One of the newest tools used in digital marketing is video content. The boom in video marketing is often credited to the start of YouTube in 2005. However, the industry continues to grow even on other social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok.
Video content creation has grown significantly in recent years. This is because of the development of smartphones and other gadgets that made creating and accessing content so much easier.
What is Video Marketing?
Today, video marketing is considered one of the most effective marketing tools. According to recent studies, people spend an average of 19 hours each week consuming video content. While websites such as YouTube and TikTok have always been focused on videos, other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and even LinkedIn are adapting to it as well.
But, what exactly is video marketing?
A video marketing campaign refers to the use of video content to promote a business’s product or service. It is typically accomplished through a digital or online platform. Social media sites such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are some of the most popular platforms to conduct a video marketing campaign.
Unlike other digital marketing tools, video content has been proven effective in gaining traction and attention. A recent survey shows that video marketing campaigns can establish brand awareness (70%), gain traffic (51%), and create sales (34%).
Many believe that video content is one of the easiest mediums to consume and engage. Because of mobile phones, accessing social media platforms and viewing videos is so simple.
Benefits of Video Marketing for Online Businesses
Source: Unsplash
Because of technology, video content creation, in general, is easier and simpler. High-end video cameras and professional studios are no longer essential to creating quality content. Instead, anyone can use their smartphone and use it to record their video content. In the world of business, this just made video content creation and marketing accessible for companies of all sizes.
Online marketing grew exponentially during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent data shows that there was a 215% increase in online media consumption in the United States. Given this spike in active online users, businesses took to video content marketing as a cost-effective way to engage their audience.
How?
Video content is one of the top marketing tools used to engage people on social media since it is easy to consume. But aside from that, videos have been proven to increase traffic as well. Research shows that experienced marketers use videos to boost their website’s SEO performance. Also, many believe that adding videos to blogs and articles is effective in generating quality leads.
Other benefits of video content marketing campaigns for businesses include:
- Accessibility for mobile device users.
- An effective strategy for boosting brand awareness.
- A perfect tool for building trust.
- Easy way to educate an audience.
Important Tips When Starting a Video Marketing Campaign
Create a video marketing plan
Source: Pexels
When it comes to any marketing campaign, it is crucial to make a strategy or plan first. A marketing plan serves as a guide throughout the duration of your campaign.
Your video marketing plan should include a list of your goals and objectives. Whether it’s to boost brand awareness or reach a specific number of views, shares, etc. Enumerating what you want to achieve for a marketing campaign can help you come up with different strategies and techniques to meet these goals.
Determine your target audience or market
The first step in video marketing is to identify your target audience. This can either be based on something as simple as age group, gender, or even nationality. However, it can also be specific to a particular niche, hobby, or industry. Choosing a target audience can help guide the way to structure and deliver your video content.
Identifying your target audience can help determine other elements of your video marketing campaign. Particularly where to market your video content and how to create your video specifically.
When it comes to video content, the primary goal is to make it appealing and easily digestible for your market of choice. However, it’s safe to say that some styles work better for certain people. Light, funny, and entertaining video content would easily catch the attention of a younger audience. On the other hand, longer and more detailed videos are more suited for a more mature market.
Knowing what your target audience wants will help you know which video content style would best work for them. Some of the most common types of video content used for marketing include:
- Animation videos
- Tutorial videos
- Video documentaries.
- How-to guides.
- FAQ videos
- Unboxing and product review videos.
- Brand videos
- Vlogs.
- Live streams.
- Webinars.
Choose suitable social media platforms
Source: Pexels
YouTube and TikTok are some of the most popular social media platforms for video content. However, your target audience may be neither on these sites.
While YouTube and TikTok are popular for video content, they are not the most used social media platforms today. The difference in the number of monthly active users and platform demographic are some of the factors that businesses should consider for their video marketing campaigns.
Aside from that, there is also a difference between the most popular sites and top platforms used for digital marketing. Here are some of the sites with the highest monthly active users:
- Facebook – 2.91 billion
- Instagram – 2 billion
- YouTube – 2 billion
- TikTok – 1 billion
- LinkedIn – 810 million
- Twitter – 211 million
When it comes to digital marketing, websites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn top the list. This is because these platforms offer more opportunities for marketing when compared to video-focused sites such as YouTube and TikTok.
In addition, there is also the aspect of user demographics. Social media platforms often have a defining characteristic for the majority of their users. These characteristics can then be used to identify which platform would best suit your video marketing campaign based on your target audience.
For example, your target audience is middle-aged men interested in cars. You can direct your campaign on Facebook which is used by mostly men (57%). Most Facebook users also belong to the age group of 18 to 44 years old.
On the other hand, if your market is directed towards young women and teens, TikTok would be your best fit. The majority of TikTok users are female (61%) and nearly half of them belong to the age group 10 to 29 years old.
If you want to know more about effective marketing strategies, Sidekicks is an on-demand virtual company and we’re eager to help visionaries and entrepreneurs like you. Get a free ebook and learn more about how we can help you by signing up for our newsletter. We also offer a free 30-minute consultation if you prefer something more personal.
