Video Marketing 101

What is video marketing?

Video marketing is when you use videos that you make to market products, tell stories, or portray ideas. Videos have been used to market ideas/services/products on social media because they aid in audience retention. In a time where people are endlessly scrolling by various forms of media, well-made video content helps people stop scrolling & helps your chance at someone seeing your video. Algorithms for Instagram and Facebook specifically love video content and ensures your post is seen by more of your followers when video content is attached. A study done by HubSpot Research found that 50% of consumers would prefer to hear from brands in video format (more people wanted that vs any other type of mediums brands can produce).

Video marketing isn’t a new strategy for digital marketers. What is new is the number of platforms there are that are video-based. Thanks to apps like Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, and Facebook Watch - our culture is bombarded by content - plenty of it in video format. Instead of being one route of marketing that a brand can take, video marketing has now morphed into something that should be the focus of any social media or marketing effort.

It’s Not That Scary

A lot of people think that producing a video-based format is a complex process with an intimidating learning curve. Fortunately, we live in a day in age where producing video content is easier than ever. The ability to shoot high-quality content is in our palms. Apps and programs that offer templates and presets make what was once complex to do quite simple.

If you are interested in reading on some basic video marketing strategies you can use & about post-production programs you can use to make great-looking content - keep reading. Some products do have learning curves. If you find yourself frustrated or not wanting to edit your video content - feel free to contact us about our post-production video/audio services. We’d be happy to tutor you on how to navigate these programs, do it for you, or both. Click here to contact us for more information.

Types of Marketing Videos

Video content can help your brand gain credibility by offering captivating and professional content that informs or entertains (or both). This makes for a digital cocktail that is highly effective in not only building brand awareness but also turning your target audience into paying customers. If you wanna make your audience laugh, teach them something, or leave an emotional impact - well-produced video content is the perfect tool to do just that.

‘Ok. But what type of videos should I make?’, you might be asking.

Here are 9 types of videos that are used in video marketing.

Show & Tell Videos - AKA Demo Videos. Show how your product works or show a video of behind the scenes stuff/your process.
Brand Videos/Commercials - Usually a branch of an advertisement campaign that gives consumers general overviews about the company’s mission, product/service, etc.
Event Videos - Any time your company interacts with the community is a great time to make video content. Stuff like this makes for great live stream content as well.
Interviews - This is a great way to capture your audience's attention. Providing a valuable resource like video content of an interview with a leader in your industry is a great form of marketing. Think about it this way - let's say you interview a voice in your industry. Then you upload to your social media platform of choice…you have the opportunity to tag who you interviewed and appeal to an entirely new audience.
DIY Videos - Never be scared to share how to do the things you are an expert at. You really can’t go wrong with sharing what you know for free. Why? When you share what you know, you build credibility with those who are listening to you. You give two things: the power to do something themselves if they choose or a potential client if they don’t want to do it themselves. Most of the time, when we share how to do something, our services will often still get purchased because people just don’t have the time to always break a complex learning curve or understand how to do something.
Animated Videos / Motion Graphics - Great for audience retention when dealing with complex ideas or messages with a lot of data to relay.
Proof of Concept - One of the best ways to get customers are video testimonials. Interview those whose lives you have touched and show it off. I’m willing to bet this will get you clients - proof of concept is key to making money as a business owner.
Live Videos - In my opinion, this is where the money is right now. What I love about live streaming is that right now social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter love those who go live and they reward it by notifying all your followers that your live. When you go live, your list gets notified that you are doing so. It’s free advertising really - because everyone sees your name flash across their screen. Saved live content also makes for great content down the road.
Personalization - Video messages that are customized to who you are speaking to are a great way to connect in today's day in age. We tend to hide behind screens but when we make a video with our face we stick out! It’s a rare enough gesture that it demands attention from whoever it’s for. Effective and organic outreach content gives you a greater chance of converting people who consume your content to potential clients.

How to Make Effective Video Content

From concept to creation: here is how to make a video.

Plan it - What is the purpose of your video? Make sure it has a call to action. Who is the video's target audience? When will you post it? What is the budget? How will you gauge the video’s success? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you make effective content.
Script it - Most videos need a script to make sure all points are touched. Without one, you might find yourself on the cutting floor more often than you want to be. Write out the script like you would a report or blog.
Capture it - Know what you’ll capture your movie with. The average phone nowadays is high quality enough to make great video content if you are just starting it's a good tool.
Edit it - There can be quite the learning curve attached to editing programs. It can also be a pricey investment to get great programs. Fortunately, there are programs for all types of budgets and levels of skill. Our favorite video editing tools are Adobe Rush, Adobe Premiere Pro & Adobe After Effects. Adobe Rush probably has the smallest learning curve and is available both on desktop and mobile. There are many others but that’s a whole other blog post!
A great place to learn these tools is on Adobe’s website or Youtube. If you need tutoring or want me to edit your videos for you - click here contact me and we can talk about what I can create for you.
Host it - Where will you host your video? Places like Youtube, Vimeo, or self-made servers can host your video content.
Post it - Take the link from your video and share it on your social media platform of choice.
Analyze it - One reason we like a video is that after a week or two you have really useful data given to you on your dashboard (usually found where hosted). This data gives you valuable data like how long the average consumer is watching your video for, where your audience lives, what sex your audience is, and how old they are.

Best of luck creating your video.

Check out some of our videos here.

Nina Epting 9/4/20 Nina Epting 9/4/20

5 Color Palette Ideas

Not knowing what colors you want your content to be can feel super overwhelming. I don’t know about you but I tend to spend a long time looking at inspiration for the perfect color palette all the time.

It’s pretty common knowledge that color directly influences your energy/vibe…but did you know that it also plays a major role in your brand identity? The right choice of colors will entertain and captivate your audience-this aids in audience retention and gives your brand a better platform via your color selections.

The right color palette will entertain and captivate your audience and show off your brand's identity in a way that words would never. To stand out against your competitors and to ensure consistency across all your marketing materials. Said consistency is what will aid in audience retention and is what will build up your digital credibility. You must put aside some time and energy into creating an effective color palette.

Below you can find five color palettes that I designed for you on Illustrator. I used photos that I gravitated to and used the eye drop tool to pull the colors that spoke to me out of the photo. After I selected my colors, I combined the photo that inspired me and the colors/hex codes for your reference. You can either use these color schemes or use my palette boards as inspiration so that you can make your own.

If you end up making a color palette, do send it my way- I would love to see what you come up with.

Photo credit: Adobe Stock Designed on Adobe Illustrator

Photo Credit: Fashion Nova Designed on Adobe Illustrator