When it comes to your website, video marketing should be one of the top priorities on your list. Video marketing on your website gives visitors an engaging and dynamic experience while effectively conveying your message.
At Infomedia, one of the first questions we ask our new clients is, “What do you want your audience to do when they visit your website?” After all, your goals should shape every decision we make together about your new site.
Here are the most common answers we get.
- Learn more about us
- Reach out to us
We help our clients achieve these goals in countless ways — compelling website messaging, an intentional design and (you guessed it) video marketing.
Introduction to Video Marketing
What It Is
Before we get into the details, let’s start with the basics — like a video marketing definition.
Vid●e●o Mar●ket●ing (noun)
- the strategic use of video to promote your brand, products or services
- a dynamic tool that can enhance your online presence and engage your audience on a deeper level
- a collection of techniques aimed at leveraging the power of visual storytelling to connect with your audience
Why You Need It
You’ve probably heard people talk about how attention spans are dwindling. That certainly seems to be the case when you hear video marketing statistics — like the fact that you only have 10 seconds to capture your audience’s attention.
But you need to give your audience more credit. The emphasis should be less on attention spans and more on competition. With the vast amount of content, people need to be more picky about where they spend their time. If your website visitors can’t quickly find the information they’re looking for, they will head over to your competitor’s site. Yikes, right?
The good news is that we’ve been doing this for a while and have some tips to ensure your website stays competitive. For starters, talk to your audience in the way that they want to receive information.
Think about it this way — you probably know a bookworm. They’ll want to read the words on a website to get the information they need. (Google also likes this, which can boost your SEO efforts.) Now, think about another friend who’s a movie buff. Since they prefer visual storytelling, they’re more likely to watch a video on your website.
Who Benefits from It
So, who benefits the most from video marketing? The answer, unsurprisingly, is that video marketing is for any small business. Some industries are inherently “visually interesting” — construction, food, lifestyle and more. Video is obviously going to do well for companies like these.
However, what may not be as obvious is that video can still work for businesses in less visually appealing industries. This is an opportunity to focus on visual storytelling. While what you do every day may not look interesting (i.e., typing on computers as we do), that’s just an opportunity to tell the story behind your company in an exciting way.
Understanding the Basics
Advantages
Like we mentioned earlier, one of the most significant benefits of video marketing on your website is the ability to speak to different audiences. If you’re using a mixture of various types of media and content — like video, copy, infographics and more — then you’re not going to leave any of your website visitors behind.
Another huge advantage of video marketing is quickly capturing your audience’s attention. Think about Super Bowl advertisements — corporations pay millions of dollars for 15 to 60-second spots. Why? Because they know that’s all they need to get their point across — as long as they do it correctly.
Disadvantages
A disadvantage of video marketing is that it’s a commitment — a commitment of time, money, energy and resources. But, like most things, that’s because you get out of it what you put into it. If you pick up your phone and shoot a video with little to no thought behind it, then the return on investment (ROI) isn’t as high as if you treated it like the actual investment it is.
Start with a Strategy
We take the same approach to video marketing as we do with websites — start with a strategy, because when strategy comes first, success follows.
Here’s a list to get you started:
- Objective: Define clear objectives for your video marketing strategy, whether increasing brand awareness, driving recruitment, generating sales or something else entirely. You won’t know if your video marketing is working unless you know the goal.
- Audience: Understand your target audience’s preferences, problems and interests to create content that speaks to them exactly where they are. This can help you build a deeper emotional connection.
- Message: Setting your object tells you what you want to say, but you need to decide on how you want to say it before the camera starts rolling. A compelling message will inspire your audience into action.
- Applications: Explore the different applications of video marketing across various platforms. Just because you’re shooting for your About page doesn’t mean it also can’t live on your homepage.
- Improve: Analyze your video performance and use those insights to hone and improve your video marketing efforts constantly.
Insights from the Experts
Trends
One of the benefits of having an in-house media team is that we have experts to ask about stuff like video marketing trends.
“For a while, I was seeing fast-paced, high-energy videos everywhere. I liked to call it the Mr. Beast-ification of videos — everything was well-planned but quick and in your face. Now, we’re seeing a swing in the opposite direction. More and more videos are focusing on telling a story and telling it well. Basically, the trend I’m seeing is no trend. You don’t have to conform your videos in any certain way. You just have to be intentional in whatever direction you choose.”
“I don’t see short-form videos going anywhere anytime soon. I think they’ll continue to dominate across all platforms. I’m also seeing a lot of “shoppable” videos that tie into different social media platform features, like the TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping.”
Inspiration
We all need inspiration sometimes. Here are some of our favorite video marketing examples right now:
- A24: This production company puts out some skillfully shot, thoroughly-planned videos about, well, videos.
- Tested: Adam Savage of Mythbuster fame has a successful channel shot entirely with his front-facing phone camera.
- Infomedia Studios: We couldn’t help the shameless plug here. But really, we have some cool videos if you need inspiration.
- Gawx Art: We love a good video about how to make good videos.
Tools and Techniques
The best tool you can have is a professional media team. The second best tool you can have is consistency. The free video marketing tools and software that come with most computers, like iMovie, are better than what most great filmmakers of the past could ever access.
Whatever tools will help you create quality videos consistently is what you need. If you can capture, edit and upload as quickly as possible, you’re leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.
Let’s Make Your Website Stand Out
If you’re looking for help with video marketing for your website, look no further. Our team of experts is dedicated to helping you harness the power of video marketing to achieve your business goals and stand out in a crowded digital landscape. Don’t leave your website’s success up to chance — work with us to tell your story in a way that resonates with your audience and drives results. Let’s brainstorm together and take your website to the next level!
