8 Types of Videos Brands Should Use in Marketing Campaigns

This video has been contributed by Dave Schneider.

85% of internet users in the U.S. consume video content at least once a month. And the demand for video is increasing every year.

Brands can no longer get by without adding video to their arsenal of marketing tools. In fact, without video, staying ahead of the competition can be almost impossible.

Some brands have even found great success in making video the central part of their marketing efforts. And many video marketing statistics back up the fact that it can help increase traffic to your site, improve lead generation and get more sales.

But what types of videos should you produce? With the range of possible options, this can be one of the most challenging questions to answer.

Even though hosting and sharing your videos is easier than ever using customizable free video hosting, you still need to know what to create in the first place.

So, let’s look at why video marketing is important, how to run effective campaigns and the types of videos you should be creating in 2020.

Why is Video Marketing Important?

Before we start looking into the specific types of videos you can use, we must first understand why it makes sense to put in the effort to create them.

After all, creating high-quality videos is hard work. It takes up a lot of time and resources. Therefore, the potential benefits that you receive must be worth it.

As mentioned before, one of the primary reasons you should invest the time and effort into video marketing is that it can provide you with the biggest returns. Videos drive traffic to your website, engage your audience, and lead to sales – so they can become the driving force behind your success.

Videos can also help you showcase your brand and products like no other marketing approach. Unlike articles or images, videos bring your products to life and show real people interacting with them, which is highly appealing to viewers.

Since mobile audiences are becoming so prominent, businesses must cater to their needs. Over half of video content is consumed on mobile devices.

There are many more reasons why video marketing is worthwhile, but the main point remains the same. Audiences today expect brands to create videos, and if you fail to adjust, you’re going to have a difficult time competing.

How to Create Effective Video Marketing Campaigns

Now that we’ve looked at some of the reasons why video marketing is so important, let’s go through some of the essential steps involved in launching successful campaigns.

Just like any marketing campaign, you need to follow certain steps if you want to succeed, no matter what type of video you are creating.

Do Your Research

One of the most common mistakes brands make when starting video marketing is not performing the necessary research. No matter how well your video is produced, it won’t succeed if you don’t know who you’re trying to reach and who you’re competing with.

Therefore, the first step in the process is clearly defining the audience you’re trying to reach. If you already run a business, you probably have a pretty good understanding of your customers. So consider who they are, where they hang out online, what type of content they consume and (most importantly) why they should be interested in your video.

When you publish a video, you’re competing with thousands of others for your audience’s attention, so you must figure out a key reason people should be interested.

You should also look at what the competition is doing and figure out how you can differentiate your videos and make them better than what’s already out there. Aim to make yours more interesting, more informative and more attention-grabbing.

Stay on Brand

If you want your video marketing efforts to deliver good results, you must understand what your brand is about and make sure that your videos reflect your values.

Today, branding is becoming more important than ever, so you must make sure that your videos showcase the types of ideas that you want to be associated with, as that will help you form a stronger bond with your audience.

This goes without saying, but make sure your video is consistent with your brand identity too.

Choose the Right Video Format

Just like with your audience and your brand, the video will also need to be tailored to the social media platform that you want to post it on. Even if the core of the video remains the same, you will probably have to structure and present it differently on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, just to name a few.

Figure out how audiences like to consume video on different platforms and make the necessary adjustments.

Types of Marketing Videos

Product demos. How-to videos. And even webinars. These are just a few of the types of videos you can use to promote and grow your business online.

Let’s look at eight different video types, figure out how to use them, and check out why they are so useful.

1. Product Reviews

No matter what type of product you sell, product reviews should be a central part of your video marketing efforts. There simply isn’t a better way to introduce your audience to what you have to offer than by talking to them through a video and showing your products or services in action.

The most common product review or demo videos involve physical products, where a company representative talks about a product, how it was developed, what problems it solves, how to use it, and who can benefit the most from buying it.

If you want to add an additional level of social proof, you can even partner up with an influencer that can talk about your product from their own perspective, allowing you to leverage their authority status in the industry, as well as their following.

Don’t be afraid to create review videos for your digital products or services either.

Take people behind the scenes and show them how your services work, what types of results you’ve been able to achieve, and why you can make the claims that you make. When they see your services in action, many people will feel much more confident than if you only had a sales page.

2. How-To Videos

Another crucial category of videos is the how-to one. Since prospects will learn about your business at various stages of the buyer’s journey, you need to be prepared to take them by the hand and guide them forward through the funnel until they are ready to make a purchase.

That way, even if someone isn’t even aware of the problem they have or aren’t aware that there’s a solution, you can offer a roadmap for them to take until they are at a stage when they realize that your product is the best way to go.

In how-to videos, you don’t necessarily have to be actively selling your products. You can simply talk about some of the common obstacles or issues your audience faces and offer them practical ways to fix them.

3. Journey Videos

Journey or explainer videos are quite similar to how-to videos, but they have a stronger emphasis on your products and how they help solve specific problems.

In essence, an explainer video maps out the customer’s entire journey, from the moment they first reach your site, to when they start using your product and service and reap the rewards that come with it.

These types of videos help your audience envision the journey that they could take, making the solution that you’re offering much more appealing because now they can imagine themselves in that position.

4. Animations

Sometimes, you’ll need to break down complicated subjects and explain them to your audience in a way that they can understand. And while long articles do have their audience, a video is much easier to consume and understand for most people.

If you have something that you want to talk about, which is a bit more technical or requires you to go over more nuances, outlining the entire subject in an animated video can make the concepts much easier to grasp.

Animated videos, including whiteboard videos, work really well if you want to quickly introduce your product or service to an audience that’s completely unaware of it. Instead of having them read a long article, you can squeeze the same information into an animated video that’s just a couple of minutes long.

5. Branding Videos

As we’ve already discussed in this article, branding is an integral part of any comprehensive online marketing strategy. Because of that, it’s easy to understand why branding videos should also have a place in your overall marketing strategy if you want to grow your presence.

But if you want branding videos to be useful, authenticity is essential. If you use empty slogans or try to position yourself as something you’re not, that can backfire and turn people off from buying. However, if you show the real people behind your company, including their values and passion, you can get people to trust you and want to help you succeed.

Talking about your company’s unique journey is a surefire way to instantly separate your company from the others and create a loyal following that will spread your message further than you could by yourself.

6. Personalized Videos

Sometimes, using videos in your marketing efforts doesn’t have to involve publishing them publicly. In fact, if you really need to close a client, creating a personalized video might be a much more effective approach.

Sharing insights and offering advice in a specific situation can be very powerful, as it not only positions you as an expert but shows the prospective client that you care about their success.

When the person sees the effort you’re willing to put in, and the personalized value you provide, choosing the competition over you will become a much harder choice.

7. Webinars

Another great way to use video is to make them an exclusive event that’s not available to the public. By hosting webinars, you can increase the perceived value of your content, even if the person only needs to subscribe to a list to become eligible.

In the webinar, be sure to provide plenty of value and solve specific problems. Since webinars can be much longer than most videos online, you can expand on the subject in more depth and share insights that will be more helpful.

But, make sure that you also position your product as the ultimate solution and figure out a compelling pitch that you can use at the end of your presentation.

8. Testimonials

Testimonials have been the driving force of sales online for as long as the internet has existed. People want to know that others have had good experiences before committing, so you must find a way to showcase the stories of your best customers if you want your conversion rate to be as good as it can be.

But while text-based testimonials are okay, they have limitations because anyone can put one together. Meanwhile, if your customer goes on camera and vouches for your products, that instantly breaks down any skepticism that the prospect might have and makes your claims much more believable.

To get video testimonials, you will need to ask your customers to film one. And even though this can seem like a big request, you’d be surprised how many people will be happy to share their experience if they are happy with what you’ve provided.

Final Words

Using video is no longer reserved for large companies with big budgets. If you have a smartphone and know your audience, you can create compelling video content that will captivate your viewers and drive sales.

And the best part is, there are so many different types of videos that you can use, they can become a central part of everything you do online, providing you a significant edge over the competition.

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About the author: David Schneider is the cofounder of NinjaOutreach, an all in one prospecting and outreach tool, which was created to streamline the process of connecting with influencers. He can also be found via his business blog, SelfMadeBusinessman.

The post 8 Types of Videos Brands Should Use in Marketing Campaigns first appeared on JUST™ Creative.