How to Build Video Into Your Content Plan (Without Hiring a Videographer!)
According to a recent study, marketing experts predict that by 2019 video content will be a driving force behind approximately 85 percent of search traffic. Furthermore, Facebook recently reported that its videos earn around eight billion views each day.
What’s the biggest lesson based on these statistics?
No other type of content right now is as effective at captivating and keeping the attention of today’s online audiences. The message is clear: if you are a marketer, video content must be part of your mix.
Video Content: An Endless Array of Options
As you explore your options for integrating video into your content marketing plan, you can take some easy first steps by expanding upon or repurposing concepts that appear in other content pieces you have already developed.
With this strategy, you can deep dive into specific product features, answer questions from your customers and prospects, and even share recent company announcements or news – all while enhancing relationships.
And use the customer segment data you already have stored in your marketing automation software and CRM software. You’ve already done all the hard work to understand who your power users are or which customers need extra support. Start by building content that specifically addresses your best customers’ pain points. It’ll save your support and sales teams time and energy when they can send a video instead of explaining how to use a product for the 10,000th time.
Here is a glance at some of the types of videos you can create:
- How-tos – This style of video can deliver true value to your audience. If you are already publishing educational, written content, such as how to use your product or install a new feature, you can create quality videos for your users to view, engage with, and share with their contacts. How-to videos establish a certain trust between consumers and your brand, and can serve as a smart lead generation tactic.
- Product videos – Product videos are vital for your customers’ awareness or decision stage of the overall buyer’s journey. In fact, nearly 93 percent of businesses that use video today say the strategy has boosted user understanding of their product or service, according to a recent report. Product videos not only give you the opportunity to establish a human connection with your audience, but they also convey value as you share your brand’s style and voice.
- Invitations to events – Whether you’re promoting something physical or virtual – you can use creative video messaging to increase your event registration totals or get people to your booth. Many brands today incorporate a video marketing strategy around their event using tools like email, social media, and search tactics to increase awareness.
Getting Started
While it may seem like a daunting undertaking, you can easily slip video content into your current marketing plan, helping you to establish lasting connections with your customers and increase your metrics.
Fortunately, video content has become easier to create in recent years, without the need for an expensive videographer. Armed with your smartphone and maybe a few other pieces of equipment, you can do some amazing things.
Here are some additional tips to help you make room for video in your company’s marketing strategy.
Focus on Your Main Channels
When it comes to video integration and marketing today, most brands tend to look for opportunities within their blogs, website content, and social media. Brainstorm what types of videos would be most effective for the audiences in each of these areas:
- Blogs – Review your current content calendar, as well as any previously published posts, to find content that you can enhance with video. For example, some marketers integrate “how-to” posts because you can build a visual training for viewers to follow along. Other companies prefer to post videos that simplify a complex process, or an interview with a product or industry expert.
- Website Content – Review the various pages on your company website. Can some of these pages benefit from a video? For instance, video can make a significant difference on product pages, helping to better explain the complexities of orders. Or, if a prospect is potentially investing a lot in your products, seeing a video can offer assurance that their investment is a smart one. For service providers, a video describing how your services work can be extremely effective versus just incorporating text.
- Social Media – As a marketer, you can maximize the reach of your blog videos by sharing them with your audience on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and so on. This strategy can also help attract additional engagement on your social posts.
Create Your Budget and Timeline
As we mentioned earlier in this post, to get started with video, you don’t need to make a substantial financial investment.
Consider gradually incorporating video about once a month, or maybe even three to four videos per quarter. This method can give you a sufficient test run opportunity to see what types of videos are most effective with your viewers. And if you are just starting with video content, this approach allows you to take the necessary time to plan and develop each project carefully.
With regards to budget, this timeline should be reasonable to start adding video to your marketing budget. Obviously, this ultimately depends on what types of videos you want to produce. For example, shorter videos with fewer production requirements will cost less to create. Alternatively, those videos that require more planning, scripting, and post-production will cost more. There are numerous variables that determine the cost of a video project, such as specialized camera equipment or software that you may need.
Assemble Your Team
Once you have a marketing budget and timeline in place, you need to determine how the job is going to get done. In some cases, if you are not looking to invest in a mountain of high-tech video equipment, hiring a freelancer to help you create your video is an ideal option. Using a reasonably priced freelancer on an as-needed basis can help ensure that your videos have proper lighting and audio effects, as well as strategic camera angles.
Keep in mind, if you plan to integrate new videos weekly, you may want to consider hiring an in-house video professional – someone who can become familiar with your brand and audience. Not only can this approach help with your frequency needs, but it is still more affordable than weekly outsourcing.
Ready, Set, Action!
There is a lot more to the video creation process than merely grabbing a camera and hitting record. To make high-quality, compelling videos, you must spend time planning, crafting an outline or storyboard, writing a script, setting up shots, editing and more.
If you don’t put the time into pre- and post-production work, videos can take longer to shoot and often fail to deliver the quality you ultimately want. So, whether it’s an in-depth, five-minute interview or a quick, 20-second testimonial, your video project should incorporate ample planning time to make the process run smoothly and efficiently.
If you want to succeed in building video into your content plan, you need a strategy that encompasses your entire marketing plan, not just one video for one campaign.
What Say You?
Are you a marketer producing video for your company or brand? How do you build your video strategy?
