One of the most effective types of content you can publish is video. Videos grab and maintain the attention of viewers, especially if it’s a topic that’s relevant to them. Your users don’t have to spend several minutes reading an article that takes more of their attention and engagement compared to a video. All they need to do is click play. They can fast forward to the section that interests them as well. A video also boosts your visibility in search engine results pages. However, simply publishing a video won’t do. Your competitors are thinking the same things and will do their best to create videos that enable them to take a bigger slice of your niche’s audience. You’ll need to up your game to gain a competitive advantage and maintain it.
What are the video marketing best practices you can implement?
Identify Your Goal
A potential customer goes through stages when they look for a product or service that can solve their pain points. They start with awareness, then consideration, then finally they reach the decision stage. One of the video marketing best practices you should implement is to determine your objective before you brainstorm and publish.
Do you want a viewer to be aware of the benefits of your products? Are they closer to deciding? The video you create should have these questions in mind. A user in the awareness stage would like to know more about the product you offer such as its benefits, main features, and your unique selling proposition. They are also aware of the problem they are experiencing. A viewer in the consideration stage already knows they have a problem and is now looking for solutions. When they’re already in the decision stage, they already have a solution in mind. You’d want your product to be the first thing they think about once they reach this stage. Include satisfied customers and positive reviews in your video to clinch the sale. Once you have a goal, it will be easier to brainstorm and create a storyboard that moves a viewer further down the sales funnel. Publishing videos also allows you to optimise your website.
Determine an Audience
It’s important to pinpoint a target audience for your videos. Doing so enables you to publish one that is not only relevant to them, but also boosts your conversion and engagement rate. One of the video marketing best practices you can implement is to find an audience for the content you want to show. Some of the basic demographics you should consider include age, location, gender, income, and employment. You can take a more specific approach when you want to engage a certain group with the video you publish.
Review and assess the data you have gathered from your website and social media profiles. This enables you to determine your audience and their intentions whenever they browse your website and watch your videos. Engage with your audience whenever they comment on your posts. Responding to them also provides you with insights you can use. Consider creating a persona after assessing data. Personas make your brand personable and approachable. Your target audience wants to see a “face” whenever they choose a brand.
Create a Story
Storytelling is an important part of any video marketing best practices. You need to entice and engage your target audience so that they’ll watch your video. A strong narrative also allows you to lead your audience into heeding your call-to-action. When creating a story, identify the following:
- Persona/protagonist which is your target audience.
- Conflict which is the customer pain point you want to address.
- Quest which will introduce your brand and the product or service you want a customer to purchase.
- Resolution which showcases how you solve the pain point you identified.
- Create an emotional core that resonates with your intended audience.
The narrative you make should take viewers on a journey that aligns with your objective, which is to make a sale and convert.
Make a Realistic Plan
Your team might have the most creative idea for a video that will surely attract your intended audience and convert them. However, this might be beyond your budget, skills of your team, or will take too long to accomplish. When creating videos for your brand, create a plan that is realistic. Determine how much you’re willing to spend on hiring actors, voice actors, renting equipment if you don’t have any, finding a location for your shoot, editing, photo shoots, and other things you might need. You’ll also have to identify which employees will write the script, shoot the video, set up props, and others. If your in-house team lacks the expertise, you might have to hire professionals. This will add to your expenses. Create a plan and stick to it. This allows you to stay within budget and still publish a first-rate video that’s relevant to your audience.
Stay on Schedule
Create a timeline for each phase of the process and stay on it. Timelines enable your team to do their tasks effectively. It also allows you to keep track of your progress and identify how much work you still need to accomplish. Each phase and team might have their own timeline. Your videographers have their own deadlines, and your marketing team follows their own timeline as well. You need to manage these different timelines so that everything remains on schedule. One of the benefits of staying on schedule is that it also allows you to stay within your budget. You might incur more expenses if the production of your video encounters delays.
Implementing these video marketing best practices allows you to achieve your objectives. Videos are an effective format because they showcase the emotions of the actors, convey your brand message, and display the benefits of your products or services. Combine videos with other types of content to connect with your target market and boost your conversion rate.
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