Remember when it was enough to have a decent-looking website with a couple of your keywords on a few product pages? How times have changed! Increasingly, marketers have to come up with innovative ways to grab visitors' attention.
When infographics first blew up the internet, they had the same impact as when businesses starting publishing their own ebooks, reports, and white papers on the web. Minds were blown, hats were taken off, people applauded. Life was good. But pretty soon, infographics saturated the web and they were no longer as sparkly, shiny, or effective as they once were.
Today, one of the up-and-coming marketing tactics is video -- both of the pre-recorded and live variety. According to Cisco, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017. And according to Smart Insights, simply stating that the piece of content is a video appears to increase engagement across all channels.
Want to hop on this trend? Below, we'll give you some ideas for videos you can film and offer up some tips for integrating them into your marketing.
20 Ideas for Your Next Live or Pre-Recorded Video
Many marketers know that they need to start using video, but when it comes time to sit down and create one, they're lost for what to do. Here are a few ideas for both pre-recorded and live videos that your business could actually use.
Pre-Recorded Video Ideas
Beginner
- Create short “Thank you” videos from your team to new customers or customers that you upsell.
- Screencast a demo of your product.
- Create an animated GIF of how to perform a function of your tool. (Want help? Learn how to make an animated GIF in this post.)
- Film 15-second testimonials from real customers and evangelists.
Intermediate
- Film extended customer testimonials and user cases (roughly around 3 - 10 minutes).
- Create longer product demonstrations and whiteboard-style videos with recognisable members of the company.
- Do a short introduction of the company and its mission and vision.
Advanced
- Create a full product demo.
- Turn blog posts into short, how-to videos.
- Film longer interviews with key members of the company.
- Shoot live presentations performed by company members and add in their slides in post-production.
- Create videos for each of your core calls-to-action (one for “call us,” one for “sign up for a free trial,” one for “tell your friends and get free credits,” etc.).
Live Video Ideas
Beginner
- Use Periscope or Meerkat to broadcast from cool industry events you, your manager, or CEO are attending.
- Use Google Hangout or Skype as a way to thank customers on a special occasion (one year working together, etc.).
Intermediate
- Hold a live Q&A / Ask Me Anything Hangout.
- Live stream a conversation with a thought leader or influencer who is relevant to your audience.
- Live stream relevant in-office events (Not some St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans that is getting a little out of hand!).
Advanced
- Show a live demo with your sales reps and include an open Q&A.
- Film a live presentation with open Q&A.
- Stream a “day at the office” with a C-level / senior manager.
How to Integrate Video into Your Marketing Strategy (By: Yousaf Sekander)
For advice on how to use video in your marketing strategy, we turn to Yousaf Sekander, Director of SEO at Rocketmill. Here is what he recommends:
1) Drip-Feed Campaigns
Leveraging video within your content marketing mix can be a very effective way of increasing conversions. For example, businesses that offer subscription based services or products can use videos in their drip-feed campaigns to encourage trial users towards paid subscription.
Pro tip: Your drip-fed videos should aim to be 30-90 seconds for top of funnel campaigns and 1-10 minutes for audiences further down the funnel.
2) Customer Stories
While traditional text-based testimonials and case studies are great, I have found that the best format to share customer testimonials or case studies is through video. Featuring real-life customers in these videos evokes positive emotion in your prospects mind and instills a sense of trust. You can leverage customer stories on key parts of your website and also use them in your email marketing efforts.
Pro tip: As a general guidance, these types of videos shouldn’t be more than 1-5 minutes long.
3) Integrating Offline and Online
In some cases, you can use video content to integrate your offline efforts with your digital marketing. Here are some awesome examples of companies doing just that:
Live Customer Care (Mercedes Benz StarView)
When you take your car for repair or servicing to Mercedes, the technician looking after your car does a quick health check and uses a GoPro to share his findings and commentary along the way. This video is then sent to the car owner via email. This helps the customer feel involved in an otherwise murky decision process.
Broadcasting Seminars (HubSpot Bold Talks)
Businesses that deliver offline events such as seminars, roundtables, and customer forums can use live broadcasting or post-event videos to share their roundtables and seminars with those who couldn’t physically attend their event.
User-Generated Video (GoPro)
Even more powerful is when a user voluntarily submits a video of themselves using and recommending your product. GoPro has managed to pull this feat off (although, it does help that they are a video product to begin with). Videos of successful customers are extremely valuable assets to use during nurturing when you want to move people down the sales funnel.
Conclusion
According to ReelSEO, 82% of surveyed marketers said that video marketing has had a positive impact on their business. With the potential for success plus the ideas above, there's really no excuse for not starting your video strategy now.
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