(ThyBlackMan.com) It used to be the case that only the biggest brands considered video advertising. That’s because the TV was the only place to really take advantage of video advertising – and getting an advert on TV wasn’t cheap.
Nowadays, it’s a very different story. The internet has made it easy and free to share video content. As a result, companies of all sizes are taking advantage of it.
Video marketing has been proven to be very engaging. Here are just some of the key ingredients to producing effective video marketing that wins over customers.
Make sure it’s professional quality
Your video isn’t going to do any favours for your reputation if it’s poor quality. If you have no experience with video production, your best move is to hire a professional video production company. They will have the top quality video equipment and the editing skills necessary to make your video look professional.
A good video doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. For a basic video, you may only have to pay a couple hundred dollars. Decide what you think is necessary for you.
Tell a story
Telling a story is one of the best ways to make a video engaging. One common example is the story of a consumer facing a problem, which is then solved by buying a certain product/using a certain service. Another common example is the story of how the company was formed.
Using a story helps to give a video a clear structure, plus viewers will want to stick around to find out the outcome.
Use animations to explain the hard stuff
Animations can be a great device for helping to visualise complex information to a potential consumer. This could be anything from the mechanism of a mattress to a video on how the cloud works.
You should hire a professional animator to create these visuals. You could even consider making your entire video advert an animation.
Add captioning for easier coherence
Captions have proven to be popular for increasing understanding. They allow people to read along, which could help if watching a video on low volume somewhere noisy (a lot of people watch video adverts on their phones). They may also help to make terms and brand names more memorable.
Closed captioning companies can be used to provide captions. Such companies may even be able to create captions in other languages.
Be humorous
Adding some humor to your video adverts could help them to come across more personable and more memorable. You could revolve your advert around a story with a humorous twist or you could simply add in a few light gags or puns.
Humor has its place of course – you don’t want it to come across forced and you don’t want to misuse it when discussing something too serious. Consider who your customer is and what you’re trying to achieve.
Come up with a clickworthy title
Once you’ve created your video, you need a snappy title that gets people clicking. This can make a big deal on the likes of Youtube. Think about keywords and questions that people are likely to be searching and incorporate these into your title. Make sure that the title is relevant and not simply ‘clickbait’ – whilst you may get the views, you’ll anger most viewers and won’t get any customers.
Provide links to your site
Links can be essential for turning viewers into customers – they direct customers as to where to find your product/services. You should add links to your site within your video and within the description of it.
On top of links to your site, you can also provide links to your social media pages and any other website pages that you feel could benefit from extra traffic.
Share in the right places at the right times
Where and when you share your video is also important. This will help your video to get maximum exposure and generate the most leads.
You should firstly consider sharing it on social media or hire the best press release distribution service. By sharing it as a promoted post, you can reach out to non-followers and get more exposure. Consider posting during times when your key consumer is most likely to be online (if you’re promoting business software, you’ll probably want to promote it during business hours).
Secondly, you should consider embedding the video on your website. This will allow any visitors to see it and it could help to further encourage these visitors into becoming customers. This version of the video may not need to include links to your website given that it’s already on your website.
You may also want to run your video as a YouTube ad. This will then display before YouTube videos. As with promoted social media posts, you can choose to target a specific consumer base that are likely to be interested in your product.
Finally, you should consider non-internet related occasions. For instance, you may be able to display your video at trade shows on a screen or at other marketing events. You may even consider trying to get it on local TV (although this will cost you a lot of money).
The best time to run these videos is likely to be just as you’re launching a new product or service. This could help to build up buzz for it. You can also use videos during quiet times of the year to help boost sales during these quiet periods. If you’re advertising a temporary deal, make sure to only run your video for as long as the deal lasts so that you’re not continuing to promote a deal that no longer exists.
Staff Writer; Ricky Poole