new footage and ideas when you’re nearing the end.

Short-form videos

Most viewers are looking for shorter durations in the content they consume. Websites like Vine and Instragram showcase how much can be communicated in a short amount of time. How far down can you distill your messages? What is the main idea – the most important point you want your viewers to take with them? Emphasize this idea in as little time as possible, without compromising the quality or copy. A ten-second video is much more likely to be consumed start to finish than a 30-second one.

Value-added content

What does your customer base need? What are their pain points? Can you address these in simple tutorials, tips, or advisory instruction? Find out what your customers are looking for and put the information in front of them before they ask. Video is a great way to streamline the process of getting these things in front of your viewers before they look somewhere else.

Customer-generated content

No one is more believable than those who’ve had a good experience with your business. Get them in front of the lens to testify about the strengths of your organization. Testimonials and customer reviews that portray your business in a positive light make for terrific video clips. Write up a testimonial questionnaire and distribute them to your clients to start a collection of easy content for your video marketing archive.

Call to action

Never miss an opportunity to ask your viewer to do what you ultimately want them to do. Don’t forget, every effective ad has a clear, concise call to action. What good is an ad that leaves a potential customer clueless as to the next step?

What tools are available for editing?

For the most part, consumer-level video editing software is available and fairly easy to use, with or without an extensive video-editing background. Check out some of our recommendations for basic video editing tools and resources.

• iMovie (Mac)
• Movie Maker (Windows)
• Facebook Slideshow (more animated still images than video)
• Animoto

Even More Tools:

• Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows)
• Avidemux (Windows/Mac/Linux)
• WeVideo (Cloud-based)
• VSDC Free Video Editor (Windows)
• Wondershare Filmora (Windows/Mac)
• Blender (Windows/Mac/Linux)
• Lightworks (Windows/Mac/Linux