by Jassica Mendez

Beginner’s Guide to Ultimate Video Marketing

 

If you haven’t already used video marketing, now is the moment to do it. With traditional marketing’s effectiveness decreasing and video’s popularity increasing, video marketing has become a must-have for any business. Therefore, we decided to make a guide on the best video marketing methods and all the fundamental principles you need to start using video for marketing, regardless of your talents or background. So if you’re new to video marketing, here is your beginner’s guide to ultimate video marketing.

Why is video marketing important for any business?

With the launch of YouTube in 2005, video marketing took off in force. Google purchased YouTube in October 2006; by 2009, the platform had seven distinct ad options. As a result, it’s no surprise that as technology advances, marketers are becoming increasingly interested in producing high-quality videos. But it isn’t the only reason video is becoming the most popular method of communication. For example, the rise of smartphone technology made watching videos more accessible and comfortable. The epidemic then increased internet media consumption in the United States by more than 200%. By 2022, viewers spent an average of 19 hours a week viewing videos online. So, the power of video marketing is just growing and growing. As a result, video marketing is no longer an option for businesses that want to promote brand awareness and succeed in their market. Video marketing became a must!

Laptop showing sales graphics.

Video marketing can help you grow your business.

Evaluate your needs and set goals

Successful online video marketing always begins with clearly understanding your desired outcome. If you don’t know why you’re creating video content, you won’t be able to make your business more successful. As a result, here is our first tip from our beginner’s guide to ultimate video marketing: set goals!

It would be best to start with a purpose, like with any other marketing plan. Therefore, ask yourself what you want to achieve: increased traffic to your website, more time on site, higher revenue, link building, or more subscriptions. Then set SMART goals to help your marketing plan succeed and have measurable results. If you are unfamiliar with the SMART concept, here is what the acronym stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. That involves setting goals that are as clear as possible, provide measurable results, are realistic, are relevant to your business, and have a deadline. If you start with that, your success is almost guaranteed.

Know your target audience

After identifying your online video marketing goals, defining your target audience is essential. If you think of it, it only makes sense. It will be challenging to create engaging content if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach. However, if you’re unsure who your target audience is, it’s not too tricky to figure out. Analyze your company’s internal statistics to learn more about who your customers are. Then do some research to determine what your customers are generally interested in. At the same time, you need to study your audience’s demographics and determine their age, gender, occupation, and income level. It may also be beneficial to understand their psychographics, which includes their dreams, concerns, and daily struggles.

Person writing with a marker on a whiteboard.

One of the best tips from our beginner’s guide to ultimate video marketing is to know your audience

Decide what types of videos you want to create

After deciding on your goals and learning about your target audience, the next step in our beginner’s guide to ultimate video marketing is to determine what type of video content you will create. Here are some examples:

  • Educational videos teach an audience about a specific problem they are having or a topic in which they are interested.
  • Branding videos have marketing content funded or generated by a brand but do not advertise or promote the brand, even if it reflects the company’s values. Rather than self-promotion, it seeks to market positive association.
  • Product videos emphasize your product’s qualities and show it in action.
  • Explainer videos visually and entertainingly explain a business concept or product.
  • FAQ videos are videos in which you answer frequently asked questions about your brand from consumers and followers.
  • Live streaming delivers content over the internet in real time without being recorded and saved.
  • Animated videos use animation to communicate a message to the viewer. In addition to a visual statement, the video should have a spoken message or “voice-over” that explains the idea.
  • Video overlays or text overlays place a text element over a video file, allowing text to show on the consumer’s screen while watching a video. Text overlay is an essential part of social video, which is increasingly popular in social media content.

 

Where will you post your videos?

Although video content may be shared and viewed practically everywhere online, you should choose specific channels depending on your marketing approach. The most successful and popular video distribution channels are social media, blogs, websites, email marketing, YouTube, and other similar platforms. These channels allow you to reach many people with whatever videos you choose to make. At the same time, there are several tools available to assist you in understanding how to optimize your video strategy to reach more of your target audience on each of these platforms. Therefore, ensure you learn the best practices for your preferred channel. 

A person using a tablet to access social media.

Before you post your videos, ensure you learn the platform rules.

Set a budget and a deadline

Without a clear budget, you risk overspending or underspending on video marketing. Hiring a low-budget cameraman, for instance, will likely result in a terrible video. At the same time, you can’t bring on an A-list producer who spends more than half your budget. Therefore, you must find the balance between quality and price. Furthermore, make a detailed timetable for each process phase and prepare for occasional delays. Even a simple video production requires the talents of several people, so you want to ensure that even if unforeseen issues and changes arise, you can produce your video on time.

Start using video marketing ASAP

We hope that this beginner’s guide to ultimate video marketing got you thinking about how you might create and distribute high-quality content for your target markets. If you do it right, you might immediately see increased traffic, engagement, and return on investment. Therefore, grab your camera, start filming, and watch the results. Now is the time to include video in your marketing strategy.