In this increasingly digital 21st century, video content is essential for engaging audiences and making the most of marketing budgets. However, getting great results from video content isn’t as simple as just pointing a camera at your business and hitting record. You need a plan – or, more specifically, you need a well-thought-out video marketing strategy. The overall goal of this strategy should be to entertain, inform, educate and inspire your viewers to take an action. If you can do this, you’ll attract more customers and make more sales.

Here are our top 4 tips for executing a killer video marketing strategy:

Your overall goal is to create content that connects with your target audience, so in order to do this, you need to understand their needs and wants. You’ll also need to consider the sort of video content your audience consumes, and where they consume it. After all, you can create an awesome video, but if you share it in the wrong place, it’s unlikely to be seen. If you’re not sure where to start, be your own client for a day. Which content would you expect to see and where? Which questions would you have about your products and/or services? Brainstorm ideas and start creating content that will provide your audience with value. If you want to find out more about engaging your audience through video.

Once you know your audience, you can set about creating video content that will engage and delight them. Your content shouldn’t assault your audience with a sales pitch or overt advertising – it should genuinely provide your audience with value (e.g. education and inspiration), and better engagement will follow organically.

Although your videos shouldn’t be overly ‘salesy’, they should always have a clear goal in mind (e.g. encouraging your customers to join your mailing list, follow you on social media, contact your business or request a product demo). To encourage your audience to follow through with this goal, your videos need to have a clear, relevant ‘call-to-action’ that tells them what to do.

There are several different video production formats that you can leverage. Just a few of these include:

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• How-to’s

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• Tips and tricks

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• Recorded webinars

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• Behind the scenes footage

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• Customer testimonials

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• Stories that feature your products or services

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• Case studies, helpful product / service explainers and demonstrators

We recommend you try out a few different formats (with the same overarching goal in mind), so you can measure which videos work best for your audience. Don’t forget your videos need to grab attention within 10 seconds (3 seconds on social), or your audience is likely to stop watching.

For an example of a unique and emotive use of video marketing, check out the video from HarperCollins (one of our clients) below. They really nailed the blend of connective storytelling and brand promotion.

If you want your videos to attract and engage viewers, your video content needs to be consistent with your overall marketing plan and your brand guidelines. Basically, you need to enforce the same discipline for your video content that you do with any other aspect of your brand messaging. This process can be narrowed down to 2 steps:

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1. Create consistent brand guidelines for video content (these should match your wider brand guidelines / marketing strategy)

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2. Enforce these guidelines with a video approval process

Your videos should reflect your brand personality and be distinctly recognisable as ‘you’.  If your marketing isn’t consistent, your brand will become confusing and unclear, and your audience will disengage – with trust in your brand quick to follow.

If you really want your video content to succeed, you need to continually measure your results, costs, failures and successes – and adjust your strategy based on the insights you learn. Just a few metrics you should be tracking include:

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• Watch / play, engagement and completion rates

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• Average view duration

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• Social interactions (likes / comments / shares)

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• Conversion rate