Why You Should Be Using Video Marketing To Connect with Local Audiences

While there are numerous ways to get the word out about your business, a critical component of any successful online marketing strategy today involves video marketing.

One report from Cisco found that by 2022, internet videos will make up over 82% of all consumer online traffic. Even though the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down video production and demand somewhat, it still remains a perfectly viable marketing channel. 

People are simply more likely to watch a video than read a blog. By looking at key pillars of online video production as well as what’s worked for other companies, you, too, can develop a stellar strategy. 

The three pillars of a successful online video marketing strategy

There are several key tenets to building a successful marketing strategy with online videos. The first involves distribution. You need to figure out where videos will live, whether that be YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, or your company’s website. Generally speaking, you should display videos somewhere your primary demographics are likely to find them. This requires early research on your part before even beginning to create. 

The next pillar is technology. You need to invest in some worthwhile video creation tools, which include sound and editing equipment. It’s also wise to invest in a cloud storage backup system for any videos that you create for business purposes. Some of the most popular storage systems such as pCloud and Sync offer excellent security features such as zero-knowledge encryption and intrusion detection systems to ensure that your video files will be kept private.

You also need to learn how to gain insights from analytics to determine the performance of your videos. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube offer built-in analytics to provide you with a breadth of metrics to determine how well your videos have performed.

From there, you can gauge the success of your social media efforts. For instance, you may receive better engagement on LinkedIn than Instagram. Once you know that, you can spend more time, energy, and money on LinkedIn marketing campaigns and focus less on Instagram. 

The final tenet is creativity. You should look at trends in social media marketing, such as maintaining an authentic voice. You need to have a consistent tone across social media platforms so that it feels like your business is capable of connecting with actual people and is backed by actual people. 

Once you have a tone in place, you can begin creating videos. Ultimately, the goal is to engage the viewer. Remember, your audience has an endless assortment of options to watch, so you need to make your videos worth their while. This strategy may differ depending on whether you are a B2B or B2C organization. But let’s look at some strategies that may potentially work for you. 

Strategies for increasing user engagement

One of the best strategies to increase user engagement with videos is to incorporate them into your overall marketing automation strategy. Marketing automation, also known as lead nurturing, is one of the fastest growing areas in the digital marketing landscape because it’s an excellent way to optimize your business.

Even though email by far plays the most important role in marketing automation, video can still perform quite well in email. Most of the major marketing automation platforms such as Marketo or HubSpot make it very easy to incorporate videos into your overall email marketing campaign. 

But remember, a good distribution strategy is nothing if the videos themselves aren’t up for the task. A major video marketing trend this year has been explainer videos. As an example, say your business sells auto parts. You could create a series of explainer videos showing how a person would go about using your tools and installing the different parts into their own vehicles. 

When customers better understand a product, they are more likely to make a purchase. Plus, you don’t have to make your educational videos dry. If you can find a way to have fun with the explanation, then you can increase the odds of consumers looking for other videos to keep up with your industry. 

You should also pay attention to the length of your videos. When you’re just starting out, it’s a good idea to keep them short and sweet. Two minutes is a good starting point. However, as you create more videos, you will build up your base, and you can get away with having longer videos. 

Long-form videos have been thriving over the last few years. But you want to pay attention to your consumer base. You can research analytics to see if a vast majority of viewers are clicking away at a certain point. You can adjust your strategy as necessary to compensate. 

It’s also critical not to overlook personalized videos. As we mentioned previously, videos can form a vital part of your email marketing efforts for lead nurturing. Personalization can help to increase conversion rates because it’s about sending specific information to segmented customers rather than just generic company information to all customers at once.

One way you can do this is to create buyer persona profiles based on actual buyer characteristics, and then segment your videos accordingly. Popular email marketing services such as ConstantContact or ConvertKit make it easy to segment customer lists and send videos by automating the process for you. Sending personalized videos in this manner will help make customers feel more connected with your business, and therefore create longer standing relationships. 

Real-world examples your business can learn from

This may all sound like a lot, but it’s much easier said than done. Just look at this video created by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams from Columbus, Ohio. The video is just over 30 seconds in length, but it tells you everything you need to know about how you can create your own ice cream sandwiches at this shop. 

The old-timey music and straightforward white uniforms worn by the employees give the ice cream shop an old-timey feel like it’s right out of the 1950s. In other words, the video underscores the importance of remaining authentic. Every company needs to have a voice, and you should commit to that voice in all the marketing material you put out. 

But what do you do if your business is a bit more complicated than ice cream? Take a look at this video created by Code.org, which consists of a series of interviews with the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and more to talk about how essential coding is in the modern world. 

The video is over five minutes in length, but it keeps you engaged the entire time by bringing in people you’ve heard of to talk about a subject you must be interested in. Even if your company doesn’t have access to celebrity spokespeople, you can still find a hook that will keep people watching for a while. 

Start implementing videos into your marketing strategy

If you’re having trouble figuring out what kind of videos to watch, then think about what you would want to see. What videos do you find yourself watching on YouTube in your spare time? 

Videos are only going to become more prevalent as more people gain access to the tools necessary to create them. Your company should get started immediately and develop a comprehensive video strategy that engages consumers and leads to higher conversion rates. 

Gary Stevens is a front-end developer and copywriter who specializes in writing about cybersecurity, blockchain, and tech trends.