What value is there in video marketing?
Personally, I don't think I have the time in my work day to watch videos. But video marketing seems like the newest and most popular inbound marketing strategy. We are a new startup looking to gain some initial traction. Our product is tech and has several competitors. I'm wondering if launching with some video marketing will set us apart. But first, I'm trying to understand if we can get any value out of our videos before we spend time creating them.
Google loves video marketing, should be short, snappy and well produced. The sound is the main issue. Best having a good boom or clip-on mic, the key to any making is the strapline to get people/clients in the first place, I starting with testimonials from clients. For some professional services, I recommend you visit global video pros at https://www.globalvideopros.com/.
Video marketing gets advertisers instant and long-term effect. But the costs get higher as time goes on.
I'll be sharing my personal experience here. Even we deal in tech products and video marketing was one aspect that we were completely ignoring. We had a YouTube channel that had 17 subscribers initially. I completely agree that as professionals we do not have the time to watch the complete videos. Our client base comprises of the eCommerce store owners, e-marketers and other such professionals. I started video marketing from the scratch. Started by posting tutorial videos that just explained the functioning of the products. Within a couple of months, I noticed that 80% of the website traffic of the social platforms were coming from the videos itself. It's been almost 7-8 months and the subscribers have increased 5 times.
It actually depends on the customer base and what they are looking for. Moreover, it depends on the product or service that you are offering. Our clients seek the ease of usage and at par functionality and this is what we saw in the videos. For the companies that cater to end-users, like Amazon, the video marketing should work off the emotions of the people.
I'm won't say this marketing approach would work in your case for sure, but this is one of the most prominent aspects in today's scenario and missing out on this might cripple your business prospect in the future.
Hi Kathy,
First of all, very good luck for your start-up business. Well, as per my knowledge area and experience, I would highly suggest you boost your business with video production and marketing because it is a new innovation in the business world to promote your business professionally. Moreover, I recommend Global Video Pros (https://www.globalvideopros.com/) for the best production at a low cost.
Hi Kathy,
Until people get interested in something, they don't have the time to do anything. But once they do, they will get informed and do their research.
What video does best is explain the complex in a very easy and quick manner. So if you have a new technology, you obviously have to explain / educate people before they buy. Video does this very well.
Forget about the billions of people watching video everyday...video can be a very valuable asset in your B2B sales process. Here is a link to a blog post on "How technology companies use online video production to give buyers information to drives sales."
www.nyccorporatevideoproduction.com/about-us/video-production-news/technology-video-marketing-services/
Lastly, as you plan for creating videos, here is a link towards thinking about how to use them in your buyers journey. http://www.nyccorporatevideoproduction.com/about-us/video-production-news/business-marketing-strategy/
Whether or not your video marketing will be effective will depends on the video message, how good you are in delivering the message, and how receptive your audience is to watching videos in general, and your videos specifically.
The only way to know is to create videos. The more training you have in video marketing, the better off you are. In addition, the more videos you do, the better you get.
Also, videos need to be short unless you're creating a tutorial of some sort.
I think you will find great value in video marketing, if you keep them short. Nobody is sitting watching 15 to 30 minute commercials. The creations must catch the viewer's attention immediately and keep it - you only have about 2 minutes to keep, at most. The trend that is coming is to make personalized messages to prospective clients. In other words, instead of the email that fills in the blank with the addressees name, now marketers are collecting data and personalizing for each prospect. It would be like having a video say 'Hi Kathy, we know you are looking for ______ and we would like to share our ______ with you'
So, video is NOT going away, only getting more detailed and specific. I think it is certainly worth starting out with something simple and see what happens with your engagement on social media.
Remember words on paper can create the reality nor perception of an actual smile. Think of how you would describe someone's face and then how someone would read your words and then be able to pick out the face that matches it...the point is that a video conveys emotion and humans draw those feelings. Video for marketing is key because these days.. anyone can do it. simple Periscope or Youtube vides go a long way - reach out and touch someone with your smile and you will see results
Andrea Metcalf
Hi Kathy -- I know what you mean. There's A LOT to do - and if you're looking for advice, I think there are some very easy ways you can utilize video. Given the fact that 85 million Americans watch more than 1.5 billion videos every day (Forrester) -- especially when it comes to tech - it's probably worth your while to carve out some time for a video blog, at least. Before you worry about the cameras and the gear - let's get the story and the content solid...the rest can be simple. I'm definitely willing to spend some time with you ironing this out for you and your company -- if you're interested, connect with me via LinkedIn and we'll chat. No strings attached.
Video marketing, Google love them, should be short, snappy and well produced and the sound is the main issue, best having a good boom or clip on mic, the key to any making is the strap line to get people/clients in the first place, I starting with testimonals from clients :)
Google loves video, but videos focused on driving sales vs SEO should have a different approach to production and distribution.
Since those types of videos are my business I must say I am not impartial though I do believe videos can definitely aid marketing.
Not only can they quickly and clearly explain sometimes very abstract products and services but they also increase your overall visibility on the web and can give your SEO a boost.
Be warned though that there are plenty of videos that fail their purpose. An effective video does not even have to be visually state of the art as long as script is good. The visuals are just there to support the message. Also you may want to keep in mind that a video production usually goes through some iterations and you might want to A/B test two versions to see which one gets a better response from your audience.
Lastly like you already said yourself, most busy people do not feel like watching videos all day so keep it short, ideally 1 minute or 2 minutes max. They only watch the video because they are looking for a certain product anyway and if your video can explain them your product in less time than it takes them to read about it for themselves they will rather watch a video than read.
Many tech startups effectively use 60-120 second explainer videos to give an overview of the problems their solution solves and the benefits their solution provides. These videos sit on lead capture pages as well as on the company home page in many cases. I'm not affiliated in any way, but for explainer videos I highly recommend geniuspublicity.com. They do a great job and they are not expensive.
In addition to explainer videos, which are great lead conversion tools, videos about the team, FAQs of common questions in the sales process, new functionality and case studies of client's success mimic the buyer's journey during a technology sale. As Daniel above mentions, video can explain the complex very well.
Kathy: My clients see a positive ROI from their efforts in video marketing. The videos need to engender trust and an emotional connection to be effective. In addition, a large number of people are visual learners and videos help them understand your offering. While investing in videos would not be the first thing I spend my marketing dollars on, it would certainly be something I would do as part of my comprehensive marketing plan.
I would say that video should be the first thing you invest in and drive everything off your video content. Crate a set of videos and THEN create blog posts, web pages, emails, social media content...you get the best of both worlds by starting with video.
Google does love them, don't they, but then again they should because they own YouTube and most videos are posted there, right?