Is video an important part of your marketing strategy? If not, why not? In recent years, video has become one of the most powerful ways for businesses to communicate with their target audience. Scroll through any social media feed today and you’ll see that video is everywhere, and for good reason.
Start With a Clear Purpose
When creating a professional video, you should answer two questions first: “What is the purpose of the video?” and “Who is the target audience?” The quality of a video, along with its visual and technical attributes, affects how viewers perceive its tone, while the style of the video sets the tone and the message about your business. Keeping your videos consistent in style and message is important too, as it says a lot about your company and ensures viewers don’t get mixed messages.
People Love to Watch
Online video has become one of the main ways people find the information they need. Many people would rather watch a short video than read a long piece of text, and more and more companies are using video as a result. It’s naturally engaging and gives small businesses a way to share information that’s easily digested. When viewers are engaged with a video, they’re more likely to share it with others, spend longer on your website and spend more time interacting with your brand.
Build Relationships Before You Meet
It’s important to understand that a video doesn’t guarantee a sale, but it does bring you closer to your clients and prospects. When people engage with your business for the first time, it will often be through your website or social media. Videos allow you to introduce yourself and your brand and start building a relationship before you ever meet face to face. Seeing the people behind a business helps build trust, and people buy from businesses they trust.
Stand Out on Social Media
Videos work hand in hand with social media and stand out in busy feeds. They give you engaging content to post, and social media platforms actively push video content to more people. Short-form videos such as Instagram and Facebook Reels, TikToks and YouTube Shorts are a great way to reach new audiences.
It’s vital that you make your videos suited to each platform. Keep your videos short and snappy for Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and save longer, more detailed videos for YouTube or your website. Don’t forget to add captions, too. Many people scroll with the sound off, so captions make sure your message still gets across.
Get Your Message Across Quickly
Videos give customers a quick overview of a product or service without bombarding them with text. A customer can learn what they need to know about your business in a short video of less than thirty seconds. Product demonstrations, how-to guides, customer testimonials and behind-the-scenes clips are all great ways to show what you do and why people should choose you. Video is also one of the most effective ways of turning happy customers into advocates for your business.
Use Video on Your Website
Video isn’t just for social media. Adding a short video to your homepage, service pages or product pages can help visitors understand what you offer and keep them on your website for longer. To avoid slowing your pages down, host your videos on YouTube or Vimeo and embed them, rather than uploading the video files directly to your website. Hosting on YouTube also gives your videos the chance to be found in YouTube and Google search results.
You Don’t Need a Big Budget
You need to be creative with the videos themselves, and also with the campaign strategy you build around them. Creativity beats a big production budget every time. Many successful business videos are filmed on a smartphone with good lighting, clear sound and a clear message. What matters most is that your video is useful, authentic and relevant to your audience.
Can You Afford Not to Use Video?
The bottom line is that video is one of the most effective ways of growing your business over time. With video now so widely used in marketing, can you really afford not to make it part of your marketing strategy?
If you’d like help adding video to your marketing, or using it to get more out of your website and social media, get in touch with Whelan Web Design. We’re a Waterford-based web design and digital marketing agency helping businesses across Ireland reach more customers online.
