Although numerous changes have occurred, the adoration for entertainment remains unchanged among people. The sole distinction lies in the format, as the favored activity has shifted from reading novels, which was popular in the 1800s, to watching online videos in modern times.
According to Statista, the reason 61% of marketers use online videos as a digital marketing tool is due to the fact that 27.2% of viewers spend 10 hours watching them on a weekly basis.
With the increasing demand for online videos, video marketing becomes more pertinent, not only for large corporations but also for small businesses, which utilize online videos to promote their offerings and garner a larger customer base.
What Is Video Marketing
Video marketing is a technique that involves the use of videos to distribute valuable information. Such videos can aid in building trust with potential customers, establishing credibility, and increasing brand recognition.
As long as small businesses share bite-sized video content on various digital marketing platforms like Facebook, YouTube, etc., they can attract customers, generate leads, and drive conversions.
Tips For Creating A Quality Video Marketing Campaign
If you choose to incorporate video marketing into your business strategy, adhere to these recommendations:
1. Add Subtitles
Adding subtitles to videos helps viewers better understand the content. When certain parts of the audio are unclear, subtitles can assist in comprehending the video. It is important to ensure that the color of the subtitles does not blend with the background, as this would render them unreadable and useless.
2. Keep The Video Length Short
Given that individuals nowadays have become accustomed to the rapid pace of life, they tend to feel restless if the online video they are viewing consumes a considerable amount of time to conclude. Consequently, if you intend to allure individuals into watching your online video on platforms such as Facebook or other social media marketing platforms for your enterprise, it is advisable to adhere to a duration of 30 seconds to 1 minute.
3. Be Real
The popularity of TikTok and Reels is due to their ability to showcase the reality of people’s lives. When creating online videos for your business, it is important to keep things authentic. By stating facts without using exaggerations, you can establish trust with your customers.
4. Make Your Video Ads Relevant
If you envision yourself watching a television program that revolves around aliens and robots, it can be quite bothersome when an unexpected video advertisement promoting lawn mowing services abruptly appears. The interruption caused by ads is universally disliked, particularly when they have no correlation whatsoever to the content being watched, read, or listened to. Frankly speaking, it can become quite irksome.
Losing its effectiveness, an ad loses its impact if it appears at an inappropriate time. It is important to carefully align your video ads with the appropriate demographics and content to ensure relevancy to your ideal customers. By doing so, your video ads will feel less disruptive and more appreciated by viewers.
To ensure their ads seamlessly integrate with the videos they’re showcased in, certain advertisers produce numerous variations of the same ad.
5. Capture Attention Right Away
In order to seize the attention of your audience, your video ads must do so right away. This is not due to people having short attention spans, but because of the multitude of content options available on different platforms.
If your video ads don’t immediately capture attention, your viewers will skip them within five seconds. Therefore, how can you effectively generate video ads that will immediately engage your audience? Here’s the solution:
- Storytelling: People love storytelling. When the premise of a story is something your target audience can relate with, they’re more inclined to stick around and see how the story will end.
- Influencers or celebrities: When your ad features a popular celebrity or your target audience’s favorite influencer who’s relevant to the video content your ads are displayed, they’re more likely to watch your ad in full.
- Ask a question: Start your video ads with a question or a statement that will spark the interest of your audience. By stating a common problem, your ideal customers will likely listen to what you have to say.
- Use great visuals: In case you haven’t noticed, there are times when your video ads play on mute, which is why you must use great visuals to encourage your audience to watch your video.
In a world where viewers are becoming increasingly choosy about their content, it is vital to present them with video ads that attract their interest and immediately engage their attention. Failing to do so will result in viewers promptly skipping or scrolling past your video ads.
6. Collaborate with Creators
In order to reach new audiences, discover the preferred creators of your target market and engage in collaborations with them. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram creators possess a significant number of dedicated fans, thus partnering with them can assist in promoting your products or services effectively.
7. Use the Right Video Ad Format
There is a wide range of video ad formats available, such as video discovery ads, native video ads, out-stream video ads, bumper ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, and many others.
Not all formats are equally effective for achieving your campaign goal. Certain types are more appropriate for specific goals compared to others. For instance, while bumper ads are suitable for enhancing brand awareness and expanding your audience, they may not be as effective for generating leads.
When making a decision, it is important to carefully evaluate your marketing goals in order to determine the appropriate video format to use.
8. Use a Specific Call to Action (CTA)
Given the potential impact of an effective video ad, it is crucial to place particular emphasis on crafting a compelling call to action that motivates the audience to act.
By including a link or an interactive element to your video ads, you can make it easy for your audience to convert and be driven to take action after watching your video ad, as a clear and compelling CTA will tell them exactly what they should do.
Although CTAs are not a novel concept, they are occasionally disregarded. Ensure that you adhere to the recommended techniques for CTAs in order to maximize the impact of your video advertisements.
9. Personalize Your Video Ads
If you aim to impress your audience, showing them a broadly targeted video ad is not the right approach. The ultimate standard for customer experience is personalization. Therefore, it is important to prioritize personalizing your video ads.
When we talk about personalization, we are referring to the act of tailoring content to suit the specific interests or issues of your customers. Personalization can come in various forms and formats. It could involve using a viewer’s name to establish a sense of direct communication or mentioning their professional title in your video advertisement.
One example of how to delight your customers is Facebook’s Faceversary personalized videos, which remind you of the first time you joined Facebook and other significant moments on the platform.
You may be wondering how Facebook accomplished this. The strategy employed by the social media company involved utilizing personalization to transform customer data into enjoyable and sentimental videos. By doing so, Facebook effectively evoked nostalgia and joy in users, establishing a powerful bond between them and the brand.
By creating a video template and incorporating CRM data, it is possible to generate personalized videos. This can be an effective method of establishing a more personal connection with potential customers. However, it is important to consider that some individuals may find this approach unsettling. To mitigate any potential discomfort, it is advisable to concentrate on producing content that aligns with the preferences, interests, or challenges of your target audience.
10. Optimize for SEO
To enhance your visibility on search engine results pages, it is beneficial to optimize your video ads for Florida SEO. By including a video transcript, focusing on the title and description of your video, and selecting an attractive thumbnail, you can boost your ranking on Google.
Ensure that the surrounding content on the page or video where your advertisement is placed is pertinent, while also following a logical step-by-step thinking process. Additionally, refrain from introducing new information or eliminating existing information.
11. Optimize for Mobile
Given that the majority of contemporary consumers use mobile devices to access the internet, it is logical to ensure that your video ads are optimized for mobile. In the US, 61% of website visits originate from mobile devices. To assist you in this optimization process, here are some useful tips.
- Embrace opt-in audio, especially because many users find the auto-play feature to be intrusive. Be creative with your use of branding imagery and use visuals that help elaborate your message.
- Consider formatting your videos vertically, as users consume content with their mobile device in a vertical position.
- Think about the size of the screens where your ads will be displayed. See to it that no visual detail will be lost.
- Keep your videos short because consumers tend to have a shorter span on mobile and are more likely to find mobile ads interfering.
Benefits Of Video Marketing For Small Businesses
1. Improve Your Level Of Social Media Engagement
Though blog articles provide valuable information like online videos, the latter is often favored due to its less demanding nature for processing content. This can be attributed to the fact that online videos are entertaining and easily comprehensible, resulting in up to 1,200% more shares on social media compared to texts and images.
By utilizing online videos for marketing on social media platforms, you have the opportunity to engage and captivate individuals while also fostering a more intimate and connected experience through actively responding to comments on the posted videos.
To increase your reach, consider increasing the number of videos you upload on various social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. By doing so, users of these platforms will have more opportunities to discover your online videos, thereby enhancing your engagement with a wider pool of potential customers.
2. Acquire More Web Traffic
With the enhancements in your social media engagement, an outcome to anticipate is that your viewers will start following you on social media, leading them to eventually take an interest in visiting your website.
By optimizing your website, you can increase the amount and quality of organic traffic it receives. If you incorporate high-quality and relevant online videos into your business strategy, your organic traffic will increase by 41%, surpassing businesses that do not utilize video marketing.
By consistently posting and sharing videos on social media platforms, you can effectively boost the amount of web traffic you receive. As your organic traffic expands, you can anticipate a corresponding improvement in the ranking of your website on search engines.
3. Increase Dwell Time On Your Website
Small businesses can also improve the length of time visitors stay on their websites through video marketing, as stated by Forbes. It is mentioned that, on average, internet users spend 88% more time on a website.
If you are unaware of what dwell time means, it refers to the amount of time a consumer spends on a website before closing the tab in their browser.
In order to encourage your visitors to spend a longer time on your website, it is advisable to produce online videos that are both high-quality and relevant to keep them interested and amused. If they find these videos enjoyable, it is likely that they will return to watch more of them in the future.
Side notes
Based on the data presented, it is undeniable that online videos are a highly effective digital marketing tactic.
Take advantage of video marketing trends by incorporating them into your business strategy to expand your reach and boost sales, as they continue to evolve.
