The eyes, they say, is the window to the soul. You are easily impressed with what you see or look at, and these impressions stay longer with you. Pictures tend to tell better stories than words, and videos work even better than pictures. This is why since the first viral online video appeared in 1994 there has never been a decrease in their availability. And as time goes by, their demand increases.
This is where video marketing comes in. It is simply the use of videos to showcase your brand, goods, and services, and it is a powerful tool. Seeing the advent of online videos, companies have pounced on it and are aggressively driving visibility and sales with them.
Today, it has become one of the most impactful tools for marketing everywhere, especially with social media. Many companies employ marketing experts and advertisement gurus to produce some of the finest visuals of their products. This is because they know that the better the visuals, the better their chances of remaining relevant.
In this age of aggressive marketing and survival of the fittest, every company is looking to employ every means to keep themselves in the mind of consumers. The longer they remain there, the higher the chances of being patronized. Hence, video marketing has become indispensable as billboards and pictures just do not cut it anymore.
Amazing stories have been told and are still being told through it. New and rising companies go extra miles to push themselves out there with it. Multinationals put forth their considerable financial weight to ensure they get the best value.
Video marketing is a better way of having your target audience retain the information you are passing across to them. It tends to make a deeper impact on people than audio messages. It also makes a company be less abstract to the audience better than any other marketing strategy.
The live connection a video affords is a strong component that not many other things can offer. People are more likely to go with a company they can relate with personally. Besides, it is easier for most people to watch what a product can do than to have to read instructions.
The best thing is that you don’t really have to invest a lot of money to get started with video marketing. All you really need is a good camera and some solid PC components, and you can get those for really cheap online nowadays – especially if you come across a promo code or something like that.
The fact of the matter is that video marketing is here to stay and remain relevant. It is an open field for everyone, which can be mined thoroughly if you know what you are doing.
Now, promoting goods and services through video marketing may be a powerful tool, but knowing how to maximize it is a completely different thing. You could have the best ideas of what you want it to look like but the end product may be a disaster. Therefore, taking correct advantage of video marketing as a tool is an art on its own. There are various steps you could employ to ensure you use this tool correctly and to full potential:
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Assemble a great team: Having an in-house advertising guru is an advantage but even if you do not have any, you could hire one. Make sure, though, that you get the best one and succinctly communicate what you need. Also, apportion the right equipment to make the job simple yet professional.
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Provide adequate funding: It is a well known fact that marketing firms rake in lots of money in various parts of the world, especially in the US. Why? It is because quality advertisements take money. It is important to make available adequate funding to get it right. The better the quality of the video, the more credence comes to the company’s reputation.
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Get your story right: Having a splendid idea and portraying it correctly are very crucial. In this age and time, you have to be sensitive to a number of societal issues. You may mean the best, but people see things differently. Therefore, it is imperative to have a great idea and create a video that does justice to it 100% without hurting anyone.
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Make sure it is engaging: You really do want to put out a video that would be attention grabbing. What is the point of doing one if it is not captivating? Whatever it is that you are selling, you already know your target audience. So, ensure you put out something that gets attention and keeps it, without losing the central message. And keep it as simple as you can. Complicated video messages are the best way of losing the people’s attention.
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Keep it short and straight to the point: The shorter the video, the more it gets viewed. Believe it or not, people do have short attention span. You do not want anyone skipping your video halfway through because it is too long. And take it straight to the message, do not run around with frivolities.
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Critique it: Let a few other eyes look at the finished product before it is pushed out. It could be a staff member or a neighbor, but let someone else look at it and give you feedback. If you can afford to engage professionals, then do so. The point is to have fresh pair of eyes and views so you can detect mistakes which could be detrimental.
Keeping track of videos which have been previously done by your company is important. Look at them, no matter how old, and see how well they did. Then find out why some did better than others. Having this information would be an advantage in improving the quality of future videos.
You could also critically analyze videos done by other companies which have done exceptionally well. Find those factors which contributed to their success and work them into yours.
When all these are done, the next important step is to make the video go viral. You would not watch a poorly made video, would you? Neither would the next person. But, with a great video, you can be sure of viewership (provided you take the right steps to promote it well). Having a viral video showcasing your goods and services is vital as a marketing tool.
The chances of usage and referral of any product rise when more people see it. The thing is, when a spectacular video about a product is made, it sells itself. Therefore, video marketing is at the top of the list of brand marketing strategies. Taking advantage of it, especially in the 21st century, boosts chances of visibility and sales.
About the Author
Corinna Essa is known internationally as the go-to person when it comes to social media marketing.
Corinna owns a social media marketing company helping businesses around the world leverage the power of social media without doing any of the legwork. Her company has been featured in many media outlets including Sky Business news, Working Women magazine, Ymagazine, Tasmanian Times, Channel 7 and 101fm.
Corinna is also the author of 2 bestselling books “Money On Demand – The 16 Fastest Ways to Becoming a Millionaire Online” and “Reach: The SECRETS to converting your social media audience into your network marketing downline fast”
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