Humans love to watch. It’s biological – it’s been part of us since we were born. Before we know how to speak, we learn to understand the world around us by observing. Vision is such a powerful tool. Sound perhaps even more so: prior to birth, in our mother’s belly we perceive the world from its noises and vibrations. 

Over the years, more and more, images and sounds have completely revolutionised society and we all have learned how sight and hearing can steal our minds, make us sad, happy, or inspired. In the past, creating a video or music production required extremely high budgets and large organisations, today this has changed. The digital revolution, which began in the late 1950s, is at its highest expression. 

Production of audio-visual content is truly within everyone’s each and we are all strongly attracted to it: clicking the “play” button of a video is an irresistible temptation.  

Today, for any company, even B2B offerings, it is essential to add leverage of videos to its marketing strategy to make yourself known, explain products and strategies, carry out educational campaigns, and offer information. In essence it encourages brand awareness.  

Think about your strategy first 

According to YouTube, their users watch around 1 billion hours of video every day. From this data, it’s evident as to how a strong video marketing strategy can be a huge opportunity for a multitude of businesses.  

We explored Visual Identity before (see “Identity for your brand or business”), and to align with this and have a visible result from the video content we create it is essential to have a video marketing strategy in place that aligns with the goals of your business. 

Video marketing is an essential part of web marketing strategies, based on video content creation to promote and market a product or service. This branch is growing increasingly – thanks to the internet and the possibility that it offers to stream videos anywhere just with one click. Seeing and hearing someone speaking puts users in a more favourable position and increases attention when compared to reading the same communication as simple text. Therefore, it’s our opinion that a strong video marketing strategy is strictly necessary within every business and every web marketing campaign.  

Video marketing best practices 

The starting point is to understand what kind of video suits your target audience, what is the best platform where to share it and what is the best duration to be strong enough? 

It is important to carry out an accurate analysis of your business reality and referring market to understand how video marketing can help with brand communication and to establish the best personal strategy. However, there are some tips and trends that can help you implement an effective video campaign. 

Customize and define the target audience 

Identify your target audience is essential before setting up and launching any type of communication. Knowing who you are addressing makes every message more effective and less expensive.  

When we use videos to promote our business is even more essential to define the correct buyer personas – whom you want to sell to and define the market niche you want to engage. This is because a good video content needs to be shaped around specific needs of a well-defined segment of users that will be fully emersed in your video content. 

Follow the trends 

Let’s look at how social networks have evolved since the first years of arriving, what has changed? We can remember at just how important photos and written content was, just looking back at Instagram and Twitter a few years ago. But today, thanks to the new platforms and formats such as TikTok and Instagram reels, it seems that videos have become the focus of most social media platforms. Based on this trend, it is important to be continually on the look for the current trends, which are the most popular content types to create and share and where to post? Video trends are fast paced and always evolving, by ensuring you are emersed in this world will allow your business to benefit from the reach and engagement this popular content allows.   

Less duration, more quality 

In the world of videos and content that web is offering us today, our goal is to stand out among the others. What could make a difference in the quality and duration of our videos? Users prefer short, good quality videos in contrast to long-winded amateur videos. What we have in our favour is that today, it is quite easy to create high quality videos without having to spend a big budget. So, pay attention to the duration, never to exceed 1 minute and a half duration unless absolutely necessary.  

Another tip to think about when editing a video is to make it watchable and engaging even without audio – utilise subtitles, graphics, and text. Many users watch videos in silent mode while in the office or on the train for example – to be able to still watch a video and enjoy it without sound, ensures you don’t miss an opportunity to engage with your target audience.  

For each platform, its own 

When planning video content keep in mind where you will be going to use it. Each platform has its own ‘rules’ and best practices, it is crucial to follow them if you want to ensure the best results from your content. Find out which dimensions are best to use, the perfect duration or the most engaged editing style for post-production.  

‘A good beginning is half the battle won’ 

Nothing in your video will be more important than the first 10 seconds. We could make the best video ever, but if the first seconds are not engaging enough – nobody will watch to the end. The begin of any video needs to be the best part of it, it needs to create interest and curiosity for the user making it unlikely they will click or scroll away from it. But, remember what we said before, if the video is too long – most users are unlikely to continue to watch – especially short-form video content to be consumed on mobile or tablet devices on the go.  

Avoid being too self-referential 

In the last few years, from when advertising came to be normal in our lives, people became more and more aware of how it works. As many studies demonstrated, as soon as the users realise that you are trying to sell them something they try to escape. The old salesperson technique to sell by ‘hook or by crook’ does not work anymore. People are more engaged in your content if they are focused on a story rather than on a product (see our blog about storytelling to learn more about creating engaging stories). So, my advice is: try to thrill them first, then sell. A user interested in your content will buy without you asking him to do it explicitly. 

Choose the type of video that’s right for you 

Now that we can avoid making blunders related to the content and format of our videos, let’s look at the video types. For companies that make complex products or services videos could be an ideal format, better than explain through words. For example, creating demos or interviews with customers satisfied with their experience, illustrate operations schemes, show concepts that are easier to visualize than telling could make the difference in your sales. For example, White Square Studio created this video for our client Greenwood Plants.

Through this video, it was possible to show a service they offer in a simple and engaging way.  

There are many diverse types of videos, and each type has a different purpose. We could gather the marketing video types into seven main groups:  

• Demonstrative, tutorial, or webinar 
• Teasers  
• Emotive 
• Corporate 
• Interviews 
• Live broadcasts  
• Social  

Demonstrative videos 

Even more, companies started to utilise videos to explain the complex functionality of a product or service they offer. They are designed to provide the public with a brief but engaging explanation of what companies offer, with the aim of introducing themselves immediately. 

Very similar to the demonstrative videos, but more focused on instructions than on the brand are the tutorials or webinar videos. They have the aim of explaining in detail the steps necessary to achieve specific results. With educational and demonstrative content, they are used to promote a product or service, explaining in detail its technical functionality and, therefore, the advantages. 

Teaser 

Teaser videos are the pre-launch advertising videos of a product. The main aim is to communicate that a new product or a new service will soon arrive on the market. A teaser video needs to stimulate interest and desire for need, pushing customers to purchase. They are a preliminary phase, part of the prior launch campaign, capable of attracting attention often by the absence of the product or references to the brand. 

Emotional videos 

Emotive videos are the most powerful, penetrating, and impactful type of videos you could make. Obviously, it is not a kind of video that suits every type of business, so it is always a clever idea to understand if it suits your brand with the help of your marketing strategy and target analysis.  

In the purchase choice, people are influenced by emotions. A video that is 90% emotions and 10% brand is an emotive one.   

Using an emotive video in your marketing strategy is an effective way to make your brand be remembered thanks to the emotions that the video generates in the viewer.  

Corporate videos  

A corporate video can perform many functions, as promoting the brand, renewing its image, or acquiring new customers. Those videos convey a representation of the company in global terms, describing company managerial style, its vision, the way it interfaces with employees or customers.  

It is a communication strategy that operates at multiple levels: it can be a resource for attracting new investors or clients, consolidating your presence in the market or build an immediately recognizable corporate image at an international level. 

Interview videos 

Video interviews can be extremely helpful to show the authenticity of your company. You can decide to interview your employees or your clients to make your brand more “human” and closer to customers. Showing the faces of people that are deeply involved with your business is a great strategy to increase your credibility.  

Live broadcast videos  

Live streaming videos can be the right marketing strategy to generate immediate interest among potential new customers or strengthen ties with existing ones. The best way to win over potential new clients is to enter their everyday life.  

The real difference from a classic video is that with live ones your audience can interact. Users can give immediate answers and feedback, and their involvement should not be left to chance but used to test their reactions to your proposals and ideas. 

Social media videos 

The number of videos produced daily on Instagram has quadrupled over the past five years. An incredible 87% of online marketers are investing in social media videos today.  

From YouTube to TikTok there are a lot of different platforms for your social media video strategy. Make sure to adapt your content to the specific one you will be using.  

Still not sure if video marketing is a good decision?* 

• Video advertising is more than 35% of online advertising 
• 91% of customers say product videos help them make purchasing decisions 
• 64% of customers are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it 
• 87% of web marketing professionals use video content in their strategies 
• A third of all the time people spend online is dedicated to watching videos. 
• 81% of businesses saw an increase in sales and 53% said customer service calls were down 
• 87% of users surveyed said they would like to see more brand videos 

If you are convinced now, contact us for a free consultation on what is the best strategy for your company and we will be happy to help you make the perfect video for you! 

*Source: Forbes