In this post, you will learn the most important steps to take before implementing a video marketing strategy. Before you even contemplate pressing that record button, it’s so vital to have a plan in place; this should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
A S.M.A.R.T goal is used across the board with marketing, and we can implement the same concepts into our video marketing plan. This will prevent a scattergun approach to video marketing, which often results in poor results and will mean your video gets lost in the noise of the online video world.
With 30% of people watching online videos regularly, it’s imperative you get in front of some of these viewers.
For videos to really work, a more strategic approach is needed. This guide will lay out the five fundamental steps required for a successful video marketing strategy.
Identifying Your Audience
All marketers need to create targeted, personalised experiences for consumers to be interested in their efforts among a sea of advertisers and brands. When you have a comprehensive understanding of your target audience, you’re able to make much better decisions about the messages you want to get across.
A targeted audience refers to the very specific group of people who are the most likely to want or need your products or services – these are the people you need to be directing your video content. A target audience can be dictated by interests, geographic location, gender, age, income, or a myriad of other factors.
Once you have profiled your audience, approach your content as if you were the consumer; what are you offering, how will you enrich their life, etc. Think of what type of video content would engage you, and apply this to your video content.
A one-size-fits-all content plan is ineffective; it needs to be relevant and of value to a very specific, targeted group of people.
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Determining Your Goals
One of the most crucial things to consider when starting your video marketing journey is to determine the goals you want to achieve. You’ll likely want to reach many and various goals, such as; raising awareness of your brand, bringing in new leads, or improving conversion rates. The goal for each video creation should be front and centre during the production process.
Goals have a considerable bearing on what platform the video is uploaded to, so adapt to this.
It’s essential to ensure your goals are well-defined, measurable, concrete, and achievable, with clear deadlines – for example, reaching 10,000 views is reasonable, but it matters greatly whether this is achieved in a month or a decade.
The most important goals in video marketing that meet the S.M.A.R.T acronym are:
- Attract a large number of views
- Obtain many unique viewers
- Communicate with your target audience
- Gain viewer loyalty
- Entice viewer engagement
- Increase your exposure through consumers sharing your content
- Generate click-throughs
- Receive subscribers
- Improve conversion rates
The priority of your goals may change over time, and it is common for brands to switch and adapt consistently before finding a video production that truly thrives at meeting their goals.
Choosing the Right Platform for Video
If you’re launching a brand new product for existing clients to switch to, they’re not going to seek this out on YouTube, and a landing page, email campaign, or social media platform where your followers already are, would be the better options. By informing existing consumers on existing platforms, this can increase brand loyalty, especially if they’re the first to know of business changes.
However, if you’re trying to increase your exposure, then YouTube is one of the best platforms to use and a platform that more than 60% of businesses are currently using.
Here are my four favoured free and easy ways to get more views on YouTube:
- Create Compelling Content: Consistently create videos that solve a consumer problem or meet their needs. This is the greatest way of developing a loyal community of fans, which leads to more YouTube views.
- Encourage People to Subscribe: Retaining consumers is a powerful way to grow a business; when consumers subscribe, they’re notified of your next video upload and are more inclined to watch it. How do you get people to subscribe? Simply ask them to.
- Create Playlists: Auto-play is a great way to keep a consumer on your channel; when great videos just keep playing, a cognitive bias is at work here called ‘loss aversion.’ Playlists also help to improve search rankings, so they are effective in two ways.
- Be Aware of Watch Time: YouTube ranks videos higher the longer they’re watched, so avoid getting straight to the point early on in the video, as once consumers have the details, what is left to keep them tuned in?
With over a billion hours of video watched daily on YouTube, there’s so much that goes into capturing an audience here, but nothing is out of the realms of possibility.
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Deciding the Aim of Each Video
It often works much better if each video has a single aim, this could be providing information about a singular product or service, for example. By condensing the details within the video, they’re more likely to sink in with the viewer than if you’re a mile-a-minute showcasing all your products, every service, and tons of information for each – it is too much.
You could dedicate a video series to products and a video for each one. Titles such as ‘how to’ and product demonstrations go down exceptionally well on most video platforms.
Setting a Realistic Budget
It is so important to have a realistic budget that is appropriate for the level of production for your brand or business. Don’t see this as a cost but an investment, and consider how much a client is worth to you and that client’s lifetime value.
There are certainly things you can do that don’t cost a lot, but also some things that are really worth investing in, such as consistent branding, filming equipment, editing software, and many aspects of your overall marketing campaign.
In addition to financial resources, time is also incredibly important to invest in the field of video marketing. From research and writing to shooting and editing; these are all areas where corners shouldn’t be cut.
To Conclude
I hope my five steps to a video marketing strategy have been a useful read. Remember, you don’t have to do this all at once, and many things can come later down the line when you re-prioritize your goals.
Investing time is just as important as investing money; ensure you always see these as investments over losses.
Be prepared to adapt and change, and remain open to this as trends, consumer habits, and the economy fluctuate. Also, don’t forget to check out my own video here for more tips and tricks regarding video marketing strategies.
