Video marketing in Anchorage and beyond must be a vital part of your online or digital marketing campaign in 2017. It has become a staple of digital marketing, and if you’re not on board with it, you need to be right away.
- In 2017, online video accounts for 74% of all online traffic.
- 85% of Facebook video is watched without sound.
- Online shoppers who view demo videos report they are almost 2% more likely to purchase the product.
- Marketers using video report that their revenues revenue grows 49% faster.
- 45% of people are reported as watching more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos per week.
- On Facebook, videos under 60 seconds are popular with almost 2/3 of consumers.
What is video marketing?
Video marketing is using videos as part of the content in your marketing mix. We are visual creatures, and we consume photos and now videos at an ever increasing rate. The more engaging, the better. Videos offer a more interactive experience for the user. The subject matter of video marketing varies greatly from client testimonials, to live video of an event, to product how to’s, to staff highlights, and much more. You get to use your imagination!
What you do you need to get started?
The good news about video marketing in Anchorage and across the globe is that it is scalable. You don’t need an expensive studio with a green screen and fancy lighting anymore. Don’t get me wrong, if you have those resources at your disposal, great! But if you don’t, that doesn’t bar you from being very successful at video marketing. Here are the basics to get into video marketing.
- The Camera: Gone are the days when you need a large, clunky camera. Smartphones, especially the new ones, come with high-quality cameras. Leverage them. Honestly, many people prefer the slightly more raw and transparent feel that comes from a smartphone video recording. This is not a license for bad videography, however. If you can’t hold it still, you need a tripod.
- The Tripod: No one wants to watch your video if it gives them motion sickness. There are tripods out there that fit your smartphone. Invest in one. Click here for a great resource that can help you compare.
- The Microphone: Even though your smartphone can record great video, the microphone still sucks for video marketing. It is worth investing in a good mic. It will give your videos an edge.
- The Lighting: Not every video needs additional lighting, but it is really obvious when it is missing. There are some entry level kits out there that won’t break the bank, as well as some great tutorials on how to set it up. Both are worth the investment of money and time.
- The Editing: Yes, you will want to edit your video unless you are doing live video. That might sound intimidating, but there are so many great options out there now that make it fun and easy. You can even edit video on your phone with several apps. Check out this blog by HootSuite for a great list.
Have a Plan
So you have the equipment, now what? Now you need to make sure you have a plan for recording and rolling out your video marketing. Trust me, you or someone in your office is probably just dying to get out there and grab some video. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, in fact, more video footage is usually better than less considering how much you’ll probably edit out. But I’m talking more about having a plan for the bigger picture. You want to make sure the videos you are putting out actually have a positive return on investment for you. It’s easy for video creation to eat up a lot of man hours and it you don’t have a plan it’s easy to end up throwing away a lot of time and not see a return.
Your plan needs to cover your goals, how the videos reflect your brand, as well as your editorial calendar on each channel.
Define your Goals
It’s important to set some goals for the video part of your marketing strategy. Why are you doing it? Is it just because it’s the cool thing to do? That’s great, but it’s not enough. You need a more specific goal so you can track metrics and know if your video marketing is effective or just a drain. Some questions to answer could be:
- Do we want to use video to increase brand awareness?
- Do we want to educate consumers and prospects?
- Is the focus of our videos to promote our products or services?
- Are you going to focus on newsworthy messaging?
The next thing is what metrics are you going to track? Which ones are meaningful for your business and your marketing?
- Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Track site traffic that comes from the videos.
- Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Track video plays and shares.
- Is educational content your focus? Track video completion.
- Is lead generation your goal? Track site visits or calls/purchases after watching the video.
Be Consistent with Your Branding and Messaging
Once you know what your goals are then the next step is to develop the messaging of the videos. This gets into the themes of the various videos. Think about building a story or an experience. Everyone is looking for an experience; you can give them that with a series of videos.
As you plan out your theme, keep your overall company brand in mind. Make sure the images you pick support your business’s brand in color, theme, and values. You do not want videos that are disconnected from the company’s personality.
Set up an Editorial Calendar
Know what you are going to post when. Your videos should enhance and flow with your other digital marketing. Make a plan, so you know what footage you need to shoot when and there is less last minute scrambling. An editorial calendar helps keep everyone on track to support and follow the theme and campaign that was established. Without an editorial calendar, it is too easy for the message, the story, to get fractured and even lost.
Know Your Market. Know Your Channel
Finally, know your target market and where they spend their time. Do some research. Is your target spending most of their time on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube? It is smart to pick two to focus on.
Facebook Video
Facebook is the social media giant, and it will most likely be one of your two even just because of the sheer numbers of people who use it regularly. One report says that people on Facebook watch about 100 million hours of video each day. That is a daunting number!
Facebook users prefer videos 60 seconds or shorter so keep that in mind while you are making your content. Additionally, Facebook home to Facebook Live video, which is watched three times as often as regular video. Be sure to work live video into your plan.
Instagram Video
Instagram offers two different ways to post a video. First is Instagram Stories for live video or a 10-second video clip. These videos only stay on your “story” for 24 hours. Second is videos you can post to your Instagram feed. These videos can be up to 60 seconds long.
Instagram’s focus is on short pieces of videos, so what you post here must be direct and captivate your audience immediately. Keep in mind you have a great resource in the captions you can put up with your videos. Make sure they have a clear call to action and that they support what is going on in your video content.
Sked Social recently put together a comprehensive guide to Instagram live video that is a great resource if you would like to dive deeper.
Snapchat
Snapchat is still the wild, wild west when it comes to video marketing. They have yet to develop analytics or a method for managing your pressence. This makes it more challenging and time-consuming to maintain a consistent marketing space on Snapchat.
Snapchat users consume content at a rate that is hard for most smaller companies to keep up with. Similar to Twitter, it is about putting up multiple posts a day. Like Instagram Stories, your content will disapear after 24 hours. Snapchat has the youngest audience so if that is where you need to be; then you’ll find a way to make it work.
YouTube
YouTube has been overshadowed by Facebook in the number of videos published and viewed. However, the format of YouTube is different. People who are there expect longer format videos and will actually sit through several minutes of video, unlike every other social media platform. So YouTube is a great platform for your longer format promotional videos or even how to videos when you want to go into more depth.
Video marketing has moved from the cutting edge trend in 2016 to a mainstay of digital marketing in 2017, and if you aren’t considering it yet, you are missing out. As with any inbound marketing strategy, you have to have a plan, and you have to be consistent in your implementation. That being said, it is now more feasible financially and from a time commitment standpoint to be successful in video marketing. It is worth giving it a try yourself or contacting professionals to enact it for you.
