The 4 Cornerstones of Video Marketing

The 4 Cornerstones of Strategic Video Marketing:

Video Marketing is a powerful tool – stats indicate that your chances of getting a page-one listing on Google search increases by approximately 53 times when video content is used.

What Video does so well is to engage the viewer and convey a sense of trust far in excess of any other medium. To be effective with video, the emphasis needs to be on your Target Message Strategy. Key questions are: What do I want to convey with the video? What business objectives will it accomplish? Who will be viewing the video, and what action do you want the viewer to take once whatched? Think strategy first and implementation later.

We provide some Helpful Tips to make your Strategic Marketing Videos successful …

PURPOSE

 The first Cornerstone – Decide on the business goals for your video. You can use it for creating awareness, increasing your visibility, training, building trust and credibility, generating leads, launching a product, growing your list, driving web traffic, selling a service to name a few. Understanding your objectives up front will determine your message, approach and most appropriate distribution channels.

PREMISE

This cornerstone is to determine your message, script or story. Your premise is how you’ll communicate your message and move your viewer to a desired action. What do you want your viewer to do when they have finished watching your video? It’s amazing how often a ‘call to action’ is not considered in Video. When developing your message, keep in mind the limited attention span of online viewers. Be clear, concise, and direct – avoid waffle. Get to the point quickly and keep your video as short as possible. The vast majority of YouTube videos are under three minutes in length. (Obvious exceptions include training videos, webinars, and other long-form videos.) Content is King – make it count. Less can be more, but too little is not enough.

APPROACH & STYLE

There are actually many different styles and options. Video has evolved into much more than the traditional “talking head” format, though that still has its place. You’ll want to find the approach that best fits your needs and personal style.

Approach can be defined as either on-camera, where a person appears in video talking about the subject or directly to the viewer or off-camera.

Most video creators default to the tried-and-true on-camera video, which can include the direct-to-camera video, a video interview with two or more participants, a video tips series, or a live webcast. On-camera videos are usually best for when you want to make a more engaging connection with your viewers, or when you’re promoting a more personal service and you wish to create more trust and credibility.

Off-camera videos, on the other hand, don’t require you to be on camera, which can be a big benefit to the more camera-shy among us. Off-camera videos can be extremely effective when sharing a lot of information, such as during a video webinar or training video.

A mix of the two can be extremely effective, minimising the time spent on screen, whilst retaining the dialogue as a voice-over heard by the viewer whilst they are shown relevant ‘cut-away’ footage reinforcing the message.

DISTRIBUTION & PROMOTION

The fourth cornerstone is about how and where you’ll distribute, share, and market your video online. Determine where your target market is. Once your video is on YouTube, you can set up one-click sharing to Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. You can also use the embedded code that YouTube provides to get the video on your website or blog. In addition, YouTube will provide a link to your video so you can send it out in an email to your list.

Building an internal Video Library can also be beneficial, especially for training and information modules. This maintains the brand purity if hosted through your own site.

Be sure to consider other social media sites that accept video, such as Pinterest, Instagram (15-second limit), SlideShare, and other video hosting sites such as Vimeo. The more you distribute your video, the better chance viewers have to find it and watch it, providing greater potential for lead generation.Be Consistent With Your Video Marketing

Video Marketing, like any marketing, isn’t effective as a one-off event – your video efforts need to be consistent and ongoing to get the most impact. You should look to create a plan for using video regularly in your business. We have provided some ideas for maintaining your video momentum here – 5 Ideas To Get Your Video Marketing Started

Considered use of video will catapult your marketing to another level with impactful results. The key to its effectiveness is consistency, strategy and commitment to the medium. Anyone can make a video of sorts. The real winners online will be those who make online video both professional and a regular part of their marketing strategy

.Acknowledgement: The above contains extracts from Lou Bortone – US Video Marketing Consultant.