By now, you’ve probably heard that video marketing is all the rage. It’s evidently more impactful and can engage many more people on social media networks than a post with an image alone could. You may be saying, “Yeah, that sounds great, but I don’t have the time and the resources to make a video!” Well, don’t throw the idea away just yet.

 
What if we told you that within just a few hours, you could have enough video content for almost a whole year to dole out each month? There are many styles of videos for marketing and some will take much longer to make. However, a simple Q& A style video can be done relatively quickly and provides numerous beneficial results to your marketing. 

by addressing topics you believe are important to your audience, your business value is increased and deeper relationships are developed as you’re looked at as a trusted expert in your field.

Before you take your first stab at making a video, keep in mind the following pointers to get the most out of your work:

1. Grab attention early.

Ideally within 1st 10 seconds or less, appeal to the viewers’ emotions by addressing particular pain points, concerns, or other impassioned viewpoints.

2. Establish a clear Call to Action (CTA).

Determine what your ultimate goal is for the video, i.e. visiting your website, sharing the video, etc. and incorporate that into a straightforward CTA usually toward the end of the video, such as “Learn more at (insert url).” 

3. Don’t forget about the post text.

What you write about in the text for the video post is very important and should be used as the bait & hook to the video. Be sure to not spam it with hashtags.

4. Set it to autoplay with subtitles.

One study found that 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound. The video needs to be able to attract attention without sound, meaning an aesthetically pleasing background and camera quality is important, but so is the need for subtitles. Facebook offers this as an option now. Contact us if you want more specifics! 

5. Know how to measure your success.

Depending on the platform the video is posted on, make sure you know how to read the metrics, i.e. the number of shares, the amount of engagement, and the number of clicks to your site.

6. Follow the golden rules.

Make sure you have a good audio (lavaliere wireless microphone), a clear and aesthetically pleasing, but not distracting background, and that you’re discussing something that you are passionate about.

7. Upload the video individually into the social networks rather than sharing a YouTube link.

While it would certainly be easier to share the same link across all channels, Facebook’s algorithm favors videos placed directly onto their platform more than links. Doing it this way will create greater organic reach, especially on Facebook. 

8. Optimize for search.

The text you include in your post about the video won’t be searchable, but the headline and descriptions you post with your video will. Try to include those keywords or phrases you think viewers would be searching for to help them find your content, and include a couple relevant hashtags on platforms like Twitter and Instagram to boost search results.

Now for the director & producer in you, here’s a list of ideas for topics:

1. Share a how-to video.

It’s important to keep the video short, so if it’s a visual “How-To”, use the speed-up feature in your video editing software to shorten the duration. 

2. Answer questions.

Give brief answers to a few of the main questions you know your audience is interested in. This is a great way to establish your business’s expert credibility.

3. Take viewers behind the scenes.

This is a powerful brand-building tool as users on social media follow companies typically because they have an affinity for the business and want to learn more about what the brand really is and what it stands for. Show viewers how something works or how something is made and this can lead to major increases in brand loyalty.

4. Tell a story.

By creating a story with a beginning, middle, and end that fits into a 30-second video, you’re bound to easily connect with viewers. Telling stories about real people is ideal, but even telling a story about your customers, your business, or a cause you want to raise awareness on are dynamic tools to build and sustain loyal relationships.

Are you ready yet?

If you’re pressed for time, but feel video marketing is an excellent strategy you want to give a try, start out with the Answering Questions format. 

• Develop a list of 10 questions that your clients and prospects most frequently ask you about your business. 
• Then brainstorm another list of 10 questions that you think your clients and prospects need to know, but rarely ask.
• Rehearse the answers so you can keep the videos short and sweet, ideally within the 60 sec range. This way, you don’t even have to worry about editing except for the start and finish. Doing them all at once can be filmed in just a few hours. 
  

If you schedule a day on your calendar that you can sit down and record 20 videos back to back, you can have 10 months of videos ready to go that get posted online every two weeks. Pretty efficient, right?

Once you have a video created, cross promote it on your blog, post it on YouTube so the link can be embedded into an email newsletter campaign, and add it as a video post to your social media networks.

BIS Designs is more than happy to come to your location or schedule time in our studio to record video tutorials, testimonials, or any such video as described above. Our comprehensive marketing services can integrate your video marketing with your website, social media, and print marketing endeavors, all the while ensuring your videos are efficiently optimized to help your search engine rankings. Contact our Designs team to learn more about our video marketing services and how we can increase your brand’s recognition, reinforce your business’s credibility, and boost both your search rankings and social engagement.