Video is still the most popular type of content on social media, which is one reason so many brands incorporate it into their marketing strategies. While most marketers know that deploying a well-crafted video is a highly effective way to gain exposure, drive traffic and increase conversions, not all of them understand how to successfully execute this tactic.
To create and distribute a video that provides a healthy return on investment, marketers must develop content that not only meets consumers’ preferences but also differentiates the brand and helps it rise above the competition.
Here are thirteen creative ways you can leverage video in your next marketing strategy.
1. Be Authentic and Say What You Believe
All video content needs to be authentic. Why? Because that’s how you truly connect with people. The one thing about video is that most people can notice the smallest details, the micro-expressions that cue them into whether you are being authentic or not. If you don’t believe what you are saying, you can’t fool people, so say what you believe.
2. Strive To Create an Interactive Experience
Every piece of content must generate a two-way conversation. Strive to break through the very concept of “audience”—do away with its passive aspect and find ways for the audience to shape your company’s culture, ethos, and the service it offers. Leveraging your employees’ organically generated content is a great strategy.
3. Animate An Infographic
One creative way to leverage video content is to make an infographic come to life through animation. How-tos and informational pieces are easy to consume via infographics, and the content resonates even better when told through video. Another option would be to make an infographic interactive by having a quick video snippet appear when someone clicks on a main icon.
4. Use Video as a Portal to Weightier Content
A short video is a powerful tool to activate social media and drive traffic to content that might otherwise be missed. We like to use video as an accessible portal to reports, studies and even blogs. Think of it as an inverted pyramid, with the broad reach of social media (and a clever hashtag) drawing the intended audience toward weightier content and increasing general awareness along the way.
5. Create Educational Videos
We now take advantage of video to share knowledge with our colleagues in the internal communications industry. Time and attention are such valuable resources in the modern world. By keeping educational videos short and concise, we support and improve the busy lives of internal communications professionals.
6. Build Reach and Engagement Through Short Clips
We live in such a fast-paced world, with messages coming at us from all directions. Sometimes, all you need is a short, informational clip to share an idea. With appropriate captions, posting these short clips on social media platforms can be advantageous when looking to build reach and engagement.
7. Be Adaptable and Creative in Your Distribution
Pinterest was a natural expansion opportunity for our company in late 2019, despite it not being a traditional video-sharing platform at the time. With more people taking on DIY projects, our “5-Minute Crafts” content was a perfect fit. Creativity is as much about delivering content in the right way as it is about having quirky ideas.
8. Keep It Simple and Brief
Average watch times are short, so put the most vital information at the beginning of your video. Make it authentic. Introduce your team or a new product or even give a tour of your office space. Don’t be afraid to talk viewers through it by narrating your video or utilizing voiceover. Pay attention to aspect ratios, which are different for every platform.
9. Include Videos in Your Press Releases
Including videos in press releases is a clever way to make sure journalists understand your message and the value that you are presenting. Using the media as a marketing vehicle is an effective way to get more value out of your owned media.
10. Create Videos in Batches
Good videos can be time-consuming to make, so here’s one tip to save you time: Create them in batches. To do this, decide on a theme for your series. Create a templated intro and closing to use repeatedly. Then, record or create the content for each video and insert it to your video template. When you’re done, you’ll have a cohesive series of videos you can use throughout the year or campaign.
11. Place Videos Within Blog Posts to Boost Search Rankings
Video increases on-page time and is often heralded for its direct engagement potential because prospects are more engaged when consuming information via video versus text. However, its big benefit is a technical trick: By placing a video within a blog post, you increase on-page time, which is an SEO metric that Google increasingly uses to measure content quality. Thus, incorporating video content will help your search rankings soar.
12. Pair A Video Message with an Email
Video content simply converts, and if you pair it with an email, you’re now leveraging two highly effective forms of marketing at once. There are tons of platforms that allow you to embed a video so that it auto plays once a user opens the email, and the experience is often just the perfect mix of interaction and engagement to incentivize someone to act.
Did You Know: Easy Web Video provides multiple way to include video in your emails.
13. Use Video in Every Marketing Segment
Use video for everything—really: for commercials, to relay your value proposition, and to add value through ongoing content. Once you implement video in every marketing segment, you will never look back. The interaction rate is much higher, and you have more flexibility in your messaging and delivery methods. Don’t be afraid to explore.
