Creating the Perfect Video Marketing Strategy
by Megan Ritter
When adding video to a marketing strategy many teams and businesses put the majority of the focus on the production of the video rather than the marketing of it. Without a strong marketing strategy behind it, even the most polished, well produced video content will result in a disappointing ROI. Success with video can only come from a strong marketing program.
With 100 million Internet users watching online video every day, it’s easy to see why marketers want to focus their attention on the medium. Knowing how video content affects the overall marketing plan and how it aligns with a business’s goals better allows marketing teams to measure success and improve campaigns.
So how can companies create powerful video marketing strategies?
First, decide what the goals and benchmarks of success for the video content are.
Many high-quality pieces of video content work are not directly related to the company or its products and services. Therefore it is critical for marketing teams to understand why they are creating videos and telling stories visually in the first place. Marketers need to think about the type of video content they’ll be creating. Is it educational, or entertainment? Maybe it’s a mix of both. By knowing the goals for the video content and taking the audience as well as the company’s brand into account, the marketing team can create stronger content. What is the value of the videos and what will the audience take away from them?
Second, choose video topics and create outlines.
Before adding video to a marketing strategy, businesses should outline the scope of the work and determine which areas of the business will benefit from video and whether the videos will be used for internal or external purposes. After these decisions are made the marketing team can begin thinking about the stories they want to tell.
These stories may be about specific services or product lines, or themes related to the business such as analysis or efficiency. These stories will serve as the support beams for the rest of the content – using these the rest of the video marketing “house” can be built. Normally videos that are not are not too product-focused are placed at the top of the sales and marketing funnel.
After deciding on the stories that need to be told, marketing teams can begin to consider the types of videos that will best illustrate them. Video content can be interviews, how-to videos, webinars, case studies, demos, or even customer experiences.
Marketers should think about the types of questions that the target consumer will be asking, and then think about how they can answer them with detailed video content. Creating videos based on these topics allows a business to become a thought leader in their industry with the added bonus of enriched SEO. 75% of executives said they watch work-related videos on business related websites on a weekly basis while 52% work-related videos on YouTube.
Third, decide who will create the video content.
Based on the resources available to or within a company, businesses may find themselves investing in in-house video teams or videographers, or they may outsource the video work to another agency. Budget is an important first consideration when determining who will do the work. Marketing teams will need to decide who will create the concepts and outlines, who will write, who will actually shoot the video, who will edit, and who will be responsible for putting the videos out for distribution.
Fourth, determine where the videos will live online.
No matter the type of video content that has been created it will need to live somewhere online. Some companies may choose to host the videos themselves while others may choose to host them on YouTube. (YouTube is currently the second most popular search engine.) Hosting videos on the company website allows the business full control of the content while hosting them on YouTube allows businesses to save storage space on their server. If choosing to host on YouTube, marketers need to optimize YouTube tags and descriptions, and include links to the company’s official websites.
Finally, decide what metrics to track.
In at least one aspect video marketing is no different than any other form of marketing: analysis. A successful video marketing strategy requires examining gathered analytical data about the campaign and improving the ongoing strategy based on this information. Important metrics for video campaigns include click-through rates, drop-off rates, and how much content the audience consumes.
An in-depth video marketing strategy will help businesses better target their video content and better unite the content with the company’s overall goals.