According to a report by Oberlo on video marketing statistics for 2019, they found 87% of marketing professionals use video as an effective marketing tool.
Moreover, 88% of marketers who actually use video as part of their strategy are satisfied with the ROI they have been able to achieve.
So, if you aren’t using videos as part of your marketing strategy, you’re part of the minority missing out on the opportunity for more sales and profit.
If you’re like most businesses in this minority, you don’t leverage video marketing because where do you even begin, right?
The fact is, if you haven’t done any kind of videos in the past, it can seem pretty daunting.
The good news is you don’t need to invest in fancy cameras, production teams, expensive editing softwares, etc (although it does help if you have the budget and time).
Here are six tactics to implement videos into your marketing and increase your sales online, as you read through these, you’ll see that while it does help to have 1-2 brand videos for your website, most videos can be recorded in a more interview, instructional, educational or personal format.
1. Create Video Landing Page
Using videos on landing pages can improve conversions by up to 86%
We’re seeing this trend across the board for almost all types of businesses. Not sure if videos are effective for B2B lead generation?
Today’s executives use the internet to work more efficiently, which is why many of them prefer to consume video content than read long stretches of text.
A recent study suggested that 59% of senior execs prefer video when both text and video options are available.
When creating a landing page, you should consider including a video to maximise your conversion rate.
You have a chance to engage with a user who has chosen to read – or hear- what you have to say and nothing can be more effective at communicating your message (verbally and non-verbally) than a well-crafted sales video.
It’s best to keep your videos brief; it’s highly unlikely the busy executive will watch a lengthy video.
Ideally, you should keep your videos under two minutes long, ensuring you cover a few key points:
The problem /pain points your potential customer might have Your company offering
The solution your company offers What sets you apart in your niche
The emotional benefits (not features) that your potential customer will experience as a result of the solution
The value proposition that makes you the obvious choice
A compelling call to take action immediately (CTA)
Creating a strong CTA is one of the most crucial aspects of your video.
You need to give people a reason to take action, whether it’s access to free information related to their industry or a limited-time price offer.
You can also consider asking users to complete a survey in return for a giveaway, enabling you to gather valuable information that you can use to improve your targeting and content.
If you add engaging videos to your landing pages that resonate with visitors while establishing your company as a true expert, you can build a large list of leads, who you can later engage with highly targeted information.
Creating videos that outshine those of the competition can be challenging without the required skills and experience, if you’re an entrepreneur, startup or small business, consider hiring an agency to take some of the work off your hands.
2. Use Remarketing Videos to Direct Leads to Your Site
As the internet evolves, the way we search for things online continues to evolve as well.
YouTube has become the second-largest search engine after Google and videos are not only accessible across every device in the market but they’ve also become the main form of consumed content online.
While there are still massive communities (and forums like reddit) that based on written threads there’s also almost a video for any and everything imaginable.
This is obviously great news for marketers who can now leverage advertising platforms to reach more people in a targeted way like never before.
For video advertising, the internet is also a valuable marketing platform thanks to the sophisticated ways to retarget your video viewers.
Essentially, now you can make sure that the right people see your video at the right time using the right device.
For example, you can put your videos in front of the eyes of any person that has ever visited your website or engaged with your business in any way, shape or form online or use specific video messages to prompt people down your sales funnel to turn them into buying customers.
If a person previously displayed interest in your products or services, you can capture them towards the end of the online buyer’s journey by reminding them of you. As a result, you can achieve high conversion rates and maximise your video marketing ROI.
As you gather more and more information on your website visitors, you can segment your website visitors and tailor content that’s geared towards their specific needs, enabling you to make your marketing messages more personal.
Again, this maximises your conversion rates in the process of helping you build a list of useful leads for future retargeting.
In short, the benefits of video retargeting include:
Create content based on a user’s purchase intent or stage of the buying cycle.
Retarget users who have previously shown interest in a product or service and address any doubts or fears holding them back from making a purchase.
Create a strategy for video that helps convert strangers into website visitors, website visitors into first-time buyers and first-time buyers into repeat buyers. Decide when and where your videos will appear based on countless data points
Maximise your ROI and conversion rates.
There are countless tools and platforms, such as the Google Display Network, that you can use to develop effective video retargeting strategies. However, if you want to play it safe with your budget, you might want to leave the task to an expert.
3. Leverage Your Videos Across Multiple Social Channels
After you’ve created a video, you have an almost limitless number of online platforms to display them on. Social media platforms actually reward businesses who post a lot of video content by showing you higher up in the feeds and helping you reach wider audiences.
By posting them on your social media channels, you can engage with your followers and give them a powerful reason to click through to your website. You can also pay to get your videos displayed in front of targeted audiences.
Now you can post and advertise videos on all the major platforms which include such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
People react with social media platforms in different ways. Therefore, you should take the time to understand how to tailor your content for each platform.
First, upload your compelling video content to YouTube and optimise the page by entering a URL and a CTA in the description box. You need to make it straightforward for users to go to your website, and that means providing them with as many ways as you can.
To give your video some added traction, you might want to create a video overlay that links to your landing page.
This clickable banner ad can maximise your conversion rate.
Make sure your Facebook video has a clear call to action, which will probably be to visit your site or fill out a form in return for a giveaway, which could be an article, e-book or ticket to an online event.
After you’ve updated your status and posted the video, consider expanding your audience by promoting it.
Facebook allows you to display your videos to specific buyer personas based on a huge variety of data points, making it a highly effective marketing tool.
Even though Twitter isn’t often associated with video, you can use it to share videos and make your posts stand out. If you post a YouTube video, it will be displayed directly below your written content (which should concisely tell users why they should watch your video).
Users can watch your videos without having to leave their Twitter feeds. Twitter also offers a variety of effective marketing options that can help you get your video seen by as many potential buyers as possible.
The proof The fact that most social media users enjoy video content is now undeniable indisputable. If you’re not taking advantage of the benefits that video and social media offer, your company is missing out. Find out how we can help you turn things around quickly.
4. Use Video in Your Email Marketing Campaigns
There’s no faster way to communicate a message to an online user than by showing them a video, which is why including them in your emails makes sense. You can increase your open rates just by adding ‘video’ to the subject line of your emails.
Develop a well-researched strategy, and you can use videos in emails to boost brand awareness, educate readers and increase conversion rates.
When creating video emails, it’s important to keep them short, shoot them well, include a powerful CTA and do your research. You need to find out what kind of content your readers and potential customers want.
Here are a few other tips to keep in mind:
Create a series of videos
Instead of creating a long and dull video that fails to retain a viewer’s attention, think about dividing shorter videos up into a series, which will help generate interest in your future emails. Keep your audience in anticipation, and your conversion rates will spike (For example a video training series).
No to autoplay
It’s possible to make sure your video starts playing the moment a person opens the email, but we don’t recommend setting your video emails to autoplay. You should give your subscribers some space and the freedom to interact with your email as they please.
Think carefully about your content
A good video can hold attention and be a more powerful marketing tool than the written word. A lackluster video, on the other hand, can result in poor conversion rates or even harm your image.
Do your research and find out what your customers want. Write compelling CTAs. Have your videos peer-reviewed. And, try to add a personal touch so that you can stand out against the competition.
5. Host Live Videos
If you want your company to be an online success, you need to prove that you’re an authoritative figure in your industry to the online community.
You can do this by blogging, posting articles on LinkedIn, guest blogging, responding to comments on social media and forums, and by keeping your website in top shape. However, one of the best ways to establish trust with your target audience is to host live videos.
You’ll need a database of leads to promote your live event, but you can establish a loyal following using the video marketing techniques detailed in the sections above. Then, you need to find a platform on which to host your video and let your leads know why they need to watch.
During your live video, you have the chance to engage with your audience on a personal level while adding a touch of personality to your overall brand image. You could host a Q&A session or introduce your new service or free resource.
You could simply let people know who you are so that you can generate leads for future marketing campaigns.
If you want to get your voice heard so that your company can grow, you should think about hosting a live video event.
6. Repurpose Video Content
One of the major benefits of video with regards to the web is that it can be repurposed for different audiences and platforms. Using one broad template, you can create countless highly targeted videos that will appeal to your specific customer segments.
Just think about how much money you could save by repurposing your content instead of creating dozens of individual videos.
Repurposing isn’t just about reducing your costs. It’s about maximising your ROI, time and energy.
Your customers may come from different backgrounds and have different personalities and interests.
If you want to appeal to them on a personal level, repurposing your video content is a necessity.
You can also repurpose your video content for completely different marketing platforms.
For example, you could convert the audio into a podcast. Here are just some ways you can repurpose your content to make your marketing budget stretch as far as possible:
Create a blog post
Video may be a powerful marketing tool, but many of your customers may prefer to read an article. You can add value to your videos by summarising or expanding on them in a blog post, which could also enhance its search engine visibility.
Make a trailer
If you’ve created a video that’s longer than two minutes and you want to generate interest, you should consider creating a teaser video, which you can promote on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for maximum exposure.
Create a podcast
Using a tool like Audacity, you can easily retrieve and edit the audio from your videos, enabling you to create a podcast that people can listen to on the go.
Need Help With Video Marketing?
Video has the power to dramatically grow your business, but leveraging its power to its full potential is far from straightforward.
If you’d rather leave the hard work to trained experts, you might want to speak to an experienced online marketing agency.
At Smart Traffic, we know how to make sure you make an impact online. To learn more about our services or video marketing, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
About the author
Stuart Pollington
Stuart has been involved in the digital marketing industry for over 20 years, working with Australian & UK businesses to accelerate their online growth. He likes to take a hands-on approach to his clients marketing strategies, launching campaigns that focus on positive ROI.
