The popularity of marketing videos is skyrocketing. You see it popping up everywhere: on websites, YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook…. It’s simply what people prefer to see online. But how do you create a targeted, engaging and clear video that hits the mark exactly? It all starts with a clear video marketing strategy.
Starting without strategy is like leaving without navigation
You can, of course, have a video made. Just because you should. Because it’s popular. But what do you really want to achieve with it? What is your goal against which you will later measure whether the video was a success? Starting out without a video marketing strategy is like starting out without navigation. You drive around in circles or go completely the wrong way.
Start with a video marketing strategy
As the word “strategy” implies, a video marketing strategy is a plan to achieve something. It is a strategy to deploy video in such a way that it contributes to your goals. Think more awareness, conversion, employee engagement or customer retention. With your video, you teach your audience something about your company or your product.
We list the key steps for a good video marketing strategy for you.
Step 1: describe your target audience
All successful marketing campaigns start with research. What target audience will you focus on? What are the needs of these viewers? What are they up against and where can you help? This information about your target audience greatly influences the type of video you will create. A recognizable video leads to more trust (“this company understands me”), so you have a greater chance that the viewer will take action.
Step 2: determine the purpose of your video
Next, you determine when the video is successful for you. When is the campaign successful? If you don’t know this, you’re shooting with hail. So formulate a clearly measurable objective. Do you want more awareness? Then play on emotions, with the chance of going viral and generating a lot of reach. You measure the views. Do you want more conversion? Then you might highlight an attractive offer in your video and attach a measurable link to it. Do you want to ‘educate’ customers? Then make an informative how-to video and distribute it to existing and new customers. You see: you make a different kind of video for each purpose.
Step 3: match your target audience and purpose with the type of video
If you have your target audience and objective clearly in mind, then match this with the right type of video. Think for example of a Motion Graphics animation video, Hybrid video (animation + real images), an interactive video or real images. What will win over your audience? In our experience, an interactive video is a great way to suck the viewer into the story and thus perfect for conversion goals. Is your objective to educate staff or customers? Then a hybrid video is another great option. Think of the videos from NOS on 3. Animations are also good for explainer videos and also work great for the awareness objective.
Want to take a closer look at all the options? Then take a look here. Can’t decide? With our team we are of course happy to think along with you.
Step 4: what do you expect from the viewer
What should the viewer do after seeing the video to achieve your objective? A video is not successful without a clear call to action. Do you want the audience to go to a landing page? That they share the video with colleagues, friends and acquaintances? That they create an assignment or get started with the information? Make this clear to yourself and incorporate it into your video marketing strategy.
Step 5: create a promotional plan
You put quite a bit of time and effort into making a good video. Then, of course, the goal is to maximize views! Therefore, a good promotion plan is essential. Before you make a video, think about the platforms you want to share it on. Then adjust your video and strategy accordingly. On YouTube, for example, a longer video is appropriate, but for LinkedIn it is better to keep it shorter.
Again, when creating your promotional plan, keep your target audience in mind. It makes little sense to have a great marketing video created only to post it on websites that your target audience does not visit.
Getting started with your video marketing strategy? Then check out our handy checklist!
Putting down a video without wandering around forever
With the above steps, you have a good foundation for your marketing video. Want to put together a good video without question marks and loose ends? Then take the time to think about your video marketing strategy. This will ensure that you get everything out of your video. Of course, we at EVA are happy to help with this.
