When it comes to crafting the most engaging type of content that could attract more customers and drive up sales, video content comes to mind.
Every marketer’s nicest dream is to develop video content that appeals to their followers, while being in-line with their values and needs.
Luckily we are here to offer you a few tips and tricks on how to create a more efficient video marketing strategy to grow your business.
Ready to find out more? So are we! Let’s get this started!
A complete guide about creating a video marketing strategy
- Choose your video platforms
- Select the video formats
- Create different video content for every stage of the marketing funnel
- Promote your videos
- Use analytics to measure your video's performance
1. What is a video marketing strategy and why you need one
Video marketing refers to the use of videos to promote your brand’s products and services while also increasing brand awareness and generating more sales.
Over the years, marketers have become accustomed to the fact that video content surpasses the performance of any other type of content, being it image or text.
Since users’ attention span has decreased, videos are the ones that attract them more.
And if the video has something catchy, they are more inclined to watch it until the end or even search for more.
Are you now wondering how to make followers “crave” for more of your video content? Well, we couldn’t say that what comes next is easy, but it’s surely helpful.
So stay put.
A solid video marketing strategy does not only entail well-planned and inspired content. You also need to make sure you correctly distribute and promote your videos.
Developing an efficient video marketing strategy relies on analyzing your social media metrics and what your audience needs to see.
If you are asking yourself why you need a video marketing strategy, the first reason is building an identity in your industry.
Moreover, your digital marketing strategy will also help you propel your brand into your industry and niche, with well-established and grounded goals.
Even if it may take you a while to put your plans into effect, it is for the best. Remember that quality things take longer to accomplish.
So don’t put pressure on your marketing team, but rather closely analyze the progress of your brand’s every step.
2. How to create a video marketing strategy
Now that you have already learned about what is a video marketing strategy, you also need to learn about the “how” of it. Here is our step-by-step guide into the world of marketing videos.
Choose your social media video platforms
First things first, before jumping to video types, optimal lengths, and other stuff, as a marketer, you need to start thinking strategically.
There are plenty of video social media platforms available and struggling to create video content for all of them just for the sake of it, it is surely not the best idea.
In order to see results your company can really benefit from, quality must always come before quantity.
Now, if we think about it, from those many social media platforms, there are some on which video content really detaches itself from the others, bringing great outcomes.
Think about Youtube, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook, just to name a few.
As a marketer, you need to be impartial, and not go with the ones that you love the most. You have to pursue your brand’s audience. This is one of the secrets beyond every successful video campaign.
When creating your video marketing strategy, you also have to keep in mind your objectives as you choose the social media platforms you'll post video content on.
On each social media network videos have different results. While on others video content is great for engagement, on some others videos may be better paired with posts that have conversion goals.
As it is the case for Facebook, according to our Facebook videos study, videos are the type of content that is best to be used for conversions.
Some video social media platforms require a deeper optimization of your video content. Therefore, your video marketing strategy needs to be very well-planned.
For example, if a big part of the video content you produced it’s meant to end up in your Youtube channel, well, it’s obvious why the need.
Youtube is nowadays the second largest search engine, which means, just like on Google, the keywords you use, will determine the visibility of your videos.
That is the ace you can wear up your sleeve when you’ll be adjusting your video marketing strategy.
Select the video formats
You must take two things into account when creating your video marketing strategy: the quality of the content and the form in which you present it.
Sometimes, it is best to also take into consideration what format you will be uploading your video as, so that there wouldn't be any error when you upload them.
You can declare yourself lucky since these days we already have tools that convert our videos into different formats.
Let's break it down a bit. Assuming you may want to develop testimonials, Q&As, or some tips & tricks videos - which are all great types of content - how will you proceed after?
Here's what I mean: even if you have certain specs and ratios for a video marketing platform, like, let’s say -TikTok, for other social media video platforms, you may need to conform to other video dimensions.
If the landscape mode is every creator's choice for YouTube, on Facebook and Instagram, for example, the best performing video format is the vertical type.
Keep this in mind the next time you readjust your video marketing strategy.
And this happens because nowadays more than 75% of all video views come from mobile devices.
A common tactic that some brands use in order to optimize the budget invested into the creation of video content is to produce videos in the standard YouTube landscape mode and then repurpose them on other social networks.
However, when doing your reporting on video marketing performance, the same video cannot give you the same great results on all the social networks since the algorithms work differently.
That is why, if you want to gain engagement through your video marketing efforts, or views or conversions, or whatever your goal may be, you should adapt your video content strategy to what works best on each social channel.
Create different video content for every stage of the marketing funnel
One of your business’ goals on the list is to determine customers convert. But until reaching that point, you have to set up a lot of other things. Sometimes customers have a long and complicated buyer journey.
And your job, as a marketer, is to assist them through all the steps of that process, providing them the materials and information needed in every stage.
Video emails, for example, are a great marketing tool you can use with those customers that are on the consideration stage of the marketing funnel.
For being a personalized, one-to-one way of communicating with your prospects, it’s important to make them feel special, while captivating their attention altogether.
And since customers these days seem to be easily hooked by this type of content, video emails seem to be the missing piece in your efforts of gaining competitive advantage.
Promote your videos
There are many ways in which you can promote your videos. Integrating some into your website, or different blog articles can be one of them.
For example, a video of a great and big social media campaign can easily be promoted through teasers posted in Instagram Stories. And let's not forget the massive exposure Instagram Reels offer these days.
Thanks to its constant need of updates, Twitter is also a great platform on which you can consistently post your videos, through which you can promote your brand and products or services.
This will definitely take your video marketing strategy game to the next level.
Also, according to our Facebook ads study, video feed is the ad placement with the lowest CPC, while having a pretty high click-through-rate.
So, if you're also interested in doing some paid ads, you should consider investing in videos here as well to improve your video marketing strategy.
Use analytics to measure your video's performance
As a marketer, you must know by now how important numbers and certain metrics are. One of your tasks should be to periodically check them to make sure your campaign is effective.
Views, average watch time, video reach and engagement - these are all video metrics you want to keep an eye on if you want to understand your video marketing strategy’s performance.
By learning more about your videos’ analytics you can discover which one of your videos resonated with your audience, and discover what can be improved in the future.
And while you’re at it, you can also take a peek at your competitor’s video performance. The insights you obtain will help you craft a better video marketing strategy.
Conducting regular competitive analysis may help you discover gaps in your video content’s strategy and identify profitable opportunities for your brand.
While the social media platform’s native analytics can only offer you insights about your videos’ performance, third party analytics tools, like Socialinsider, can also put you up to date with your competitor’s video marketing strategy results.
3. What are the best-performing video content types on social media
To get noticed on social media requires to deliver your audience exactly what they are looking for. That is why it is important to always keep an eye on the latest trends and embark on them until it is too late.
Your audience’s likes and dislikes, the patterns you notice, can help you learn what video marketing strategy to issue in order for your content to perform better.
Below, this chart from Wyzowl study lists the purposes of videos as seen by marketers.
Constantly checking on what people say about your products and services after watching your videos will help you get a glimpse of what they expect.
It is important to periodically perform social media listening and brand sentiment to make sure your customers are happy with what you provide.
Now, because you can have multiple audiences, which means different platforms, it also means different messages and approaches, since your target-group’s needs are different and they respond differently.
That’s why I’ve put together a list of different video formats, that in my experience, as a former social media manager performed best.
Video turorials
Did you know how-to videos are among the most popular types of video content? You should definitely put that on your list of things to implement into your video marketing strategy.
The explanation is quite simple: because through video content people can quickly and easily learn about anything.
And that’s why, in most situations, when people have a question, they would rather watch a video to get the data they search for.
Therefore, it's absolutely in your best interest to make sure that video comes from you.
If you feel like you may start experimenting in that direction, but have no clue where to start, no worries. We have your back! Here’s how we do this kind of video at Socialinsider.
Tip: Remember you don’t have to worry about having polished content 24/7. People nowadays are looking for more authenticity in a brand. By having a more humanized approach, the chances of making people trust your brand will increase exponentially.
Video interview/Q&A
Another type of popular video content that can enrich your video marketing strategy is video interviews. They are no more than conversations involving a thought leader or an expert in your industry.
What is great about video interviews is that there is a great chance that they share your company’s values while aligning yourself with other influencers in your niche!
On Facebook, for example, brands seem to prefer this type of video content when doing a live stream.
And did you know on Facebook live videos return double the engagement compared to pre-recorded videos?
You can use this insight to craft your future video marketing strategy.
We’ve discovered that on Facebook, live videos that last over one hour have a significant increase in engagement, from 0,25% to 0,46%. That’s why before going on air, it’s better to be well prepared.
Try to make a plan of the questions you’ll be asking and how you’ll drive the conversation from one topic to another.
Behind the scenes videos
Oftenly packaged as Instagram stories or Youtube videos, the behind the scenes videos are also among the most loved types of video content.
This is because they are usually based on humor or deeper emotions, which trigger people more than anything.
Product videos/ Brand identity short videos
Product videos and brand identity ones rely a lot on storytelling.
Either you’re showcasing the launch of a new product, or you’re just creating a cutting-edge video to show your brand’s personality and journey, either way you must create a captivating story around it.
This way, you make sure that people will feel connected to your brand through your content.
If you’re announcing a new product or service release, and you hope to make your target group convert and buy, video content is certainly the best type of content to use for this purpose.
Here’s a thing that you must know about videos, especially if you’re doing Facebook advertising: as mentioned earlier, on Facebook video content has the highest CTR.
In the case of a brand oriented video, you must know this type of video content can give your social media followers a sense of your organization’s value and goals.
A video’s well crafted story will once again allow your audience to make a real connection with your brand.
That is why your video marketing strategy needs to be on point, to make sure your content will help boost your brand awareness.
Animation videos
Video content is more about being creative and less about how you manage to record them.
Therefore, don’t think about it as a means of investing a lot of money into professional equipment.
Due to the extra cost, some brands are reluctant about using videos on a regular basis, since they think they have to spend a fortune.
This can be the case especially for smaller brands, that don’t have so much budget allocated for marketing purposes.
The good news is that animation videos require significantly smaller prices for production.
Actually, if you’re lucky to find some free video creation tools or paid ones that have a free plan, you won’t even have to pay a dime.
Therefore, with some basic skills of editing and a lot of imagination, you can enjoy the benefits of video marketing on a budget.
Oh, and another reason for which you should try this type of video content: it’s fun and easy to digest.
These two characteristics are what online users are looking for nowadays.
What are you waiting for? It’s time to start working on your video content strategy! Game on!
360 videos
At first glance, 360 videos totally wow-ed the online users, because of their possibility to view more than just a flat landscape.
What is awesome about 360 videos is that it offers an immersive experience. And your video marketing strategy should not miss this type of video content.
Keep in mind that a brand that’s bold, and offers new, whole experiences is a brand that will remain in the audience’s minds.
This is a great way of differentiating yourself from your competitors.
Testimonial videos
Taking a card from the old playbook of video marketing strategies, I must say the word of mouth technique should never, but never be overlooked.
Adapted to nowadays’ digital behavior, this translates into recommendations asked on Facebook, or some old school testimonials.
Video testimonials show your customers they can trust your brand, while answering their questions in a quick and catchy way.
As a brand, you should absolutely take advantage of every opportunity to talk to one of your satisfied customers and let them tell their story in their own words.
This type of video content is very useful, as it will help new visitors understand your business better.
4. The benefits of video marketing
Now that you know about the most engaging and popular types of video content, it’s time to talk about the benefits of video marketing.
A study about video marketing in 2022, developed by Wyzowl, unveils a lot of insights about the preferences of marketers.
Here is a list of reasons that will motivate you to include more videos into your content marketing strategy:
1.Build brand awareness - Videos can increase brand awareness if you know how to put your products and services out there, without making the content look too salesy. Showing the utility of the product in a vividly colored video it’s enough and this can really help you win the hearts of more users.
2.Have a teaching moment - If your video explains a concept, the use of a service, or hacks about a product, followers will be happy to see this, triggering their curiosity to try it on their own.
3.Introduce new influencers - Use your brand’s videos not only to commercialize your services and products, but also to introduce new influencers for your community.
Maybe your audience has a lot to learn from them and it’s a win-win situation: influencers get more followers and you get higher view rates when users watch your videos.
4.Laugh and have fun - Yep, you read that right. You can use your video content to entertain your audience while also swiftly introducing your products or services.
Promoting your brand’s values through a fun video campaign on social media will definitely attract more people. ‘Cause who doesn’t want to laugh and have fun?
5.Find out customers’ experiences - Ask your customers to tell you their story about how they’ve found out about your brand and what they think about your products and services. This type of videos will help other users connect with your brand as well.
If some other user empathizes with your customer in the video, then they are surely going to buy.
6.Tell a story - You have to show users that you sell an experience and a feeling, not just a product or a service. Think about what your product makes them feel and how it can help them. Create a story around it and you will surely impress followers.
7.Showcase your products - Make videos that show your products in action. If you underlie the uniqueness of your products, then people are likely to go on your website and look for more.
5. How to measure your video marketing campaign’s efficiency
When I said earlier that you have to keep an eye on video metrics, I meant it. Here I detailed a few ways in which you can measure your video marketing strategy’s efficiency.
1.View count - This metric shows the number of times a video was watched. Depending on the social media platform you choose, this metric can show you different values since it’s measured differently.
2.Play rate - This metric shows the number of times users pressed play to watch your video. The play rate can help you measure the efficiency of your video ad. Keep in mind the fact that your copy and thumbnail can really influence the play rate of your videos.
3.Engagement rate - This metric measures all types of interactions users have with your videos. You can calculate the engagement rate based on the following formula: the sum of likes, comments and shares divided by the number of followers, everything multiplied by 100.
4.Comments - This metric is feedback from your audience, helping you get better at your video marketing strategy. If people take time to write a comment, it means that they acknowledge the existence of your brand.
5.Sharing - This metric shows how many times your video has been shared. If users share your videos, it means that they don’t just like it, but they empathize and identify with certain aspects and values. That means that your video marketing strategy is on the right path.
Final thoughts
Videos can considerably contribute to your brand’s reputation, making people recognize you due to a filter, style or approach, like your own signature.
And who wouldn’t want to be recognized in an instant? Social media users prefer video content in the detriment of text or image content.
That’s the best reason to convince you to post more videos than any other type of content and improve your video marketing strategy.
Hopefully this guide about developing a marketing strategy for video content can help when you’re considering your next campaign. If you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to help. Remember that we are only a few clicks away.
