7 Important points of Super-Successful Video Marketing
The importance of video in marketing is widely acknowledged.
However, what exactly makes a video stand out and captivates an audience? Could it be an intriguing story or simply the right target audience being reached at the ideal moment?
After studying successful examples of video marketing, we discovered common characteristics they possess
1. Emphasize Storytelling Over Sales Tactics
In the era before social media, companies would have to rent ad space on popular media outlets like TV or print to reach their target audience. But now, brands can directly reach their audience on social platforms. This means that branded content, or advertising, must now compete with entertainment, rather than simply interrupting it.
If you want your video to be watched, it must provide value to the viewer. Videos that are solely focused on promoting a brand or driving sales will likely go unnoticed.
The most effective video content shares stories that resonate with the viewer. The more effectively you can tell stories about your company, the more likely your audience will understand what you offer and how it can benefit them
The essence of any video lies in its ability to convey a clear and engaging story.
As advised by Facebook: “Your video advertisement should have a well-defined duration that allows you to tell your story effectively. The story should have a clear beginning, middle, and end that holds the audience’s attention from start to finish”
2. Make an impact in the first few seconds!
The attention span of viewers online is limited, with an average attention span of only 8.5 seconds.
To create a successful video, you need to immediately grab the viewer’s attention and keep them engaged.
In the first few seconds, it is crucial to clearly state the purpose of the video and give the audience the assurance that the content is worth their time.
Create a hook
One of the most effective ways to capture attention is to start your video with a hook. A hook is a brief sneak peek of what the video has in store for the viewer, designed to immediately grab their attention.
Upload an interesting thumbnail
Both Facebook and YouTube offer the option to upload a thumbnail image that appears alongside your video. These thumbnails serve as a crucial visual representation and a great way to attract viewers and generate excitement for your video before it even starts playing.
Treat thumbnails as a vital first impression and give them the attention they deserve.
We discovered that investing time and effort into selecting the right thumbnail can significantly increase the play rates of your videos. When choosing a thumbnail, it is important to steer clear of blurry or cluttered shots. The thumbnail should convey the quality of the video. Instead, choose a frame that showcases the subject or surroundings with clarity and sharpness.
An effective thumbnail can start to tell a story and give viewers a sneak peek of what the video has in store. For instance, the thumbnail from Tasty in the example below showcases the finished pulled pork nachos dish that the video teaches viewers how to make.
3. Reach the Right Audience on Facebook through Video Marketing
Facebook offers a powerful advertising platform that allows you to target specific audiences with your video content. By utilizing the platform’s targeting options, you can ensure that your video reaches the right people, increasing the chances of engagement and conversions.
One of the unique aspects of Facebook is its highly targeted audience selection. This feature can be used not just for Facebook Ads, but also for each post on your page. This allows you to make sure that every post you share appeals to your audience, especially with the decline in organic reach on Facebook.
Facebook post targeting enables you to segment your audience by various demographics, including age, gender, location, and language. With this, only the selected audience can see the post anywhere on Facebook. For example, if you select an age group of 18-24, the post will not be visible to anyone outside of that age group.
Additionally, you can target your audience based on their interests. You can choose up to 16 interests per post and users who have both liked your page and share the same interests are more likely to see your post. However, targeting by interest does not limit the visibility of your post on your page or elsewhere on Facebook, as users outside of the interest group can still see the post in their news feed or on your page.
4. Tell your story with and without sounds
Video marketing has become a crucial tool for marketers, and one of the essential aspects of creating a great video is telling an engaging story. But with the abundance of videos being consumed on social media platforms, it’s essential to create content that can be understood and enjoyed even with the sound turned off.
To ensure that your video can tell its story effectively without sound, it’s crucial to make use of visual cues, text, and motion graphics to get your message across. This could be in the form of on-screen text, captions, or symbols that help to convey the story’s message without relying on audio.
Additionally, you should consider using contrasting colors and bold design elements to help draw the viewer’s eye and emphasize important information. With this approach, even if the viewer is scrolling through their feed with the sound turned off, they can still get the gist of your story and be intrigued enough to turn on the sound and learn more.
In conclusion, telling your story with and without sound is a crucial aspect of video marketing. With a little extra effort, you can create content that is compelling, informative, and accessible to a wider range of viewers.
5. Include CTA’s
Additionally, it’s important to keep in mind that not all viewers will have the sound on while watching videos. To ensure your message is conveyed effectively, it’s best to use text overlays or captions to emphasize the CTA, making it easy for viewers to understand and act on it, even without sound.
Incorporating visually appealing elements, like bold text and contrasting colors, can also help grab the viewer’s attention and drive the desired action. By including a clear and concise CTA, you increase the chances of engaging with your audience and achieving your marketing goals.
Where should you place a CTA in your videos?
1. The end of the video: Adding a CTA at the end of the video is a great way to keep the conversation going with your audience. It’s also the perfect time to drive engagement by asking for likes, shares, comments or subscriptions.
2. During the video: Including a CTA within the video is an effective way to grab the attention of your audience while they’re still engaged with your content. However, be careful not to make the CTA too distracting and interrupt the flow of the story.
3. In video annotations: If you’re posting your video on YouTube, consider using video annotations as a way to add calls to action within the video. Video annotations are clickable links that appear on top of your video and can be used to drive traffic to your website or other social media pages.
Regardless of where you choose to place your calls to action, be sure to make them clear, concise and easy to follow. Your ultimate goal with Video Marketing is to drive engagement and create a meaningful connection with your audience.
6. Optimize for search
Maximizing your visibility on search engines is crucial for reaching a massive audience. With daily searches on Google surpassing 3.5 billion and over 3 billion searches on YouTube each month, as well as over 2 billion daily searches on Facebook, neglecting search optimization for your videos could result in missed opportunities for views.
Here are a few simple tips to ensure your videos are showing up in searches:
Use keywords in your title
You may already be familiar with SEO for blog content or website copy, this is no different. Your video needs to include keywords you want to rank highly for. Just like the title or h1 tag of a web page, the title of your video is one of the most important factors for ranking well on Google and YouTube. You should try to include your main keyword in your title and keep it under 66 characters so that the text isn’t truncated in search results. Facebook search is a little different. Results on Facebook are based on around 200 factors including what you Like and engage with, what you’ve searched for, and info about your identity.
Add a good description to your video
Optimizing your video content for search engines, like Google and YouTube, and for Facebook is crucial for maximizing its reach and viewership.
Just like optimizing blog content or website copy for SEO, video content needs to include keywords you want to rank highly for. The title of your video is one of the most crucial factors for ranking well on Google and YouTube, so be sure to include your main keyword in it and keep it under 66 characters to avoid truncation in search results.
On Facebook, search results are based on multiple factors, such as your likes and engagement, previous searches, and information about your identity. Therefore, it’s important to be mindful of these factors and consider how they may impact your video’s visibility.
7. Collaborate with others with your Video Marketing
Partner with other companies and influential individuals to enhance your reach and engagement. Collaborating with brands or influencers that complement your own can help you reach new audiences and boost your credibility. Whether it’s through a joint video project, a sponsored post, or a brand partnership, working together can bring about fresh ideas and help you expand your impact in a way that you couldn’t on your own.
Ninety percent of people today place more trust in the opinions of their peers than in advertisements from companies. Influencer recommendations carry a greater weight of authenticity and credibility compared to a brand promoting its own product or service. The CEO of Intuit, Scott Cook, once noted that a brand’s identity is no longer determined solely by what the company tells consumers, but rather, by what consumers themselves communicate to one another.
