The Secrets to Winning at Video Marketing in 2019
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Don’t miss the boat! Whether you are in B2B or B2B, video marketing should be part of your strategy! It is increasing in popularity and it is here to stay. If you are not doing it, you are missing out!
I’ve recently been asked by Wave.video to participate in an expert roundup and I was asked about my predictions for video marketing in 2019. They ended up creating an awesome post and consolidated tips from many marketers and it definitely confirmed my own prediction.
Check out my video submission below.
If you watched my video, you’ll know that my prediction for video marketing in 2019 is the rise of one-minute videos which are shot on a mobile device. I will explain further down this post why.
When I attended the Growth Marketing Summit in San Francisco in December 2018, this prediction was confirmed by various industry experts. By the way, the event was awesome. Maybe it had something to do that it was hosted in San Francisco… I loved the city!
Anyways, at the event, I attended an excellent workshop given by Dennis Yu from BlitzMetrics and Natalie De Souza Ferreyra from Infusionsoft. They made me realize that you don’t always need the best-edited videos for a successful video marketing strategy as often times it shows that a company is behind it and people will perceive the video as an advertisement. The key is to be personable!
The rise of one-minute videos!
Ask yourself this question. If you watch a video and you don’t know what the video is about in the first few seconds, what do you do? If you are like most people, you will just keep scrolling and move on to the next post.
The fact of the matter is that people have a short attention span on social media. With more than 3 billion people on social media, there is no way around it. Social media marketing should be part of your strategy, whether you are in B2B or B2C.
Did you ever see the videos of Tasty, the food videos? I personally love them and they have perfected social video marketing. Just take a look at some of their videos. What do they all have in common?
Their videos start by showing the end result; in this case, the completed meal. The video then continues by showing the recipe and the steps involved to cook the meal. Additionally, the videos are always short and to the point.
This is exactly how to do video marketing in 2019. I can’t stress enough how important it is to get your main message across within the first few seconds of the video. If you don’t do this, the consequences are simple: people will keep scrolling and you just lost a viewer.
A blueprint for one-minute video marketing
Of course, one-minute videos shouldn’t be your one and only video marketing strategy. You can also create longer ones, shorter ones, do some live streaming, and you should include webinars. However, the below blueprint applies for most situations.
- 0-5 seconds: Get your main message across. In the case of Tasty videos, show the end result of the food first.
- 5-10 seconds: Company introduction
- 10-50 seconds: Main part of the video
- 50-60 seconds: Conclusion
Video marketing statistics
Of course, any data-driven marketer is not just going to take my word for it. If you are anything like me, you want to see statistics to back up my claim.
81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool -- up from 63%, the number reported in their 2017 survey. (Hubspot)
81% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand's video. (Hubspot)
85% of people say they'd like to see more video from brands in 2018 (Hubspot)
By 2020, online videos will make up more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic (85% in the US). (Cisco)
Almost one-third of total internet users, over one billion people, are on YouTube. (YouTube)
I could go on and on, but I believe the message is clear. There are so many video marketing benefits and you are really doing yourself a favor to include it in your mix.
Companies often conduct surveys and create research reports, and for good reasons because people love statistics. After creating this amazing report, they will publish it on their website in order to generate leads.
Now the promotion starts and companies will create blog posts and social media posts to generate traffic to their landing page. A great strategy is to also create short and easy to consume videos about the research report and post it to social media. This allows you to promote this content through more channels and will result in more leads.
Make video marketing personable
As mentioned in my prediction, videos don’t always have to be perfectly edited. You need to use video marketing to create trust by creating personable and relatable videos.
You can literally, just bust out your smartphone and start recording a video. If you are in B2B, think of short interviews that you can conduct. Interview the leaders of certain departments within your company. Reminder to keep it concise; just ask one question. Another method is doing a live stream and a Q&A.
Just slightly edit the video and then upload it to social media. Don’t spend hours trying to perfect a one-minute video. We all have corporate guidelines and standards to follow, but when people see a perfectly edited video, we will instantly think it is an advertisement.
The branding police within your company will probably have a heart attack but realize that humans are very social beings. With all this corporate jargon smashed around all the time, the need to personable videos is increasing. You want people to connect with your brand. The only way to achieve this is to be personable and evoke emotions. Did you ever see someone connect to a brand that is strictly corporate? Me neither; be social!
Top 3 video marketing benefits
1. Sharability
The first benefit is sharability. You know what they say: a picture says more than a thousand words. Well guess what, a video says even more. If you are able to grab the attention of the viewer within the first few seconds of the video, there is a higher chance of that person fully watching your video.
Throughout your video, you should ask questions or create incentives for people to start commenting on the videos. A sneaky trick is to make a statement that you know is false. People on the internet love correcting other people, resulting in more comments.
Additionally, because videos drive more engagements, you will also see that people tag their friends and they will watch the video as well.
2. Videos build trust
When people have a comfortable feeling with your brand, they are much more likely to buy. Through video, you can really ingnite emotion. Just be careful to not ignite the wrong emotions such Gilette did with its recent ad campaign.
3. It is great for SEO!
There are millions of blog out there and people are always optimizing their blog for SEO. However, you must realize that Google loves video and is placing more importance on videos every day.
Most of the time you will also see videos listed in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This is a great opportunity to get your content to the first page of Google. If you only focus on SEO on your own website, you are going to miss the boat.
You really have to focus on on-site and off-site SEO. Create a video, upload it to YouTube and optimize it for SEO by adding a great title and description. The first 24h are key on YouTube so make sure to promote it and get some views within the first 24h. YouTube is a stellar growth hacking tool.
Alternatively, if you are a YouTuber, you can benefit from also creating a blog to promote your content. It is really not difficult with tools available such as Elementor. An omnichannel strategy is so important.
What to look for in a video marketing agency
You might not have the time or resources available to create and edit the videos. Don’t worry, you can always consider a video marketing agency.
So what should you look for in a video marketing agency? First and foremost, it is important to look at their portfolio and see if they understand the tactics behind video marketing. Do you understand the goals of their videos? How is the production quality? Do they look creative and unique? Are they familiar with your industry?
It is easy to create videos, but the fact is that millions of people are creating videos daily. If you want to rise to the top, you have to make sure that you create videos that spark engagement. By this, I mean that you need to create videos that people want to comment on and share.
When it comes to social media, people often think that getting likes is the most important thing. While it is important, what really matters is getting people to comment on your videos. Why?
- When people comment on your post, their friends will also see that they commented. People are curious. Their friends will also watch the video, just to see why your friend took the time to comment.
- When people comment, you can reply to those comments. If you reply a day later, the next day, you will rise to the on top of their timeline again.
- Most importantly, you can engage in conversations and build a relationship.
A video marketing agency must also understand that people have a short attention span. The first few seconds of the video are so important. If you have bad content within those few seconds, people will keep scrolling.
Video Marketing for Social Media
On social media, there are many ways to promote your videos. The majority of people will just post their videos to social media in a regular way. This approach is not going to work out well for you.
On Facebook and Instagram, you can also post your videos to their Stories. This is great because it is an extra channel you are using to promote your videos.
First post your video through organic ways, if you see that your video is getting some engagements, consider boosting your post. By boosting your post, you will throw a few Dollars at it, and it will increase the number of impressions and engagement you are getting. Make sure to also display your advertisement in Facebook and Instagram Stories!
Also, consider live-streaming. When companies live-stream, it opens a door for conversation. People love a personable experience and be able to talk to companies directly. Additionally, sometimes when you start a live-stream, people will get a push notification on their phone! Live-streaming at B2B events drives loads of engagements.
On Instagram, there is also a little thing called Instagram TV. If you are not using this, you are missing out. When it comes to social media, you need to have an omnichannel strategy. There are so many ways to get your videos in front of your audience. You just need to start including all the channels in your video marketing strategy for social media.
An easy growth hack for video marketing on social media
Most videos are shot horizontal and are designed for YouTube and other video platforms. However, when you are creating videos for social media, consider shooting videos vertically. When people scroll on their phones, your video will now take up the entire screen, rather than just 50% of their screen.
What do you prefer, your video having occupied 100% of their screen or 50%? Additionally, when people go full screen, the video is very easy to watch on mobile devices without rotating the screens. By doing this, you are keeping in mind the user experience and it will deliver more impact.
Bonus tip: people often watch videos without sound on social media. Make sure to create subtitles for any video that you post to social media. Do this and you will see your watch time shoot through the roof!
I’m interested to know which role video marketing plays within your organization. What are some of the videos that you have created with the most engagements and why?
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great content my bro ill appreciate you...
Thank you, Nitin!