What is video content marketing?

But what actually is video content marketing?

Well, let’s start with explaining content marketing, which is the creation of relevant, unique and (hopefully) engaging material that is disseminated across various media, from blogs to social channels, emails to – yes – video.

Its purpose is to attract and affect your target audience in certain ways, depending on where they are in the customer journey. Essentially, content marketing exists to get people in – and push them down – the marketing funnel.

Let’s play make-believe for a second: You’re a property developer (hey, like these guys we work with) and you want to attract interest from potential house buyers. So, as part of your ongoing marketing strategy, you identify your target audience and build buyer personas so you can create interesting, useful content focused around their needs and wants. And then you send that content out into the big wide world.

And, as we’ve seen above, one of the most powerful ways to get your message across is through video content marketing.

Types of video content marketing

So, if video is the way forward, you’re going to want to grab your clapperboard, get behind the camera and shout ‘action!’ as soon as possible. First, you need to determine the types of video content you want to create.

Brand videos

These usually form part of a larger advertising or awareness-building campaign, and aim to acquaint your audience with your brand values, vision statements and company mission. It’s the soul of your brand in a 2-minute segment. It’s a chance to convey your brand’s overarching story in a way that’s unsuitable to any other form of video content.

Product videos

These showcase how your products or services work, explaining their facets and benefits to the audience. It’s a good idea to put your products to the test – either via a demonstration or third-party testimonial – so the audience can see the benefits with their own eyes or hear about them from an independent source.

Interview videos

Want to build trust with your audience? Then get your thought leaders, industry experts and those with a different take on things in front of the camera. Seeing the people behind the brand adds to your credibility and lets your passion shine through. Make sure they include actual insight and opinion rather than just trotting out the same old same old.

Vlogs

Vlogs give your audience a more personal insight into the people behind the brand, humanising your business and making you more relatable. They’re more raw and cheaper to produce than the high-gloss, highly produced content used by so many, and so provide you with an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

Company culture videos

These are a little like vlogs in that they get behind the scenes, show what your business is about and help humanise you to your audience. But they should be more employee-focused and reveal the nature, the driving visions and even the idiosyncrasies of your company. It’s an opportunity to tell your behind-the-scenes brand story and give people an insight into why you do what you do.

Testimonial videos

Testimonials offer two main benefits: first, they build trust and put your customers’ minds at ease because they show an independent party waxing lyrical about you. And second, they can be intersected with visuals showing your product features and benefits, much like a product video. Two birds, one stone? Don’t mind if I do…

Due to its popularity and propensity to stick in the viewer’s mind, video content marketing should be an integral tool of your content marketing strategy. And there are so many different varieties of video content marketing that, no matter your experience or budget, there will be a type of video that can work for you. So that the only real barrier to entry is the time it takes to write your script and shoot the content.

create memorable video content

we are constantly reminded of the importance of creativity and often consider it to be a key success factor, but few seem to be putting their money where their mouth is and are settling for a vanilla campaign.

PLAYING IT SAFE WON’T PAY OFF

Many of us would consider a failed campaign to be one of bad taste, causing an uproar. However, what about dull, safe, cliché content that no one notices? Does that do anything for a brand’s reputation? many content creators seem to rely on the tried and tested method, working on the same campaign year after year because that is what they know, but not always what’s best.

INSPIRATION IS EVERYWHERE

Stepping out of your comfort zone is easier said than done but as tough it may be, it can be worth it. The best marketing team all want to achieve what many companies struggle to – inserting a non-tech product into the digital age – This will drive engagement with a relevant audience and also get all the right people talking.

The humour created has a lot of interaction with its customers and should serve as a reminder for all of us that with some creativity, any brand can really grab attention.

ENCOURAGING CREATIVITY

Some people argue that creativity is something you are simply born with, much like a strong singing voice, or the ability to roll your tongue; you’ve either got it or you haven’t. Wrong – just like any other talent, creativity takes practice and effort, and perhaps most importantly, the correct environment in which to thrive.

There are many steps you can take to ensure your whole team is fulfilling their potential. We’ve all got creativity in us. It’s just a case of bringing it to the fore. So where to start?

• Encourage everyone to look at the bigger picture. I have seen many marketers concentrate on specific product features when in reality that isn’t what consumers care about. Do not try to sell the product specs in your campaigns, but instead really think about why anyone would want your product.

• Focus on the brand narrative. Behind every product is a story – the reason you brought it to life in the first place. Do not be afraid of looking back and concentrating on the story as it can often re-ignite what initially made it a success whilst keeping ideas in line with what the company can achieve.

• Understand the brand you are working with. For every product there is a consumer – find that consumer and understand what makes them tick. Then work out how to get them to notice you.

• Use data to fuel your campaigns to really hit that sweet spot that many brands strive to achieve. Getting hold of and analysing your audience data is key to understanding what makes your target market tick, and furthermore, what will ultimately increase your brand notoriety and long-term relevancy.

• Take your lead from new companies. Start-ups and contender brands often lead the way in creative marketing. Why? Because they have so much less to lose, and often they are much agiler. Established brands are often weighed down by brand guidelines and accepted work practices. While you can’t rebrand a household name just for the sake of it, take inspiration from smaller brands on individual campaigns and projects.

• Creativity is the art of the possible. We can all be creative if we are not constrained by budgets, brand guidelines, or the basic laws of physics. But sadly, most of us have to operate within those parameters. True creativity is making something amazing with the time, money and resources available to you.

In a world where the average person reads an article for 15 seconds, marketers need to up their game. With so many channels of communication nowadays, it is the creative brand that will disrupt the norm and get noticed. Consider what you could do differently today to reach your consumers in a creative way – the future of your brand may depend on it.

Video content: why it’s important and how it can boost your brand

Video content is rapidly becoming one of the most effective forms of marketing today, with 86% of businesses using videos to sell their products or services.

When using Facebook ads, an ​​eCommerce marketing agency will almost always use videos to promote the product. Some even offer video services to help produce quality content that your potential customers will love.

Keeping up with trends

The CEO of Instagram recently announced that the app would be geared towards video content going forwards, which is no surprise considering the introduction of reels last year to compete with video content giant TikTok.

In 2020, TikTok was the most downloaded app on the Apple app store, second to Youtube, which says volumes about users’ preference for video content, and even more about the device they’re using.

Mobile users are 1.4 times more likely to watch an ad on their device than desktop users and more likely to pay attention to the content of that ad.

Short and snappy

The average millennial has an attention span of 12 seconds, and Gen Z even less at just 8 seconds. This means your video content has to be engaging and attention-grabbing from the start.

The suggested length of any video on social media is 15 seconds, while ads allow videos up to 30 seconds. Your ads have to get to the point quickly while offering the user a reason to continue watching. Whether that’s solving a pain point or providing entertainment.

An eCommerce agency will always suggest ways that their clients produce quality videos optimised to be 30 seconds long, squeezing in all the relevant information effectively without being overwhelming.

Videos ads that have proven to be the most successful show a human face talking to the camera in the first shot of the video, and have to have a personal feel that is unique to that brand, so consider prioritising these elements in your videos.

Videos market themselves

The beauty of video content is that if viewers find it worth watching, they will naturally share it with their friends. When asked if they would share a branded video with friends, 76% of users said they would if the video was entertaining.

Prioritise making creative, engaging video content to share online and watch engagement grow. Consider making behind-the-scenes videos or explanatory videos that show off your products. Anything that gives the user more information about your unique brand while being funny, informative or inspirational is likely to capture the user’s attention.

Suppose you’re unsure of how to create these videos. In that case, eCommerce marketing agencies can offer advice on how to optimise each video for different platforms to achieve the best results.

Good for the consumer…

… good for the company.

By placing a video on a landing page with more information about the advertised service or product, conversion rates can increase by 80%. Including a video in an email can increase the click-through rate by up to 300%.

So not only does video content provide a better experience for the customer, but it also has a positive effect on conversions.

As Google focuses on finding the most relevant content according to the user’s search term, ads that have a quality video on the landing page often appear higher in the search rankings, as Google tries to serve them the most informative page.

In summary: if you haven’t started making video content for your brand, then you’re falling behind.

Start by creating compelling product videos for advertising purposes, and then branch out into making creative, entertaining content for social media. In some cases, innovative, organic videos can be the most effective in building trust with your audience and could even see the most significant increase in conversions.

Either way, get started making content or hire an eCommerce agency to make them for you and reap the rewards.

Experimental production

In our world of experiential production, we have sins of our own that, if committed, can be detrimental to content quality. If you’re an agency considering experiential activity, here are some pitfalls to avoid for a less scary production experience.

1) Bad budgets

Number one on the list for a reason. Probably the most important factor when considering the production of an event is how much it’s going to cost. In the majority of cases clients have an allocated budget for their vision, but in most scenarios initial budgets need revising upwards rather than downwards.

The rule of thumb here is that it’ll usually cost more than you think. This is frequently because of those boring ‘fixed costs’ for the stuff nobody sees. Project management time, logistics, crew, technicians, H&S protocols. So be prepared for your initial cost estimates to exceed earmarked budgets.

2) Scary creative

Developing an outstanding event concept is all part of the creative process, and is entirely valid and valuable. If ideas were not big or adventurous enough, the world of experiential production would be less exciting for it.

However, the primordial blue sky ideas must then evolve to match the reality of budgets. As the phrase goes, “If you only have beer money, don’t buy champagne”. Creative and budget must align.

3) Tunnel vision

Clients will often have a vision of what the end experience looks like. Whether big and bold or meager and modest, in almost all circumstances the thought process is fixed on what the “front of house” areas will do and look like, based on limited knowledge of the “back of house” event production solutions that exist.

Can you really build that in a single day? Can you really make a projector do that? Does this installation need to be running for a week or would two days deliver the same result? Having an end goal vision is essential, but usually needs to be tempered by knowledge of the practical components required to bring the vision to life.

4) Time is ticking

Hashing out creative ideas is a fundamental process to be enjoyed and is how the best campaigns come together. However, avoid the tendency to let time slip away during the creative evolution. Each project-amend, each analysis of the knock-on effects and every associated budgetary re-work all require time from somewhere, and naturally that must be re-allocated from slick event production and execution time.

5) Communication and collaboration

Carrying off an experiential campaign requires teamwork between agencies, and full collaboration by all parties. When one element goes rogue it puts everyone else out of step. When a high profile sports influencer is booked to attend a public activation, consult the event production company first, who will advise on security implications. If an agency is keen on an exquisitely PR-able location, open it to the wider group. The event agency will flag any location-specific production implications that may impact experience or budget.