5 Simple Tips for Video Marketing

5 Simple Tips for Video Marketing That Keep Audiences Watching

Marketers know that audiences love videos. They know that good acting and poignant storytelling has the power to deliver the most important goal of advertising – getting the viewer to follow up on the call to action. 

With more audiences getting impatient with the proliferation of ads, and the higher propensity to simply skip or ignore them, marketers need to find innovative ways to first and foremost, get the attention of viewers. Telling a good story with the right actors is good, but there are more elements that contribute to a successful video marketing campaign. This article will explain what they are and how you can implement them.

Before you begin production however, it is important for you to highlight your marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Some of these include:

  • Followership rate, i.e. how many more followers you have on social media.
  • Engagement rate, i.e. how many more people are commenting to find out more about the product or service, or sharing the video to their contacts.
  • Subscription rate, i.e. how many more YouTube subscribers you have.
  • Sales rate, i.e. volume of unit sales following the period of the ad.
  • Viewership, i.e. the reach of your video ad, how many people have viewed it on all platforms.

Knowing these will help to fine-tune your marketing strategy and set the standard for your marketing content.

Appeal to their desire to confront their worst fears

Everyone’s got something they are afraid of – what some would refer to as their worst nightmare. They might try to smile it away or pretend that it doesn’t exist, but it’s there. As a marketer, you should ask yourself what key problem(s) your product is solving, and how to get your viewers to see that you are providing a specific solution to their specific problem (or that of their loved ones). 

Depending on your marketing strategy, your video ad can begin with questions: “Are you afraid of getting old?” “Is your kid afraid of the dark?” “Scared of taking that road trip all by yourself?” “Don’t want to live in an old people’s home?”

Starting your video marketing with these types of questions, will very likely get the attention of your viewers, because you’re essentially digging up their worst fears (the problem your product is solving) and enabling them to confront it with your solution (the product (or service). Be careful though, don’t grab their attention without sustaining it with the solution your product is proffering. Say for instance, that your product is a night lamp with roving lights and lullabies for kids, you should follow up the initial “attention-grabber” question with the qualities of your lamp, and how it is different from the others. Interweave these qualities with how your product banishes the fear of the dark. In so doing, you clearly present them with two options: the problem and the solution. It’s easy to see which choice they will make (or consider making).  

Keep it short

Brevity is key with video marketing. Viewers want to move on to the next piece of digital information, so it is imperative that you use your time wisely. One way to achieve this is to highlight the most important information you want your viewers to have before production. This might include:

  1. The benefits: your outstanding product qualities (is it faster, easy to use, accessible, new?)
  2. The price: hopefully it’s fair, and comparable with industry pricing (is there a payment plan, discount package?).
  3. Call to action: what they should do following the ad (is there a number to call, should they subscribe to your channel, send an email, click on a link to register for an event?).
  4. Extra important information: Is the product unsuitable for people with pre-existing health conditions, is it safe for use around animals, harmful to kids, are there terms and conditions to note?

Ensure that all this information is included in your video marketing. Not only is it sloppy to chase after viewers with important info you have left out, it’s almost guaranteed that you won’t be able to reach everyone and your campaign will fail. 

Audiences want to know that you’re conscious of their time, and will likely skip your ad, if your campaign’s purpose doesn’t come through within the first five seconds. So get straight to your point and don’t dilly dally with unnecessary or uninteresting information.

Use good equipment and hire the right professionals

Nothing says ‘uninteresting’ more than a video ad with poor audio or video quality. Rent a good camera and microphone, hire a competent professional to help with the technicalities of production. Don’t compromise on quality, it will ultimately impact on the effectiveness of your campaign. 

Here are a few production qualities to look out for:

  • Clear sound: Make sure all the characters can be distinctly heard. 
  • Picture quality: Make sure the images are sharp, with high definition resolution.  
  • Well-edited content: If you’re going to have captions or use subtitles, ensure that it’s edited for correct grammar and appropriate punctuation, and correctly placed. You don’t want to go viral for an embarrassing caption!

Video marketing facilitated by the right production tools, ensures a wide reach that boosts KPIs and delivers return on investments. 

Communicate effectively

No matter what you do, if you’re not communicating effectively, audiences will move on and your marketing campaign will fail. Before and after production, you should share the ad script and production with the right professional(s) or a focus group. Let them check if your communication is:

Clear

Is your call to action ambiguous, or can viewers clearly understand what you’re saying? For instance, if your ad is an event invite, are the time and venue clearly communicated, or are they merely implied? 

Appropriate

If you’ve identified your target audience, you should know how best to communicate with them. Do they use slang, or do they prefer proper English? Do they understand English or do you need to subtitle your communication? 

Suitable

Is your ad content sensitive to certain audiences? Does it tend toward racist behavior or contain elements of gender bias? Is it age-appropriate? If your ad is targeted towards kids, does it contain profanity or nudity? Marketers must be culturally and socially sensitive, otherwise they risk losing audiences’ attention and loyalty. This will have a direct impact on KPIs, sales and ROIs.

Accurate

Let the right professional check for facts. Your ad should not misquote, reel out unchecked facts or exaggerate facts. Not only will this be off-putting, it will also cast a shadow on the authenticity of your content. Audiences will wonder why they should trust it at all.   

Accessibility

Is your ad accessible to all audiences, or does it need to be captioned to help those with hearing impairments? Is your soundtrack too loud, so that it overshadows the voice over, or is the music so disconcerting that audiences will rather avoid it?

Engaging

Is the script engaging? Does it have the right style, or does it read like a news commentary? Did you cast good actors? Good actors will convey the right emotion to engage with the audience and sell the product or service. What about the director? Do they share the vision of the ad team? Have they effectively coordinated the cast and crew to create a compelling production?  

Optimize your video 

Simply uploading your video marketing on various platforms without a placement strategy will affect your KPIs. For instance, instead of merely uploading your video on Facebook, you should narrow down the audience to the demography (age, nationality, gender, religious affiliation, etc.) that’s right for your product.

You should also use keywords that garner high traffic, these you can search for using Google’s Keyword Planner. Google Ads Translator is another effective tool which translates your ad to foreign audiences, so that you can widen your reach. On social media, use hashtags, they help audiences (even the ones you have not targeted) to easily locate your ads and other media productions linked to your product.

Why you should optimize your ads:

  • It helps search engines to rank your ad highly. 
  • It helps you to identify the places and time where (and when) your ad performs well, so that you can improve your strategy to maintain the right ad placements. 
  • It helps to reduce the cost of your ad campaign and improve your return-on-investment. For instance, if you have been advertising on various social media platforms, you can tell which ones are value for your money by utilizing the analytical tools.
  • It helps you to evaluate your communication strategies and KPIs. For instance, if the feedback from an ad is poor or it is low performing, you’re likely not communicating properly, and you should remove the video and produce another, using new insights.  

Conclusion

In a nutshell, these are your tips for video marketing that keep audiences watching:

  1. Connect with them emotionally.
  2. Get straight to the point.
  3. Opt for quality production, using the best equipment and hiring the right professionals.
  4. Communicate effectively so that viewers can respond to the call to action. 
  5. Optimize your video to increase your reach.

If you follow these five simple tips, you will boost the effectiveness of your video marketing campaigns and see a direct impact on sales.

Nikola Baldikov is a Digital Marketing Manager at Brosix, specializing in SAAS marketing, SEO, and outreach strategies. Besides his passion for digital marketing, he is an avid fan of football and loves to dance. Connect with him on LinkedIn or Twitter at @baldikovn

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Unlock the power of AI Advertising

Revolutionize your ad strategy with the best online advertising tools by Clever Ads, incorporating cutting-edge AI for marketing success. Elevate your online presence and stay ahead your competitors with our expertise and AI for digital marketing.

Try Clever Ads

At Clever Ads we care about your privacy

Use of cookies