Have you ever lost track of time while scrolling on social media? You mean to check it for just five minutes but an hour later and you’re still scrolling (we’ve all done this, right?).

Let’s face it, the format of the content that you’re probably drawn to, captures your attention, and keeps you on the platform for that long is video. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube, LinkedIn, or any other network, every one of them is prioritizing video because that is the format that audiences want to see. This is why everyone is using/telling you to use video to market your business.

The problem is that most people are giving advice about video marketing when they have no experience or understanding of how to make good video. Leading to a lot of misconceptions about video marketing.

The assumption is that video strategy is overly complex and time-consuming; meaning you should be posting multiple videos a day, researching/ following trends, learning transitions, making a different video for each platform, and concentrating only on short-form videos.

The truth is NONE of that advice is a strategy.

It does not tell you how to use video effectively; that make consumers watch your videos, remember your content, and connect with your business. But having a video marketing strategy can do just that.

BENEFITS TO A VIDEO STRATEGY

Did you know that our brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text? That fact alone makes video very efficient but coupled with the fact that

This leads to the simple fact that if you want your brand to stand out, video is the easiest and best way to achieve this.

Don’t believe me? Here are a few benefits to creating a robust video marketing strategy – and sticking to it.

INCREASES ENGAGEMENT

Video gets more than 1200% more shares than text and images combined.

That’s because they evoke strong emotions which triggers viewers to take action, meaning they are more likely to comment, like, or share. The bigger emotional response, the more interaction it recieves. When done correctly, video can take information and make it easier to interpret in a short amount of time. Since nearly 90% of information transmitted to our brains are visual it’s no wonder video gets a bigger response than just a static post.

DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE

Video is a powerful SEO tool. Have you ever noticed when searching on google the first couple of suggestions are videos? That’s because video helps a serach engine understand the content better and will then rank that higher, increasing your visibilty.

It’s no wonder why 86% of marketers say that video has helped them increase traffic to their website.

When your video is being shared or linked back to your website, it creates an inbound link which is a major factor in your SEO ranking. The more inbound links your site makes, the more authoritative your site looks to Google.

Here are a few tips to optimize your video for searchability.

• Use a captivating thumbnail image
• Insert transcripts and use captions – this makes your videos accessible to everyone as well as be scrapable by search bots.
• Focus on title and description – your title and description should include relevant keywords so that you are able to target your audience better.

GRABS ATTENTION

There is so much content out there constantly vying for our attention; we encounter up to 10,000 ads per day alone. Which means you have to be creating content that cuts through the noise.

What grabs your attention as your scrolling through Instagram? Is it a long paragraph of text, static images, or a magnetic video?

Since our eyes are drawn to movement video definitely draws our attention more effortlessly than other content. However, it has to be stated that not all videos have the it factor that captures attention.

With our shrinking attention span you can hook someone’s attention by:

• Always keeping the viewer on their toes – this means your video should move; change up angles cuts, or locations. Each frame should be enticing but add to the message of the overall video. You want your viewer to always be wondering what’s going to happen next.
• Make your point as soon as possible. Just because Tiktok always for you to make a video of up to three minutes does not mean you should take all three minutes. Since your goal for every video is to command the viewer’s attention, not just grab it, so they will watch the entire video it’s important that you’re as clear and concise as possible. This means you should get to the point as quickly as possible.

IMPROVES BRAND RECALL

It’s impossible to retain all the information we’ve read on a website unless you reread the text over and over again. With videos, however, it’s a different story. Studies show that viewers retain up to 95% of a video’s message compared to just 10% of written text.

Video is also more memorable because our brains are wired to recall a story better than a list of facts. When you use video to tell a story (hint: all of your videos should tell a story) you’ll be able to get your message across in a manner that people will remember it and come back to.

BUILDS TRUST

Trust doesn’t come easily in marketing. Consumers are more skeptical of brands they don’t know but are eager to buy when they’ve come to trust you.

The golden rule for building trust with video is to create value for your target market. Distribute content with a clear purpose that will benefit your target audience. This will help esablish you as an authority to the viewer and ultimately learn to trust you to help them solve their problem.

LONG-TERM MARKETING STRATEGIES

With all that being said on the importance of having a video marketing strategy it should be noted that throwing videos together at the last minute is not going to produce great results. If you really want you business to grow and get the most out of video content then you need to have a complete video strategy as part of a wider marketing plan to support your efforts long-term. This can include:

• repurposing old content into videos. This can be as simple as taking old Tiktok videos and posting them on Instagram, or turning Youtube videos into Tiktok, testimonials into ads, etc.
• Diversify the types of videos you produce, such as interviews, explainers, behind-the-scenes, or testimonials.
• Incorporating video into your ad campaigns

Video marketing can be time-consuming, especially when you have to create a video strategy, implement it, plan your videos, film, edit, and post them. Then you do it all over again for every platform. That’s why we created the video marketing bundle, a done-for-you service to help you grow your business across multiple different platforms with effective videos.

This is for any entrepreneur who is using multiple different platforms to market their business but need to get off the content creation hamster wheel. Interested? Fill out the application to see if we’re a good fit!

DISTRIBUTION TO TARGET AUDIENCE

Today’s consumers are active on a variety of different platforms, in fact, the average customer uses multiple different platforms to engage with one brand.

Having a multiple-channel content distribution and strategy is imperative if you really want to increase your traffic exponentially and start reaching audiences ’round our world. But you should always choose the platforms strategically based on where your target audience is most active.

When video is done right, it is arguably the most powerful tool to connect with your target market. It has the power to set you apart from your competitors and convince your audience to buy. But the key to being successful with video in your marketing efforts is to have a strategy so that you make videos that will work for your business and fit seamlessly into your wider marketing strategy.