Boosting sales is one of the most pertinent tasks for any business. An effective way to have steady sales is to ensure that branding and publicity plans go hand-in-hand with product launches. We’ll discuss strategic tips for video marketing and how it’s one of the best ways to keep your current audience engaged, while possibly attracting the attention of new customers.
Table of Contents
Video content engages more
Determine your video marketing strategy
Get started with video marketing
Video content engages more
A survey by HubSpot revealed that most consumers prefer seeing video content by brands and businesses that they support. In the survey of more than 3,000 consumers, more than 50% of the respondents between 18 and 54 preferred seeing videos instead of reading branded emails or blog articles, for example.
In the same survey, most respondents also felt that branded video content was more memorable than photo or written content. This reflects a clear opportunity for brands to seriously consider the video format, especially if they have yet to do so.
Determine your video marketing strategy
Having said that, it is imperative to develop a proper video marketing strategy because a haphazard approach might leave target customers confused and end up backfiring.
At a macro level, brands should start with at least an idea of the type of video content and platforms they want to use. After that, they should make sure that the content and tone of the videos are on-brand and provide valuable information for their customers. Knowing where their target audience consumes video content will also help inform their video marketing strategy.
Understand the benefits of different types of content
Branding and publicity
A brand’s products could be the best in the world, but consumers would not find out about them without publicity. Branding and publicity videos are great for introducing what a brand is about and its beliefs.
Branding and publicity videos help remind current customers about the brand and spread the word to newer ones. They can be done in the form of simple animations or skits. Keep in mind that such videos are typically aimed at creating and securing a brand’s image and reputation in audiences’ minds.
Such videos are a great way to start for new brands trying to establish their reputation. In addition, such videos serve to maintain and strengthen the images of more established brands.
Creating expert interview videos could be an option for brands working with a bigger budget. A brand can gain greater credibility when it gets an endorsement from a figure of authority. This, in turn, can lead to more customer interest in the brand since such endorsements are seen as a mark of safety and reliability.
Most people would be able to recall at least one video advertisement they have seen for world-famous brands like Coca-Cola and Apple. Therefore, brands will do well taking a leaf out of their books when planning and doing up branding and publicity videos. Though such content might not give brands an immediate boost in sales, it can set them up for success in the future.
Information and education
Products do not fly off the shelves on their own with just publicity and branding. Brands will have to work on marketing and promoting their products to clinch sales. Convert prospects into paying customers with informative video content that promotes your product.
Apple is a brand that does this exceptionally well with every new product launch. Their video advertisements focus on the top few features they want to market, and their videos tell a story of how these features are helpful to the user, effectively convincing the user of their product’s value.
Businesses that do not have the luxury of allocating huge budgets to video content can consider working on simple explainer videos where either words or animation can be used to show a product’s value.
Demonstrations and how-to-use videos coupled with user testimonials are also great options for showcasing the value of a product. Include a call-to-action in the videos or the descriptions, so that interested prospects will know where and how to get the products.
The two primary objectives for such videos would be to convince target customers of a product’s value and encourage them to purchase through a compelling call to action. For example, providing discounts or gifts to the first 100 buyers.
Know the advantages of different platforms
Social media platforms
For brands that do not have dedicated websites, several video content platforms are available. YouTube and Facebook are the most popular social networks worldwide at 2.56 billion and 2.91 billion monthly active users, respectively. All that brands need to do is create an account and start posting! Social media is an excellent channel for brands looking for a quick boost in publicity and sales.
It is essential to know which social media platform is popular with customers and where they usually consume content. A survey done by Pew Research Center in 2021 revealed that the majority of those aged 65 and older use YouTube and Facebook the most.
The main takeaway for brands here is to know the target audience well. Thus, if a brand wanted to target baby boomers, it would probably do better posting on platforms like YouTube and Facebook. On the other hand, if a brand focuses on younger audiences, TikTok might be a better option.
Another way of leveraging social media is to work with influencers. For brands that can afford it, collaborations with influencers who have large followings can help drum up publicity for product launches. Discounts or giveaways done through social media are another common promotion technique seen nowadays, as brands do not necessarily need to work with influencers for such promotions.
If your brand already has a niche, such as sustainable skincare, try to work with influencers who genuinely believe in the same cause. Even if some influencers might not have large followings, a brand might see greater engagement with smaller groups. Furthermore, working with smaller influencers can help highlight a brand’s authenticity, since the brand would not appear to be chasing the clout just for the sake of it.
Owned media and paid media
Apart from social media, businesses and brands can place their publicity videos on their brand websites. The videos should showcase what the brand is about and help visitors understand more about the brand in general.
Businesses with a digital advertising budget can also look into placing video advertisements online. Brands should consider placing video advertisements with a clear call-to-action to encourage viewers to click on them and hopefully make a purchase.
Brands want to make sure that they spend time and money on the most effective channels and content for marketing. So, use tools like web and social media analytics to check how your videos are doing on different platforms. For example, if videos on your corporate site attract a lot of traffic, it may be worthwhile to focus more resources on that particular platform.
Get started with video marketing
With how much time people are spending online and the popularity of the video format, it is high time to look into video marketing for your brand if you have not already done so. Remember that content for branding and publicity goes hand-in-hand with product-centric videos, and one should not be without the other.
After considering these tips for video marketing, you may want to further strengthen your marketing strategy for your business. It might be worthwhile to consider how video marketing can fit into a larger digital advertising plan.
