“The beauty of developing a video marketing plan is that you are making it easier for the viewer to be exposed to the information you are trying to communicate.” – Chris Sandoval, Why You Need a Video Marketing Plan Right Now!

True that!

Video Marketing is going to stay here. 81% of marketers say video has helped them directly increase sales.

And with 85% of the users in the U.S watch video content on any of their devices, there is no doubt that videos have indeed become a vital part of all social media marketing strategies.

Smart businesses are finding innovative ways to increase their reach on social media, and devising a video marketing strategy will be a powerful way to connect with the consumer.

In early 2017, Facebook announced that it will give videos that are viewed for longer, higher preference in the ranking of the News Feed.

Not only Facebook, recently Instagram launched Reels, a short-form video feature to tap into the ever increasing demand for video content. Similarly, there are various applications that only targets video content.

Phew!! That looks like serious competition brewing in the social media video marketing scenario!

The key win with Video Marketing is to weave a beautiful story to market your products, such that it engages the audience and leaves them asking for “What’s next?”.

Thereafter build an entire series to keep them hooked on.

So have you started leveraging the power of videos for marketing your brand? Let’s explore ways to plan out an effective video marketing tips.

1. Understand the purpose of creating the video

With exemplary tools and cameras in the market, getting a video made is no hassle these days.

But wait!

Do you understand the exact purpose of having a video marketing strategy? Though the purpose of any marketing strategy is to get a good ROI, you have to maintain a balanced approach and abstain from seeking too much self-praise.

The above video is one of the most shared Google ad. It’s cute, sentimental, and funny, and has all ingredients that will make the viewer enjoy and share the video on social media.

Roughly, here are a few things you have to probe into, to sum up your video content marketing.

• What kind of content will we make? Educational, entertaining, hypothetical, or realistic.
• Who exactly is your target audience? Understand the demographics, age groups, and preferences of the audience using effective social media analytics tools.
• The budget, of course!
• Understand what lures the audience the most and why they will be compelled to share the video.
• The content you create should be entertaining, informative, and interesting.

2. Determine the “theme” of your video

Quality content was and will continue to be omnipotent…..only if it reaches the correct audience. Once you understand who your video marketing strategy is directed towards, you should start working on the theme and content of the video.

Some of the themes that companies use to develop a video marketing strategy are broadly classified as under:

• How-to videos
• Storylines
• DIY videos
• Leaderships discussions and talks
• Customer testimonials
• Company policies and culture
• Documentaries
• Help and support tutorials
• Demos
• Webinars (recorded)

The right theme selection of the video could be your showstopper. Check out this advertising video of chatbooks -This ad commercial describes the automatic photo book app with subtle humor, wit using funny motherhood woes.

3. Who will develop your video content?

You could develop a video in-house or outsource it to a developer. This factor entails assessing your resources, budget, and the audience and the time involved.

There is no dearth of talented vloggers and video content creators who would develop an amazing video content for video marketing platforms like YouTube and Vine. And if you have the best video tools in place, you can script your video and develop it yourself.

Most people have switched to digital marketing and have realized the power of video content. It is gaining a lot of popularity, more so in remote work, people are increasingly relying on video conferences. Some even go for video chat app development to make communication easy and more streamlined.

The “Dollar shave club “ video made America sit up and notice. The secret– The content creation team has done some outstanding work by creating a delightful user experience.

4. Reach out for the unthinkable

Seems impossible?

Well no. The best marketing ad campaigns are the ones that leave the viewer wanting for more.

This video by “Old Spice” kept the viewers on a lookout for the next episode. If viewers like a video, they will like, share, and connect with it. The videos should be interactive and have a touch of personalization.

Add a call to action strategy like a coupon code or a discount offer that compels the viewer to mention and share your video.

At times the audience loves the video but does not gain anything from watching it, so does not bother to ‘share’ it further.

A How-to video also works well as it is informative and useful to the user. Short-form videos are also great for communicating with the user in a concise manner. Apps are available that turn videos to less than 10 seconds and you can post them on Twitter and Instagram.

You will watch it till the end. Trust me!

There are platforms that are budget-friendly and also provide low turnaround times. With an efficient video content creation team, all you have to do is to promote and market your videos using the best social media marketing tools.

Once you have completed the task of making the video, it has to be uploaded at the correct places. 64% consumers are more likely to buy a product when they see its corresponding video.

Using an efficient Social media analytics tool is the perfect way to analyze certain important factors before promoting your video. These tools help you track the audience growth, demographics, age, gender and other detail of your fans and followers.

Based on these statistics you can further discuss and plan how and where to promote your videos. Facebook and Youtube are great marketing platforms and help to maximize your reach with the customers.

You can have an entire section of videos on your website, or start by adding the videos to blog posts.

The wide-reaching platforms like Facebook and YouTube can be used for paid advertising as they run on lower CPMs compared to other private blogs and social media channels.

Virgin holidays do not shoot videos to make an advertising campaign.

Instead, they record videos in real time and upload it to several social media channels, to make the users get the ‘real’ location feel.

The videos are so well captured from different locations across the globe that the users momentarily find themselves in new travel locations. This ad makes the viewer feel the ‘change’ of going for a holiday, by giving him a glimpse of the holiday spots.

6. Optimization – To get the best out of your video marketing plan

You are ready with an outstanding video content and have uploaded it at several platforms.

Work complete?

Well, no. It’s just the beginning of your marketing strategy.

Scheduling your video content at the correct time helps in greater reach and visibility. Apart from YouTube, Facebook live videos are becoming popular social media tools for video marketing. Some tips for your video marketing are:

• Keep a consistent publishing schedule for your videos with the help of any of these social media publishing tools.
• Rather than focusing on the advertisement, make the video a medium to educate, communicate and interact.
• Make use of user-generated-content to pitch your sales volume. It does not just generate a greater response; it will also develop your line of trusted followers.
• Incorporate Facebook live videos in your video marketing strategy.
• Your videos must be powerful enough to convey the message even if the sound facility is not available.
• Track metrics like the attention span, click-rates, best posting times, and content leads of your videos.
• Use suitable keywords in the video title and tags to make videos appear higher in the search engines.
• Apart from the big names, make use of micro-video sharing sites like Snapchat, Instagram, Dubsmash, and other apps that are designed specifically for smartphones.

Scheduling and Publishing videos through SocialPilot

But the biggest and perhaps the most underrated strategy is to post consistently on your platform. As a creator or a business, once you have your videos ready to share, the next step is to publish them on the right platform at the time when your targeted audience is most active.

We highly recommend that marketers refrain from uploading their videos on Youtube alone and sharing the link on other platforms since most social media platforms encourage native videos as they don’t want to lose traffic coming to their website.

However, it is difficult to constantly plan and upload a video regularly. That’s where a social media automation tool like SocialPilot comes in handy.

With SocialPilot, you can post native videos on your Facebook Page and Group, LinkedIn Page, and Twitter from a single dashboard. And of course, you can also schedule videos on the biggest video platform of all – YouTube. So, go ahead and get started.

To know more about scheduling videos from SocialPilot, start your free trial now.👇

Wrap-up

So when are you coming up with your next video as a part of your social media marketing strategy? If you are well equipped to meet the ‘video revolution’ that has started sweeping all social media channels, plunge head on and start recording videos.

Here is a perfect example of Usher’s “Don’t look away” to support my statement:

If a video touches the audience chords, they will share it and view it over and over again. Innovation, creativity and correct scheduling of your videos can make them the most effective marketing weapon of your brand.

Video marketing is particularly useful for startups and small businesses who want to get recognized fast and build their brand identity.

You have built a beautiful piece of work, feel free to share it across several media platforms to the right audience, and at the right times though.

If your video content has potential, it will be shared and appreciated leading to a successful video marketing campaign.