Video Content Strategy for You

Every business in the modern era should have a video content strategy. In fact, 93% of companies claim they got a new customer because of their video content on social media. It doesn’t matter whether you are a small or large business, whether you are a solopreneur or the owner of a Fortune 500 company, or even whether you sell a product or a service. Everyone can benefit from a video content strategy. Video content is still a niche field that not a lot of businesses have tapped into, which means that you have time to take advantage of and become competitive in the field of video content. But the question you may be asking yourself now is, “how do I get started?”

In this article, you will learn what video content and other relevant terms are, why your business should be creating video content, how to develop your video content strategy, along with additional tips and tricks to get your marketing video production off the ground and into the right channels. 

video content strategy

What is Video Content?

Video content is content that includes video or features one. This can include commercials, gifs, and the mainstream ones that you may start seeing on your social networking feeds. Video content can be seen everywhere and in a variety of platforms, such as on TV, in most if not all the social media platforms, and other places as well.

To join the movement, many sites have included a video component. For example, Instagram created IG stories and Reels, even though their original model was based off of pictures. This is a prime example to show how important videography has become in digital marketing. Video content has become nearly ubiquitous, and is no longer solely popular on YouTube. Even though it has become more mainstream nowadays, don’t lose hope! There is still plenty of space for everyone who wants to get in on the trend now.

The following two terms, online video marketing and marketing video production, are further explained below. This is done so as to avoid confusion in the terminologies as many people tend to get them mixed up, despite there being clear differences between video marketing and video production.

video content tips

What is Online Video Marketing?

Online video marketing is when you invest in a digital marketing strategy that regularly employs the use of video content. It is a continuous process of strategically creating videos to market your brand and hopefully convert leads to actual customers. 

What is Marketing Video Production?

Marketing video production is the actual creation of a single piece of video content. This usually a one time investment into creating the video you will use in your marketing campaign. 

Why Should Your Business be Creating Video Content?

As stated before, every business can benefit from the strategic use of video content! While text content is oversaturated in most, if not all, of the various online channels; video content is still niche, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. This gives businesses or solopreneurs ample time to start producing video content before it becomes more mainstream.

marketing video production

How Do I Develop a Video Content Strategy and Implement It?

Now that you know how vital video content can be for your business to thrive in the digital world and maintain a relevant online presence, you may be wondering how to start. Below is a step-by-step guide to help walk you through the process of creating a winning video content strategy, and then seeing it to completion.

Step One: Think About Your Target Demographic

Who are you selling your product or service to? Who is your ideal customer? What are their characteristics? Before choosing a platform and getting to creating the content, you need to keep in mind your target demographic. This means you should consider their age, race, possible geographic locations, and other pertinent kinds of information as this will give you insight into what kind of video content you should do and which platforms you should put them on.

Step Two: Choose Your Platform(s)

After identifying your target customer and understanding their key traits, you can now look at the various online mediums that are available. There are an endless amount of channels to publish your video content in, but for the sake of this article we will only look at the major channels. These platforms may include, but are not limited to: YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu, Twitch, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. YouTube is a great platform for videos, but is very much saturated. It is best for more curated videos. If you want to do shorter form videos that are more raw or uncut, a platform like Instagram will suit your needs better as they offer features such as stories or IG Reels that have that purpose in mind.

In regard to deciding which platform to publish your content, different demographics prefer different mediums. If your target is Gen Z, you will be better off using TikTok or Instagram as those are the most popular platforms for them. However, if you are targeting millennials, boomers, or older working professionals, then you would be better off producing videos on Facebook or LinkedIn. LinkedIn especially is a great place to start as not many people are producing content in general, in comparison to Facebook.  

Step Three: Brainstorm Video Content

Now that you have chosen your preferred platforms, it is time to start thinking of what kind of video content to create. According to Hubspot, there are twelve types of videos you can create.

  • Demo Videos
  • Brand Videos
  • Event Videos
  • Expert Interviews
  • Education Videos
  • Explainer or How-to Videos
  • Animated Videos
  • Case Study or Customer Testimonial Videos
  • Live Videos
  • Virtual Reality or 360 degree Videos
  • Augmented Reality Videos
  • Personalized Messages

In keeping those types in mind, you should think about what you want the purpose of your video to be. Is it to inform? To inspire? To direct sell? Make sure you keep this objective in mind when writing your script. Additionally, you will want to consider the timeline, budget, and resources during this process. And again, depending on the platform you pick, you will want to create a video in the style that typically tends to do well on it. For example, a more polished and longer video would do a lot better on YouTube than on Instagram.

One more thing to note when scripting the video is that the language should be more vernacular and concise than say, a blog post. The diction should be kept simple and easy to understand for everyone. It should also include a call to action to spur your viewer into engaging.

online video marketing

Step Four: Market Video Production

To produce the video, you can either do this yourself or hire a third party company to execute it. If you plan on doing this on your own, you will require a studio, a smartphone with a high quality camera or actual camera equipment, audio and lighting equipment, and any other materials that will be required for the marketing video production. 

If you are hiring a digital marketing agency or video company, then you will want to thoroughly vet their site and consult with them to make sure they can meet your needs. You will want to see if they have case studies or prior experience before hiring them.

Step Five: Publishing

Once the video has been filmed and refined, you can now upload it! The only caveat here is to make sure you are publishing the video at an optimal time when it is more likely to get many views. For many of the social media platforms, the hour or two right after the video is published will effectively dictate the reach of your video post. For instance, depending on how much engagement you get after a posting on LinkedIn, the algorithm will evaluate its value and thus alter its reach in accordance.The timing of a video post can be the utmost importance in reaching your target demographic, so be sure to keep that in mind.

Step Six: Analyze

After a certain period of time, let’s say a week, you should an analytics tool to see how well your video performed. How many views did it get? Did it increase traffic to your site? Did it serve its intended purpose? Has it gone viral? These are the questions you can ask yourself to evaluate its performance, so you know what you can avoid and what you can do to improve it. Additionally, you can also perform further market research or have a survey done on it to glean further insights on market sentiment.

Step Seven: Refine the Strategy

After conducting a thorough analysis, you can now change or refine your strategy. You can avoid past mistakes or improve upon them with this new information. And moving forward, you can now produce better video content!

video marketing

Additional Video Content Tips and Tricks

To further get your video content marketing strategy off the ground and running, here are a few extra tips to keep in mind for your video content strategy:

  • Make sure you are utilizing SEO best practices when writing the title and description
  • Make the purpose of the video very transparent
  • Offer multiple ways for potential clients to contact you
  • Engage with the viewers of your video

What Should I Do If My Content Still Is Not Converting?

If despite your best efforts your video content isn’t working or your video content strategy is not yielding the engagement you desire, then it is best to consult a professional digital marketing agency. After all, why waste more time, money, and other precious resources on something that is not positively contributing to your business? Professional videographers will have the experience and expertise necessary to get your business to where it needs to go. So if you’re ready to take that next step, contact SEO Design Chicago today to see how we can take your video content to the next level!

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