Eight Steps to Kickstart your Video Marketing Program
by Michael Litt | September 30, 2014 10:00 am
So you’ve decided that online video can help your company’s sales and marketing programs. You’ve read the research so you know video is more compelling than other content and is more likely to produce leads and conversions. You know what it can do for you, but how do you get there? Where do you start and how many videos do you need to make? What should you feature in them? Do you have to spend a fortune?
There is a lot to consider, but don’t be overwhelmed. There are plenty of resources out there to help guide you, beginning with this list of eight steps to get started with your video marketing program:
1. Figure out what stories you want to tell.
An obvious first video is an explainer about what your company does, but don’t stop there. You’ll want to create a video for every part of your marketing funnel. Potential customers do more than half their product research independently, so you need videos that engage and nurture every step of the buying lifecycle. Video is the closest thing to talking to them in person.
2. Use pain points or benefits to create memorable stories.
All the best videos tell a good story. Stories are the bones of video marketing whether you are create a top-of-funnel brand video or a mid-funnel product explainer. Focus on the pain points of the customer or the key benefits they will derive from your product or service. Develop your characters. Create a conflict. Make the story impactful by putting it in a bigger context. Focus on the plot and wrap it up with a resolution. If you don’t have the writing talent in-house, work with a local agency to get the ball rolling.
3. Show people not just products.
Product explanations are important, but they don’t always make the most compelling stories. Get your customers involved by featuring their personal testimonials. A video case study is a great way for potential clients to become familiar with your products or services. Show interviews with company execs, partners and customers. Use video as a way to humanize your brand and to connect with your audiences on a personal level
4. Keep it short.
This can be a challenge. Everything your company does is so amazing. There’s no way you can do it justice in 60 seconds. You can, and you should. Viewers have short attention spans. After you analyze how your audience engages with your videos, you’ll be able to gauge where there is demand for longer, more in-depth content, but in the beginning, keep it short
5. Finish with a call to action.
Never just fade to black. Point viewers to related collateral – white papers, research, etc. – elsewhere on your site. Urge them to contact you for more information. Recommend a related video
6. Be strategic about where you put your videos.
Many organizations simply post their videos to their YouTube channel. Some only host them on their own website. Consider doing both, and don’t forget to leverage other social channels as well. YouTube has the advantage of showing up in Google search results, and it’s free. But you also lose some control. YouTube could subject your potential customer to unrelated material or, worse, competitive material. You’ll want to ensure your videos are accessible on your own site.
7. Dedicate resources.
You’ll want to make sure you’re releasing a new video every couple weeks to stay relevant. Video will become a key part of how you build out your website, how you support your marketing and sales efforts, and how you build out new marketing campaigns. I realize that sounds tough, but it’s a matter of dedicating resources and treating video like a core competency, not an afterthought. To start, you don’t have to break the bank. If you can only invest in one dedicated hire, a videographer is a good place to start. A strong videographer can shoot and edit all of your footage and produce at least one short video per week for about $1,000.
8. Don’t overlook measurement and analytics.
You won’t know whether your videos are successful if you don’t measure their performance. That means collecting data on not only how your videos are consumed but also how viewers engage with them. Simply measuring the number of views won’t result in more leads and more sales. Advanced data such as video embed location, duration of each video view, repeat views, drop-off rates and attribution to the sales pipeline are what lead to deals. The organizations that leverage advanced data are the ones who get the best results.
Now does that seem intimidating? If you can get started with these practices, you’ll reap rewards that make any of the challenges look tiny in retrospect.
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