Video marketing is beneficial and practical for larger businesses. Companies like Netflix, Apple, and Meta use video marketing to boost their efforts. But it’s far less common to find small businesses using the same video marketing tactics. Most companies have a list of reasons why they can’t do video marketing: the cost of video production, lack of time, etc. However, many marketing agencies view video marketing as one of the most effective and most important aspects of marketing today. It may seem unattainable, but today I’ll be showing you how your small business could easily utilize video marketing.
The Why
As we said before, video marketing is very effective at increasing the trust of a customer. In fact, a recent study conducted by Service Direct shows that 51% of consumers are more likely to patronize a small business if they have videos on their website. What’s the reason for this. For one thing, watching a video is both faster and generally more enjoyable than reading a long article. Our brains process images and videos faster than text, which is why infographics and videos are such effective content marketing strategies. Another reason video marketing is so effective is that seeing people’s faces and hearing people’s voices evokes empathy for the viewer/listener.
The How
Now that we know why videos are beneficial to small businesses, the next step is learning how to execute and implement video marketing. You may worry that this is going to be a complicated or time-consuming process, but it’s really fast and easy. Here is a step-by-step analysis of how to use video marketing for your small business.
Find Your Audience
There are a number of platforms that have video capabilities. From the obvious such as Youtube, TikTok, and Snapchat, to the more obscure such as Reddit and LinkedIn. You alspo can likely upload videos to your website. It’s important not to waste your resources on a platform where your audience won’t be found. As a business, you most likely already have a great understanding of your demographics and target audience, so you’ll just have to find them online. You can check out this post to find out more about the demographics of the larger social media platforms, and this post by HubSpot that has the demographics of all of the social media platforms you could possibly use. These are great resources for finding out which platforms will be best to access your audience.
Come Up With Video Ideas
Once you figure out where your audience will be, it’s time to come up with content. There is a multitude of topics and ideas that you can come up with, but there are some great basics to stick with. Below are some fool-proof video ideas that you can use to market your business.
Demo Video
One of the best ways to make customers trust your product is to show them how it works. If you provide a unique service, you can film one of your services as it’s being performed to show clients how it’s done. Depending on the number of products and services your business offers, this can cover a lot of video marketing territory if you decide to have a posting schedule on a platform.
Informational Video
You most likely provide products or services to customers that don’t fully understand the industry you work in. Making informational videos about trends in your industry, or topics that you have expertise in, can be great for both people in your industry and customers that are curious about the industry. We have a great blog about content marketing strategies here that has blog research ideas that can easily be converted to videos for more help in finding industry information.
Company Story Video
Creating an About Us Video or a company story video humanizes your business and puts a face to the name. A company story video is a great way to get your story out to the world in a manner that’s easy to digest. Writing an about me page is one thing, but creating a video makes it so much easier to communicate and retain.
Testimonial Video
Another great method for video marketing is to have your most loyal customers and clients make testimonial videos about your business and your products. Hearing praises from a paying customer, rather than from ambassadors or the business itself, increases trust in a company and shows your philosophy and integrity to potential customers.
Write A Script
If you’re filming your video, always write a script. Having a script is important for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that you’re less likely to fumble. When you don’t know exactly what you’re saying, there are a lot more “um’s” and “uh’s” thrown around. And while you can edit them out, it can get very choppy, tedious, and can be too much, especially if you’re editing it yourself. A script also keeps you on-topic throughout the video. You’re a lot more likely to go on a tangent if you’re off-script, and especially for a time limited video, you want to stay on-track. Scripts are a must-have for video marketing.
Record
Now that you know where you’re posting and what you’re posting, it’s time to record your video! The best part about video marketing is that you don’t need a big fancy camera. You can easily and very successfully use your phone and find a video editing app, or upload the video to your computer and edit it there. Of course, if you have the budget for a high-quality video on a really nice camera, you are more than welcome to do that. You can focus as much money and effort to video marketing as you want, or as much as you can. Video marketing has gotten drastically easier over the years with cell phones and cameras getting better.
Video marketing doesn’t have to be difficult. You can make it very easy just by putting in a little bit of work and a decent smartphone. That little effort for something that matters for fifty percent of consumers seems well worth the effort.
Find out how Ascent can assist with video production today!
