As video marketing continues taking the world by storm, more businesses adopt it as a pivotal strategy to educate consumers, generate leads, and boost ROI.
Video marketing can be a powerful way to reach new prospects and provide extra value to new and long-term customers alike. Not only is video educational and entertaining, but it can help your business connect with your target audience on a deeper level. Videos are easy to digest, can help people understand your business better, and will bring life and motion to your content and messaging.
Here are several impressive video marketing stats:
- 86% of businesses use video for marketing. 93% say it’s an integral part of their strategy.
- 86% of video marketers say video has increased website traffic.
- 78% say it directly helps increase sales, and 84% say it’s helped generate leads.
- 87% of video marketers say video gives them a positive return on investment.
- 94% believe video helps consumers better understand their product or service.
Source:Wyzowl
Whether you want to tell a powerful story, make people laugh, or show viewers you understand what they’re facing and have the tools to help, you can – with video.
Quick Takeaways
- Video can be entertaining and educational while helping you connect with your audience on a deeper level than other types of content marketing.
- To build a successful video marketing strategy, you need to set attainable goals, choose the proper channels and video types for your target audience, and optimize videos for search and social media.
- Engaging with your audience online, using humor, and giving users a good reason to follow you will help you boost your following on social media.
How to Build a Successful Video Content Marketing Strategy to Grow Your Audience
Here’s an overview of developing a video marketing strategy that will help you effectively grow your audience on your chosen social media channels.
1. Set Goals
Consider your marketing funnel when setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely (SMART) goals for your video marketing strategy. For example, if your goal is to “increase the number of followers you have on Facebook to 10,000 by the end of the year,” your video strategy will probably fall into the awareness stage.
Once you reach new prospects and get them interested in your business, you’ll also need video content that falls into the consideration stage, and so on.
Source: Sprout Social
2. Choose Your Platforms
If you’re just starting out with video, start creating content for social media channels where you already have a solid audience. You’ll have to format your videos differently depending on the channel. Remember that each one serves a different purpose. Choose the platform(s) that best align with your business goals, industry, market, and audience potential.
3. Decide Which Types of Video to Create
The most commonly created video types are social media videos, ads, presentation videos, sales videos, and explainer videos. Here are several other popular options to consider:
- Vlogs
- Interviews
- Testimonials and case studies
- Videos that tell your brand story
- Company culture or behind-the-scenes videos
- Educational videos
- Webinars
- Product reviews
- Animated videos
- Live videos
- Demos
- Virtual reality videos
- Personalized messages
4. Create Your Video Content
Make sure you have the right resources to produce quality videos for your business. We use video editor app Videoleap because it’s super easy, powerful, and we can use it for repurposing longer video content for social posts.
Here are two examples of Videoleap in action which show how versatile and powerful it is:
In this example, the user has shot some straightforward slow-motion footage of people walking around in Miami. But by adding music and some artistic transitions to stitch the clip together, we’ve got a bona fide mesmerizing video post.
In this second example, the user has some fun with Videoleap’s more advanced effects tools, merging two clips in an eye-catching way that tells a story.
But regardless of what app you use, before you dive in and start shooting, it’s probably a good idea to create a content production plan that tells you how your videos will be filmed and created.
If you don’t have an in-house videographer, consider outsourcing to a freelancer or content marketing agency like ours to handle the production and post-production process for you.
5. Optimize Your Videos for Search
After creating the right video content for the proper channels, it’s time to share them with your audience. Optimize every video you make for search engines so you can attract more traffic and build your audience organically. Here are some tips:
- Incorporate target keywords where appropriate.
- Insert transcripts.
- Create engaging thumbnail images.
- Carefully craft titles and video descriptions.
- Avoid embedding the same video in multiple locations.
6. Promote New Videos on Social
After you publish and optimize your video content, promote it to increase visibility. For example, you could promote one video multiple times using different clips. You can also promote the same video on the same platform various times throughout the year so new followers will see it and engage.
7. Analyze Your Results
If you’re getting great results through video marketing, it likely means you’re connecting well with your target audience. To understand what kind of impact your video content is having, try tracking these metrics:
- Views: The number of times your video has been viewed (also called a reach)
- Clicks: How often viewers click on your calls to action to engage with you further (e.g., a link that leads to your website)
- Click-through rate: The number of times a CTA is clicked divided by the total number of views
- Shares: How many times a video has been shared on social media (exposing you to a larger audience)
- Play rate: The percentage of people who played a video divided by the number of impressions it received
- Completion rate: The number of people who watched your entire video out of the number of people who played it
The higher these numbers are, the more engaged your audience is. They can be direct measures of success. If you do not see the kind of results you want, you may need to adjust your strategy. Consider trying a different social media channel or switching up your content to align with your overarching goals.
The Best Social Media Channels for Video Marketing Content
It’s no surprise that different types of videos perform better on different social media channels. This is because each channel has a distinct consumer base and serves a unique purpose. Here are the top six channels for promoting your video content marketing today and how to use them to grow your online audience.
1. Facebook
The top users on Facebook are between ages 25 and 34, and 56% are male. Despite all the competition and controversies happening on this channel today, it remains the most widely used social media platform – with 2.7 billion monthly active users. People use Facebook for entertainment, fun, inspiration, and to reshare content with others.
If you plan to publish videos on Facebook (which we highly recommend), plan on creating them so viewers can watch with or without sound. That means your videos (for most channels in this list) should have captions or helpful text explaining what’s happening as it plays. Facebook, specifically, has a silent auto-play feature. So when people are scrolling down their feed, videos will start playing automatically.
On Facebook, longer videos perform well. Make sure you upload your videos directly to the platform for maximum reach. And ensure your content is highly relevant to your audience. Brand awareness videos tend to perform well on Facebook, too – especially if they’re entertaining and lighthearted.
2. Instagram
Instagram continues growing steadily – with 1 billion monthly active users. Its largest age group is the same as Facebook’s, but 57% are female. Instagram can be a brilliant place to advertise and market to higher-earning demographics.
Like Facebook, Instagram plays videos automatically without sound. Try to grab users’ attention instantly in your video content marketing. Make your videos visually eye-catching and engaging. Right off the bat, incorporate motion to engage viewers. Then supplement with text so users can watch whether they turn up the audio or not. Also try to take advantage of Stories, IGTV, Reels, and Lives to increase engagement and build a more significant following.
3. Twitter
One hundred eighty-seven million people use Twitter daily. The largest demographic is 30 to 49-year-old males. Many are highly educated (and high earners). It’s still a top platform for debating current events and breaking news and driving discussions. Twitter’s also a great place for users to consume social and educational video content.
Businesses should use video on Twitter to promote new resources, tell stories, engage with a dedicated audience, and drive website traffic. Videos should be short “teasers” that are easy and quick to consume. You might also consider creating personalized videos to engage with followers in a creative way, one-on-one. Your overarching goal here should be to humanize your brand.
4. YouTube
Over 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Every month, the channel has over 2 billion logged-in users. The largest age group of users consists of 15 to 25-year-olds. In addition, 72% of all internet users use the channel, and 62% log in daily. Every day, people watch over a billion hours of video. These massive numbers make for enormous marketing opportunities.
Source: Sprout Social
On YouTube, you can create a library of video content for your followers. By creating and publishing quality, creative, and educational content on a channel that your audience is seeking, you can grow a successful platform with a dedicated subscriber base.
YouTube is also an excellent channel for building brand awareness. If your goal is to drive traffic back to your website, be strategic about how you produce, upload, and optimize your videos. You can also embed YouTube videos on your website.
5. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is almost split 50-50 between male and female users. The largest age group is older than many other platforms, between 46 and 55. Millennials also make up a large group of LinkedIn users, so don’t overlook them in your marketing. The audience is primarily B2B, highly educated, and higher earning. It can be an excellent network for generating quality leads and growing an international audience.
Today, businesses can directly upload videos and share creative content with their communities on LinkedIn. Here are some ideas for successful video content to share on this platform:
- Showcase new technology.
- Share tutorials on how to use a new product or service.
- Share quick tips, hacks, or research you’ve recently discovered.
- Teach your audience how to solve a common problem.
- Share videos of events or conferences you attend.
- Share thought leadership.
- Share company or industry news, or weigh in on a recent announcement.
6. TikTok
The largest group of TikTok users is 59% female and between the ages of 18 and 24. Gen Z spends a lot of time on this platform daily – over 45 minutes (21.5 hours per month in 2020). While its current demographic is predominantly teens and young adults, adults are starting to use it more (which may present more business opportunities in the future).
TikTok can be a good place to grow your influence. If you have a younger customer base, consider adding this channel to your list. You can share business tips, inspirational videos, and trending content. Try to share a mix of trending and evergreen content for maximum results.
Extra Tips for Growing Your Audience on Social Media Using Video Content Marketing
To get maximum results from your video content marketing efforts on social media, you’ll need to get a little creative. Here are some tips to help you start thinking outside the box to grow your audience and boost leads and sales for your business.
- Proactively engage with your audience: Proactively listen and respond to your online audience. Carefully monitor comments, shares, messages, and other interactions so you can respond promptly and thoughtfully. The more you can make your online community feel seen and heard, the better chance you’ll have at building a loyal, raving fanbase. Also use hashtags and encourage people to share and tag your business online to expand your reach further.
- Use humor when appropriate: Showing a human side to your brand is a great way to connect with your followers on a deeper level. Ensure it matches your brand tone, personality, and audience.
- Don’t pay for followers: Purchasing fans may seem like a shortcut to a more extensive following, but it’s a bad practice that can get your business into deep trouble. You could gain robot, inauthentic, and disinterested followers that likely won’t stay invested in your business over the long haul.
- Give people a good reason to follow you: And continue giving them reasons to follow and engage with your brand as your audience grows and matures. Tailor your content to address unique audiences on every social media channel rather than using generic content across the board. Being strategic and providing value in every post will help you entice and resonate better with the right audiences online.
Leave Content Marketing to the Pros
We are a content marketing agency that creates quality, engaging, and SEO-driven content to help businesses reach and engage their target audiences. We build customized content marketing plans (including monthly video packages) to help you produce all the content you need to win new customers. We’ll also measure and calculate ROI so you know how successful your efforts are performing over time.
Our team will research your target market to gain a deep understanding of your buyer personas, competitors, and industry. Then we’ll develop keyword-rich content that meets prospects where they are and leads them seamlessly down the marketing funnel.
Learn more about our Content Marketing Services.
