During the pandemic we all found great comfort in the fact we have powerful smartphones that can instantly connect us to distant places. But the same devices we used to make Zoom calls to our friends and family also encouraged us to spend more time on social media or shopping online. 

These two realities are closely related, since many of the products we decided to buy to lessen our quarantine-induced boredom were the ones touted on influencers’ platforms.

We saw a specific thing in a short video and decided that we absolutely needed it right then. It was swiftly added to our online shopping craze. 

Like I did on TikTok with that particular mascara… that infamous pair of leggings that was supposed to lift my butt after 24 months spent on the couch… or, most recently, a lip gloss that I absolutely don’t need

Video Marketing is effective and powerful, in an age where everything – from trends to objects – travels faster than ever before thanks to constant connectivity. 

It’s cool, it’s appealing, and everyone wants to profit from it. 

That’s why we are ready to reveal to you the 10 secrets to successful video marketing…

Secrets To Successful Video Marketing

Current statistics reveal that for 51% of business owners Video Marketing is considered the most profitable form of content marketing. This is impressive and will surely give you the impulse to give it a try. 

But Video Marketing isn’t as easy as it seems – and it definitely isn’t as easy as watching your favourite TikToks. 

That’s why we want to give you all the tools you need to boost your business strategy with video marketing…

#1 Have A Story To Tell

One of the most common mistakes when releasing a video is not having anything to say and just showing a product that you wish someone else would buy. That is not just incredibly boring, but also pointless. The difference between a video and a picture is that you have more space to tell a story to which your audience can relate and move forward in their buyer’s journey.

And you should use it! 

Nobody likes to watch someone else blankly staring at the camera while pointing at an object they are trying to endorse. It’s not attractive, nor is it engaging. 

Think of each of your promotional videos as a short film and plan it as such. What do you want to say? What’s the conflict? And what’s the solution to it?

An Example: 

Alexa is an influencer and she’s endorsing a famous skincare brand that offers massive results against acne. In order to do so, she starts by reminding her followers that throughout her life she has always suffered from a devastating kind of acne, but none of the over-the-counter products she used worked. Her only choice was to use prescription products, which dried her skin immensely. 

Luckily she found this skincare brand that offers vegan and organic solutions to her problem and she’s excited to share the results she has seen with her followers. 

This video is effective because it’s relatable, has an emotional component, a bait, and offers a practical solution to a long-term problem that affects many people. 

#2 Keep It Tight 

Unless you are a Youtuber who’s famous because of their lengthy vlogs, we suggest that you keep all of your videos short and easy. The best way to do this is to tailor your video marketing around 1-minute max videos. When your users are scrolling through their feeds, they are already being bombarded with tons of different types of content, some of which can be more visually appealing than others and you have a limited amount of time until they lose interest and scroll over to the next. 

Keep it tight and concise, trying to catch their attention in the first 10 seconds. 

If you do this effectively, you will be able to use the time left to attract them further and, even, convince them to make a purchase. 

An Example:

For her video, Alexa decided to shoot a TikTok video as it’s short and can be edited in a way that can immediately highlight the important parts through pictures. Users can understand what’s going on and what the topic is in the first few seconds and be attracted to stay through the end. 

#3 Add A Nice Thumbnail

One of the biggest nuisances of the last 10 years has been the plague of click-baiting. With this we mean that kind of video or post that has a catchy title that looks almost too good to be true, attracting users to click on it, later to reveal that it was about something else.

Like a title saying “HELP! You won’t believe what my cat just did!” that opens on a vlog that talks about a cat doing something absolutely normal.

Well, that is annoying. 

But using a fun, catchy, realistic thumbnail isn’t. 

An Example:

In her TikTok, Alexa crafted a catchy thumbnail to her video by using one of the suggested formats from the app and adding her own words to it. In this case, she wrote “A Vegan Solution For Bad Acne?!”. Catchy enough to attract users, but realistic.

#4 Engage Your Users

How do you engage users? In many ways. The first one is that you have to give them something worth watching and not boring and repetitive. Tell a story, a relatable one, and then add other chances of interactions. The best way to do this is to inspire reactions and emotions like laughter or, even sadness. Find the key emotion in your video and choose the right way to make sure it reaches your users.

An Example:

Alexa chose to play her video on the emotions of people who have struggled with the same problem. She knows how to trigger their reaction and how to make them feel understood: that’s her key to gaining their trust in order to convince them that the product she’s advertising is the right solution.

#5 KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE 

Never shot in the dark with content. Strategise first and find the best way to speak to your target audience. Where are they most likely to see your video? Is it TikTok, YouTube, Facebook? What moves them and what have their buying trends been so far? The initial part of a successful video marketing campaign should start with this and then move forward in content writing.

An Example:

Alexa knows that her target audience is made of people aged 18-26. She knows that she’s likely to have more success if she posts her video on TikTok, and that’s what she does. The video is an instant hit.

#6 Add Several Call To Action

Once you get your users’ attention you want them to do something. After all, you are not making videos for the sake of that, right? You might want to see some practical results, like conversions or ROI. That is why you want to add several call-to-action buttons. By doing that you will improve the engagement and start seeing better results.

An Example:

Starting her video, Alexa immediately suggests her users check out another one of her videos where she talks about the brand she’s advertising today. In the middle of it, she shares again the link to the company’s website and, at the very end, once she’s sure to have the interest of her followers, she shares her promo code to make the first purchase. 

#7 Make It Look (And Sound) Professional

There’s nothing worse than a poorly looking video. Especially because with the quality of our smartphone’s cameras now almost anyone has the ability to shoot a professional video at home. But to realise the perfect video there’s more than just a clear resolution: you need the frame to be in order, the sound to be clear and the editing to be done professionally. We are used to seeing brilliant videos on almost everyone’s feed, and if your video isn’t up to that standard you are most likely to go unnoticed.

An Example:

Despite the fact that to shoot her video Alexa chose the bathroom as location, she has a professional set of lights and a steady tripod to use to ensure that her camera doesn’t fall off or that the frame is wonky.

#8 Collaborate With An Influencer

Your product might be cool and effective, but other people’s reviews are important to determine if your audience is going to buy from you or not. The best way to ensure that is to find an authoritative figure to endorse you and create some bomb content for you. And who’s better at that than an influencer?

An Example:

Alexa is a very famous beauty influencer who lives a vegan lifestyle. Choosing her for the acne cream campaign was the best choice as she speaks directly to the business’s target audience, is respected by them, and knows how to convey a powerful message.

#9 Use Your Customers’ Opinions

User-generated content is fundamental for several reasons. The first one is because it’s incredibly cheap: your customers are more than happy to shoot a video of them trying on your products or speaking of your services if they work. To encourage them you could offer the ones that have decided to help you a discount code or some freebies. 

And the second reason to push on user-generated content for a successful video marketing strategy is that we are all more likely to buy something if someone else can give us good reviews of it. 

An Example:

Before being an influencer, Alexa is a customer of the skincare brand. She has tried the products on herself and has decided to give it a positive review. Other users are more prone to listen to what she says because she used what she advertised and knows what she’s talking about.

#10 Is It Mobile Friendly?

Most of the content we encounter is on our mobile phones, while we scroll during our lunchtimes. 

Make sure to shoot your content in a format that can be appreciated from a mobile phone as well as from a laptop. Quality isn’t a compromise!

An Example:

Alexa shoots her video in a format that can be enjoyed from a laptop and from a mobile phone altogether. But since her audience is mostly made of people under the age of 30 that live constantly connected to their phones, she decided to privilege that kind of format.

How Long Does It Take To Set Up A Successful Video Marketing Strategy?

Setting up a video marketing strategy can take a lot of time, depending on the stage you are in with your business venture. We can’t give you an exact estimation of the time in which you’ll have your strategy up and running but we can tell you for a fact that as long as you are capable of shooting your own videos with your own equipment… It takes no time at all!

But if you have bigger goals and collaboration in mind, it might take anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks to have one ready. 

There are many variables to this question but it all comes down to your own personal ability or the agency that you decide to hire to do it for you.

And When Will I Be Able To See Results?

If you want steady results, you have to plan carefully and spread your content in a consistent way throughout a prolonged period of time. That means that you probably won’t be able to enjoy any quick or instant results.

Like all good things, marketing takes time. For video marketing, it can take anywhere from six to nine months to start seeing changes and ROI.

Don’t get impatient and enjoy the ride!

10 Secrets To Seriously Successful Video Marketing

Can I DIY My Video Marketing? All The Reasons Why You Shouldn’t…

Well of course you can. Have you got a good quality smartphone? Are you able to do a TikTok dance without sweating too much? Do you have enough followers amongst your target audience? Then you could get started doing a successful video marketing campaign on your own. 

But are you sure to know how it’s done? And do you really think it’ll be a good idea?

#1 It Takes Time

There’s more than just shooting a video to a video marketing strategy. It takes planning, analysing, creating and shooting (and editing and posting, as well). And this is a complex set of skills that you probably lack, and it takes an awful lot of time to learn them all. 

As a matter of fact, these are skills that belong to different sets of professions such as video editor, content creator and all that jazz. Maybe you have just one of these skills but not all of them, and learning new ones would take an awful lot of time, pushing forward your video marketing debut.

#2 You Need The Right Equipment

Shooting a video requires specific equipment: even in the case when you’d decide to use your own smartphone, you would still need a good microphone and the right lighting. Buying all the things you need to shoot videos that look professional is a much bigger investment than hiring a team of professionals to help you with that. This is even truer if you also have to invest a considerable amount of money in funding your training to learn how to shoot. 

An excellent video marketing strategy isn’t cheap. But it’s cheaper than a mediocre diy strategy, which also doesn’t offer you any kind of guarantee.

#3 You Could Be Unsuccessful

If video marketing is not your day-to-day job, you have to take into consideration the fact that you might be unsuccessful in doing it on your own. 

And that wouldn’t be a problem, if you hadn’t invested in equipment and training for yourself, probably redirecting important amounts of money from your core business. Learning a new job takes a lot of trial and error and if you are running your own business you don’t have the time to do that. 

You can’t risk it all for this, especially because…

#4 There Are People Who Already Know How To Do It

Digital agencies are filled with creative geniuses who learnt the secrets to help you thrive a long time ago.

Why wouldn’t you take a chance on being successful thanks to other people’s expertise?

Get Started Today

Acrylic Digital is a multicoloured reality filled with talented professionals that know how to help you uncover your true potential. We’ve decided to give you a head starter by offering you a free consultation to talk about the dreams that you have for yourself and your business. Book your chat with us today or give us a call on 01606 27 27 15

Book Your FREE Consultation Now…