The fact that video content amplifies the effectiveness of digital marketing should not come as a surprise. After all, as digital technology evolves, multimedia becomes a more entertaining experience for users. However, with the wrong approach, your video content could fail to deliver the desired results.
Video: A Powerful Driver Of Online Content
Which one would compel you to try the latest steakhouse in your town? A 30-second video on how a 16-ounce Porterhouse steak is grilled and served on a plate with baked potatoes and steamed vegetables or a one minute read?
In our article “How To Use Video Content In Marketing”, we identified at least five benefits of video for your marketing campaign. Here are three eye-opening statistics that prove including video in your content strategy is a smart decision:
100 Million – The number of hours people watch videos on Facebook.
5 Billion – The number of videos watched on YouTube on a daily basis.
10 Billion – The number of videos viewed on SnapChat
Video is a powerful driver of content because it is more effective and efficient in delivering your message.
It appeals to multiple senses: sight, sound and feel. A 30 to 45 second video can compel a viewer to take action more immediately than text content that will require a reading time of one minute.
However, posting videos for the sake of having video content on your blog or social media will not produce your targeted outcome. On the contrary, it may work against you. The key is to put thought and strategy behind your videos. Like all marketing concepts, it must have direction, purpose and objective.
7 Ways To Harness The Power Of Video For Social Media Marketing and Blogging
The great thing about digital marketing is that it allows you to focus your efforts on a target audience. If you’re offering coaching programs for running, your investment in marketing will yield low returns if your distribution channel reaches more smokers than fitness or running enthusiasts.
Digital marketing has tools that allow you to fine-tune your marketing efforts toward potential buyers of your product or service. Two of its most effective and popular tools are social media marketing and blogging.
These two strategies go hand-in-hand. You can always post your blog on your social media page and include a link back to your website.
Adding a video makes text-based content exponentially more effective. Here are 7 ways you can harness its full power:
1. Choose Your Social Media Platforms
As we had written in our article, “How To Choose The Best Social Media Platform For Your Business”, not all social media platforms can generate the results you want. Some types of businesses work with certain platforms more than others.
If you have a highly-visual product, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube may work for you. If you plan to use videos to launch promotions and to acquire more followers, Twitter and Facebook should be the platforms of your choice.
Don’t spread yourself out too thin. If this is your first time to produce videos, start out with only one or two social media platforms. Having fewer accounts to manage makes it easier to track performance.
2. Identify Your Objective
What do you want your video to accomplish? If you want your video to inform people of what your business does, you should produce an explainer video.
If you want to show your viewers what your product does, you should shoot “How-To” videos. If you want to enhance your reputation as an expert in the industry, you can set up a webinar.
You can have more than one objective, but do not attempt to accomplish all of these objectives in one video. You will come out with convoluted content; its message will go in different directions and lead to disengagement with your audience.
Instead, the best approach would be to come up with a time-table for your objectives. Then produce the videos according to your schedule.
3. Tell A Story
Storytelling remains an effective approach to content marketing because it makes it easier for viewers or readers to process the meaning of your message.
A good story turns the viewer from a mere observer to a vicarious participant. He/she is transported from the computer screen to behind your lens. Storytelling gets the audience more engaged with your content.
4. Keep Video Content Short
Videos are effective but only to a point. Whether it is text-based or video content, people have a short attention span. A study by Microsoft showed that people have an attention span that is shorter than a goldfish.
However, this doesn’t mean you should produce six-second videos. You can’t deliver your message if the video is too short. The length of your video would depend on the type of video you produce.
Here is a guideline you can use to determine the ideal video length:
Explainer Videos – 30 to 90 seconds
“How-To” Videos – 2 to 10 minutes
Webinars – 10 minutes
Customer Testimonials – 10 minutes
Product Reviews – 5 to 10 minutes
As you may have noticed, most types of video content top off at 10 minutes. Below is a chart of the audience engagement level for a webinar. You will see that there is an inverse correlation between engagement and the duration of video content:
Chart courtesy of vidyard.com https://www.vidyard.com/blog/optimal-length-for-b2b-video-funnel/
5. Integrate Video Into Your Digital Marketing Campaign
As effective as videos have been proven to be, it should not be the focal point of your digital marketing campaign. We recommend integrating video as part of your digital marketing campaign to give you a more holistic strategy.
A diversified digital marketing campaign will allow you to reach a wider audience. Remember, not everyone prefers videos over text-based content. Also, some audience members may have difficulty accessing your videos due to problems in Internet connectivity or web hosting issues.
It will also streamline your costs. Text-based content remains an effective medium for delivery and is comparatively cheaper to produce than videos.
6. Invest In Video Hardware
Producing good quality videos will require you to invest in hardware. You have to use hardware that can ensure great image and audio quality.
Now, before you think you will have to break open your bank account, advances in digital technology can make you produce awesome videos on a limited budget!
Here are some suggestions on the types of hardware you can use to produce great video content:
Smartphone – If you have an iPhone 5 or higher, you can be sure to have the ability to shoot amazing videos. For example, the iPhone 6 reportedly can shoot 4K videos which offer great resolution and audio quality.
Camcorders – There are many affordable camcorders that you can buy from online retailers like Amazon or eBay. Many of these cheaper models can still shoot great quality videos.
Tripod – You wouldn’t want your video to give your viewers a migraine! A tripod will keep your camera stable without having to ask someone to hold it for you.
Microphone – A lavalier microphone is cheap but will significantly improve the sound quality of your videos.
If you plan to shoot videos while on the move, you should use handheld sticks for camcorders or smartphones. These handheld sticks have motion-stability sensors which keep your videos stable even while you are moving vigorously.
7. Use Video Editing Apps
There’s no such thing as a perfect video but at the very least, you should try your best to enhance it. Video editing apps will help you bring out the details: color, contrast and reducing unwanted background noise.
If you have the ability to compose music, there are video editing apps that you can use to add an original soundtrack. How about closed-captioning? There are video editing apps that can do that as well. You can find video editing apps for a PC desktop or a mobile device.
It’s all about enhancing user experience. Little things such as coming up with an amazing opening credits scene, speed level changes and perfectly-executed quick cuts can turn your video from ordinary to memorable.
4 Worst Practices When Using Video For Your Blog Or Social Media
It takes time to produce a great video. Your efforts will be wasted if if cannot deliver the expected outcome. These four worst practices are often overlooked but can affect the performance of your video:
1. Self-Hosting The Video
In our article, “Why You Should Never Host Your Own Videos On Your Own Website”, we discussed two ways you can post video content on your website. Embedding a video is a better option than self-hosting a video. It will be more accessible and will give your audience a better viewing experience.
2. Failure To Optimize Video Size
When embedding a video, make sure you optimize its size to the width of your blog page. The width of the video should not exceed that of the blog’s column for the content. You’ll be surprised how observant some of your viewers are. They can easily point out these mistakes and call you out for it.
3. Absence Of Text Content
One of the guiding rules of marketing is to give your audience some context before delivering your content. It is a good idea for viewers to know what to expect before the video rolls on. You can use a closed-caption or transcription app to embed a few sentences that will set up your video content.
4. Does Not Include A Call to Action
Great content should be compelling. It should initiate action. So what do you want the viewer to do after watching your video? Do you want him/her to subscribe to your YouTube channel? Do you want him/her to sign up for your newsletter? Without a Call- to- Action, your efforts as well the viewer’s time would end up being wasted.
Conclusion
Using videos is a brilliant way of adding more value to your social media and blogging content. Integrating video to text-based content is like the one-two punch combination in boxing: it is a classic combination that will yield good results.
However, you need to spend time planning the production schedule of your video. The days of point-and-shoot, ragtag videos are over. Viewers are more discriminating of the quality of video content and its production values.
You do not have to hire a movie company to produce your video. Today’s devices, including the latest versions of the smartphone, are good enough to produce high-quality videos. It also pays to take production levels a step higher by using editing apps to make your video content really stand out.
Are you planning on using videos for your blogs or social media? Give us a call or an email and we can schedule a call or a sit-down meeting at your convenience. Adding videos is definitely a move in the right direction. We will make sure that the videos will help you achieve its intended goal.
