How to Create a Strong Video Marketing Strategy
So before we dive into how to create a strong video marketing strategy, let’s first quickly go over what video marketing is:
Video marketing is what business use to promote or advertise their brands, services and products. So what are the key things you need to execute a strong video for marketing? Let’s go over some examples, shall we?!
To me, the most important content to have in your video is the message. What is it you’re trying to get across to people? Why are you pushing for it, how are you going to execute it in the video and most importantly why should anyone care?! You can not expect to achieve views on your video if the message is not clear or is just lacking heart. Time and time again, I’ve witnessed videos that just dragged on for a good 5 minutes without a clear message or even worse, clearly explaining what their product was!
Keep your message clear and simple. Don’t make the viewer have to guess what you’re pitching, because that’s when they exit out of your video and you lose a potential lead. You put so much love and energy into your product, so why not put the same effort in showing it?
Take the time to really think about the message you want to send to everyone when you’re making a marketing video. Making people caring about what they are watching is super important that I can’t stress that enough. Once you draw them in, the rest of the video will do the work for you.
Once you figure out what type of message you want to deliver to your audience, you can start brainstorming on how to gather your content and start to storyboard. Sketch the shots you want to accomplish on a dry erase board. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, just a game plan.
Angles, locations, and whatever details you can think of will make the video really pop and catch people’s eyes. Don’t forget to have fun with the shots! Think outside of the traditional shot of a person blabbing in front of a plan wall for four minutes. It’s boring! Don’t bore your viewers or you’ll lose em!
If you absolutely HAVE to do it, I suggest keeping it short. What does that mean? Mix your audio with photos and or other video of what you’re describing, to give viewers a break from a single shot of just you standing there yacking.
Remember that A TON of marketing campaigns are using video and most of those videos are pretty damn creative. So you’ll also have to get creative if you want to stand out. At the end of the day, video marketing is all one big competition of “HEY look at my video!”
Do your research on what good video marketing content is out there to help paint a clearer picture on what direction you want for your video. And don’t be afraid to use some comedy in your content. I RARELY do anything serious and people enjoy a nice little giggle with their message.
I’m not expecting you to shoot some amazing cinematography like Christopher Nolan does for his movies. I mean, sure, if you have the equipment and can pull it off, then by all means go for it, but it’s not necessary. Nowadays, the newest phones can almost keep up with some of the high end expensive professional cameras out there. There are also a ton of free apps out there that can help you put it together if you don’t have the editing software like Premiere Pro to do so. So don’t feel as if you can’t pull it off with just your phone, because you can. I’ve done it a ton!
I would put using a phone as a last resort and prefer to bust out those Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLRs) to really capture some amazing video. They have never let me down and they always look top notch. Lighting is also important to capture some crisp content. I recommend a good tricolor light set if you’re not using natural light, aka the sun. Using these bare basics will surely help you mill out some pretty damn strong videos that will be visually appealing to any viewer.
Short and to-the-point is the goal, folks. People Don’t want a long, drawn out video. The stats out there say that keeping the video under two minutes seems to work best. Nowadays, most folks have attention spans the size of a gnat, so keeping your awesome content short and sweet is the key.
This can also be super challenging! You want to tell everyone so much about what you’re offering that it’s very easy to get lost in time. The next thing you know, you have a ten minute video. This is where storyboarding (as we discussed before) comes into play. Knowing what you’re shooting, before you shoot anything, will help keep track of time.
Just remember that, when you’re shooting, just show the highlights and get straight to the point with the essentials of the message because that’s what matters the most. If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine how much a strong video can say for your campaign!