A study by Wyzowl reports 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool – an all-time high since 2016.
Quickly becoming the language of the internet, videos have gone from a ‘nice to have’ to a marketing strategy staple for businesses across all industries, especially tech. Companies that understand the value of video and use it effectively continue to witness substantial returns on investment. As an organizational leader, harnessing the full potential of videos and the role they play in your marketing strategy is crucial for cementing your brand's presence among your target audience(s).
The Importance of video marketing in today’s digital landscape
With the average attention span a mere 47 seconds, company leaders, especially marketers, are constantly strategizing new ways to reach their customers. As a visual, engaging, and entertaining medium, videos are effective at quickly capturing and holding your audience’s attention. They can leave a greater lasting impact than text or images alone and they serve as a powerful tool for amplifying the power of storytelling.
So how do you successfully harness the power of video? Here is a breakdown of the best ways to use the visual medium as a tool to grow your business plus tips and tactics on promotion.
1. Video for brand awareness
If your primary goal is to grow your online presence, then you are likely looking to create videos that will grab attention and resonate with your audience. Your focus is at the top of the marketing funnel and you want to attract a broad audience of potential customers.
Videos for brand awareness should not only be visually compelling but should also tell a story that aligns with your brand's identity and values. Examples of the kinds of videos to create include community involvement highlights, behind-the-scenes clips of your organization, a visual mission statement, or a company explainer, to name a few. The key to building successful brand awareness videos is to create content that people not only want to watch but also share, like, comment, and engage with.
2. Video for product and service promotion
When it comes to showcasing your product or service, data continues to show that video is unparalleled in its ability to demonstrate value. In fact, 91% of people claimed in a 2023 Wyzowl survey that they have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.
If your specific goal is to increase revenue, shorten sales cycles, and educate your audience about what your company has to offer, then you should focus on creating explainer videos. These longer-form videos should concisely show and explain how your product or service works.
An explainer video should be a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The in-depth demonstrations should walk your viewers through various use cases, addressing common pain points in your industry and how your company solves them. Focus on your unique selling points and benefits you offer the consumer. The information you provide should be conveyed in a way that is easy for viewers to digest and remember.
3. Video for customer testimonials
Utilizing your customers' voices in video form serves as an incredibly persuasive tool for your audience. If your goal is to target prospects in the consideration stage of the marketing funnel and build a deeper connection with your audience, then you should consider creating video testimonials.
Social proof not only boosts your authority but also humanizes your brand. When we see people we can relate to endorsing a product or service, we're more likely to follow suit. A video customer success story also creates a more powerful and credible message than a written one as viewers can see and hear real people who have had positive experiences with your company.
Your video testimonials should feature clients who represent each of your buyer personas. Additionally, structure your interview and overall video around the challenge your customer faced, how your company resolved it, and the outcome they experienced as a result of using your product or solution. The more quantifiable and tangible your outcomes are, the better. For example, this video testimonial from Google shows how Google Ads helped a shed and garden building retailer increase year-on-year sales by 50% and site traffic by 500%.
4. Video for thought leadership
Video serves as an excellent medium to share your knowledge and establish thought leadership. As an experienced leader, your unique expertise is of inherent value to your clients, colleagues, and industry peers. This type of content is beneficial for organizations looking to position themselves as experts on topic areas relevant to their products or services. Thought leadership videos also perform well, particularly on social media, as they have a higher chance of driving engagement.
For this type of video, you can provide insights into emerging technologies, market trends, or best practices that are relevant to your audience. Educate your viewers with informative content that answers common questions or gives tutorials on complex topics. What are you in regular discussions about with customers, colleagues, and peers? Pick a subject that resonates with you and add your unique perspective to the conversation.
5. Video for training and onboarding
Finally, video can be a highly effective tool for channel partner, customer, and employee communications, particularly for training processes.
For example, instructional videos for new feature rollouts within your partner portal, skill development, or partner onboarding can be extremely useful to your partners. Using videos to train several of your audiences simultaneously rather than doing so on a one-to-one basis over a meeting can save your organization time, money, resources, and most importantly, improve your partner experience.
Your employees, and in some cases, customers, can gain value from training videos as well. If you want to create an easily accessible resource on how to use your product or you’re releasing a technology update, then video may serve as an engaging and practical way to communicate that information to your customers.
As for employees, examples of videos you can create include corporate policy updates, executive communications, compliance training, and employee onboarding. A well-crafted onboarding video can introduce new hires to the company’s history, mission, and values, as well as key team members and facilities, forming a personalized yet standardized onboarding experience. Videos for onboarding and training are effective because employees, customers, and partners can view and rewatch them as often as necessary, ensuring consistency in how you enable your audiences to succeed.
Video distribution tactics
So you know which kinds of video will benefit your business, now how do you make sure you reach your audience?
Utilizing social media platforms for maximum reach
If you want to grow a video’s views and engagement, posting it on social media will increase its chances of getting watched and re-shared. Of all types of content, social media platforms tend to prioritize videos on users’ feeds because they’re more engaging, according to Sprout Social. The more shares and engagement your videos receive, the more your brand awareness and reach grows.
Social media has democratized the video-sharing space, enabling large and small companies across a variety of industries to establish deeper connections with their audiences. Using platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok, and Instagram, you can use videos to engage with your audience in real time or through viral campaigns specifically designed to target prospects. Additionally, you can increase your content’s reach by incorporating hashtags into your posts, interacting with other relevant accounts across your industry, and participating in current trends and challenges.
Deploying email marketing for audience nurturing
Email marketing is another effective way to share videos with your target audience. Videos can also strengthen your campaigns as they’ve been proven to increase email click-through rates and engagement.
To nurture your audience, you can strategically place a video in an email marketing campaign to amplify a relevant call-to-action (CTA). A CTA at the end of the video encourages viewers to take a specific action that guides them through the sales funnel. Examples of CTAs can include visiting your website, subscribing to your newsletter, or requesting to meet with your sales team, depending on what stage the viewer is in.
When using videos in your email marketing, it’s important to keep them short and attention-grabbing. As we mentioned earlier, most viewers have a small attention span, so it’s crucial to capture their attention within the first few seconds. The ideal length for a video used in an email is 45 seconds or under. The video should be long enough to convey your message, but not too long that viewers lose interest.
Incorporating video into your website and landing pages
As a visual medium, videos can help bring your website to life. Placing them on your site and landing pages can significantly improve your user engagement and boost conversion rates. The most common types of videos to display showcase your products or services, explain your company’s mission and values or share customer testimonials.
Incorporating video throughout your website can also have a positive impact on your search engine ranking. Search engines like Google prioritize websites with video content, making it easier for potential customers to find your business online. Another factor that determines your search ranking is the amount of time visitors spend on your website. Videos provide a way for people to stay on your site for longer periods of time, while also increasing their likelihood of further engaging with your content and converting into customers.
Amplify your brand’s effectiveness with video
Using video in your marketing strategy is no longer optional — it's expected. Further, identifying the best ways to share your videos with the correct audience is just as important as creating them. By strategically utilizing video content across different aspects of your business, you can enhance brand awareness, drive engagement, and achieve your business goals. Prioritizing the creation and distribution of impactful video content will keep your brand at the forefront of your customers' minds and help build competitive advantage.
To find out how Spur Reply can strengthen your organization through video creation, reach out here.
