Most marketers are starting to realize the potential of video marketing. More than 500 million hours of YouTube videos are watched every day, and it’s been estimated that by 2019, more than 80 percent of all internet traffic will be for video. Video presents information faster and more intuitively than written content, and thanks to modern, lightning-fast internet speeds, streaming is easier and more reliable.
Fortunately, there are some approachable ideas that can be handled even by amateurs, and have enough power to attract an initial audience:
Tutorial Videos
Tutorials have been a popular content archetype for years, and for good reason. People often rely on online searches for answers to their practical questions, from “how to check the oil in a car” to “how to impress a first date.” Written tutorials have served tremendous SEO value in the past, since their titles tend to be naturally optimized for question-based queries, but now video tutorials are taking precedence. Consider walking your users through the steps of a process with a quick, few-minutes-long video. If you still want a written article, you can get the best of both worlds by embedding your video into an in-depth written piece.
Q&A Video Series
Question-and-answer formats are friendly to newcomers, because they don’t take much prep work and don’t require much production value. You’ll also have the benefit of engaging your audience directly. The goal here is to collect questions from your target audience and/or customers, then have a representative (such as the president of the company, or the head of a specific department) answer those questions in a point-blank personal commentary.
A Sneak Preview
Sneak peeks at new designs, new products, or other exciting announcements are always a good option for video marketing. Not only do they help you build excitement for your newest developments, they also end up being highly shareable—people like the feeling of knowing something first, and will share it with their friends to tout this (and serve them content relevant to their interests). The trick to creating a good “sneak preview” video is to give users enough to make them feel rewarded, but hold back enough to make them want even more. For example, you might show off just one special feature—the most impressive one—of your new product.
Testimonials
Sincere testimonial videos will never hurt your brand. If you’re a B2B business, consider contacting some of your biggest clients and asking them to put together a brief video summarizing how you’ve helped them in the past. If you’re on the B2C side, sponsor a contest or offer other incentives for your customers to put together videos of themselves using the product, or reviewing the product. Social proof carries enormous value, so aim to get at least a few of these in your archive.
MVP
Megan Van Petten
CEO & President
Van Petten Group, Inc.