Technology has always been a force to be reckoned with in marketing and advertising, but it's never been more important than now. You may be wondering if you should use video marketing for local business and how to finally get started creating a video marketing strategy for your small business.
The internet is one of the largest catalysts for technological innovation and today's marketing videos have become one of those media outlets that can help you reach your audience like never before.
Video marketing is an effective way to get your message across in a short amount of time. In just a matter of minutes, you can get your point across to viewers and make them feel like they are learning something important that will help their lives in some way.
Using marketing videos has been one of the most effective ways for a small business to show customers information about your products and services.
You can use it in many different contexts, for instance, publishing on social media platforms or video sharing websites such as YouTube where there is already an established audience just waiting for new content.
Video marketing campaigns are a marketing strategy for advertisers to use in order build their brand and connect with potential customers. Video has quickly become one the most popular mediums on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram because users can enjoy short entertaining clips without having to scroll through long articles.
How Do Local Businesses Benefit from Video Marketing?
The internet has made it possible for companies of all sizes to reach their customers in new ways. With video content on the web, companies can upload short promotional videos that educate and creatively convey information about services offered by them or related products quickly.
These types of clips are perfect your video marketing efforts because they are engaging enough while still containing key information about your product or service.
But that’s just one benefit video marketing brings to businesses. There are many more including:
- Obtains actionable data about how users engage with content
- Notifies customers instantly when a new product, business, or service is introduced
- Increases lead generation
- Increases customer engagement
- Promotes brand awareness
- Assesses the interest level of potential customers in the company or product
- Simplifies the purchasing process for customers
- Shares information about the company with even more potential customers
- Increases website traffic
- Increases sales
- Reduces bounce rates
- Improves SEO rankings for a business
- Increases backlinks
- Creates a loyal customer base
- Promotes customer involvement and feedback
- Creates fresh and relevant content
Video advertising and marketing is a great option for businesses of all sizes. Whether you're trying to promote your company, services or products- high quality videos will help drive the message that needs to be sent in order to reach those potential customers.
Your video marketing campaign is a powerful tool for creating customer loyalty and increased website traffic. When used in conjunction with SEO techniques, this video strategy can help you generate more sales by encouraging consumer participation. The use of video marketing in conjunction with SEO techniques can also significantly increase a company's website traffic.
It is true that video has become the norm for many, and if a business ignores this medium then they are cutting into their own market. With so much competition in today’s world of marketing - every company needs to have at least one video content strategy to help them stand out.
Is Video Marketing Really Worth It For Local Business Owners?
Absolutely! Videos have become more popular over time, as demonstrated not only by ROI results, but by the volume of viewers watching them each second of every day.
When thinking about video content's importance to the internet, consider these stats:
- Video content is viewed by 1/3 of online users.
- Users not only watch videos, but also remember them. 80% of all users are able to recall what they watched in the last month.
- Watching product videos helps visitors make a purchase decision 84% of the time.
- On average, users watch video ads online for about 16 minutes a month.
From the research, it's pretty clear that online users watch a lot of videos. But how does this impact local businesses? This results in more sales, more profits, and more customers. Take a look at these statistics:
- Users are 200-300% more likely to click on a link when video content is placed within an email.
- The conversion rates of landing pages can be increased by 80% when video content is included. In the case of a video, conversion rates refer to how many people make a purchase after watching it.
- Full page ads with video content increase engagement by 22%.
Even though the statistics are staggering, local business owners still wonder what video marketing can do for them. How much does it cost? What is the ROI?
We’ll discuss more about video marketing's costs later, but let's take a moment to review its ROI. In fact, 76% of companies using video marketing say video content has a higher ROI than any other type of marketing they use.
So How Does Small Business Video Marketing Work?
Video content is a great way for companies looking to create interesting, engaging forms of advertising. However, there's no such thing as one size fits all when it comes down to video marketing.
Every company will have its own unique take on how they can make this medium work best in order promote themselves and grow their customer base.
Video marketing is an extremely powerful form of online marketing but it should always be used in conjunction with other types of marketing. Adding a dynamic video to great content built on strong SEO strategies, for instance, can be a powerful marketing tool. Users may feel overwhelmed and uninterested if a page is entirely video-based.
In essence, video marketing works quite simply. Any kind of video can be made by a business and uploaded to a blog, website or video sharing website, such as YouTube.
Upon viewing the video online, a number of different users share it, retweet it, like it, and begin following the company. A user may even click through to the company's website for more information or to even buy a product.
How Much Does Video Marketing Cost?
When business owners consider video marketing, one of the first questions they ask is what does it cost? Small business owners also often assume they already know what the answer is - a lot! But it doesn't have to cost a lot and this belief stops them from testing video marketing and seeing how beneficial it can be.
The business owner will decide how much video marketing is going to cost. Video costs largely depend on the type of marketing video that is produced.
Using a smartphone, simple videos with minimal production can be created. The business now has its first piece of video marketing, and it costs next to nothing.
It is likely that the business already pays for the smartphone bill as a business expense in this case. You can create a YouTube account for free (and you could make money if your channel is popular enough).
You or another employee could star in the video, again at a very low cost, or the video might contain charts or still pictures with a voiceover.
There are also some businesses that may prefer a video with actors, scripts, and production. As a result, video marketing is, of course much more expensive, sometimes in the thousands of dollars.
A business usually finds a middle ground between the cheapest and most expensive option and typically enlists the services of their own staff. These videos can be further customized with the use of simple editing tools and software by adding things like music, lighting, and other components. This can really make a video pop and won't break the bank.
Some of the best video editing and video creation software that won’t break the bank are:
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Final Cut Pro
- Sony Vegas Movie Studio
- Lightworks
Proven Video Marketing Strategies
As soon as businesses realize how valuable video marketing can be, they want to jump right in. The passion and energy they have is great. But they will need it to make dynamic videos that will really stand out. The videos they create need to be well-thought out and use proven video marketing strategies.
Produce High-Quality Video
The number of videos on the web is in the millions and more are being added every day. The sheer number of videos that people see online is one of the reasons people expect to see them, but it also makes it difficult to make a video that stands out. Value in production is critical, and it needs to be at the highest level.
To create professional-looking videos, the production doesn't need to cost a lot of money. Even if you're using only your smartphone to make the video, make sure you're not doing it in your pajamas with the television on in the background. Make sure you are able to be seen and heard clearly. Prepare as if you will be speaking in front of a large audience.
Understand Your Audience
Prior to creating any marketing campaign, a company must identify its target audience. Often, companies think the target audience for their videos is the customers who are currently buying their products.
They do this by analyzing things like age, gender, and income brackets. While this is a good place to start, businesses may also want to reach out to other audiences.
Do you plan to use the video to highlight a discount the company is offering new customers or will it target only existing customers? Does the goal of the company's marketing efforts include establishing the company as an industry authority and expert?
Videos can be targeted at a number of different audiences. Those should be identified before any video is created, since they greatly affect the content of the video.
Identify Your Goals
You should never create a video just because the latest trend is to do so or because a blog post recommends it. In spite of the fact that video marketing can be extremely effective, the videos used for marketing must be clearly defined and the marketing goals must be clearly stated.
When creating a video for your company, there are a few questions that every business owner should ask themselves: What are the objectives of the video? Are you trying to drive traffic to your website, get customers to submit a quote request, or inform them about your company?
The business owner should not produce a video if he or she cannot answer these questions and does not have a clear purpose for it.
Be Creative
Businesses should always be creative when making videos. Depending on the situation, this may be easier in some instances and more difficult in others.
There are some products and video ideas that are already so fun that brainstorming isn't necessary. Other times, the products and services may not be as exciting, at which point extra creativity is necessary. It's important that any video be creative, fun, and engaging to the viewer.
Tell A Story
A video should always tell a story. People are naturally more engaged with videos with stories, as they add a human element.
Every video needs to tell a story, whether it's about the origin of the company, the latest product collection, or a recent company retreat. In any story, there is a beginning, a middle, and a conclusion.
What is the best way for businesses to use this model for video creation? A good start might be to determine a problem customers are currently facing, such as weeds in a lawn.
At the middle of the story, the company could highlight the various solutions that have already been tried by the customer, and at the end, they could display the new product that will finally eliminate their weeds. As a result of the story, the business may have sold more products.
Provide Viewers With Options
A common belief is that online users will just watch a video and when they're done, they will either navigate elsewhere or follow the steps outlined in the call to action.
Leaving feedback is an option every video viewer should get. The idea that negative feedback might be posted there for future customers to see scares some businesses, but nobody should be afraid of negative feedback.
Negative comments can give the owner of the business a chance to address any misconceptions or negative views the public may have about the company or the products they offer.
In addition, customers' trust in the company increases when they see that the company went the extra distance to not only provide a place for feedback, but that they responded to it.
Having options for viewers can work in a company's favor in most situations. There's also the option of not giving viewers options such as adding the auto-play option. If a video works on auto-play, the video will automatically play when someone visits the website or clicks on a specific link. By doing so, you almost force the viewer to watch the video and can make them curious before they realize that it is a video.
Use Video SEO
By combining search engine optimization (SEO) techniques with videos, not only will viewers see them more frequently, but they will also be more likely to find them. It's rare for viewers to find videos on the internet unless they are directed to them directly. With video SEO, businesses do not have to rely just on that.
Things such as targeted keywords, local keywords, and short and long-tail search terms are important and will have a big impact on an online marketing campaign.
Where Should You Place Your Local Business Videos?
Basically, different types of videos are better suited to specific websites and locations. Business owners can improve their online presence by knowing which videos work best on which websites.
Thanks to the high number of quality video sharing websites, video marketing does not have to be expensive. An added plus is these sites already rank well with search engines making it easy for businesses like yours to rank, too.
The videos on these websites are also attracting millions of viewers daily, which provides any business with an opportunity to reach many potential customers in one shot.
Videos can also be embedded into email marketing campaigns to provide your customer with a more immersive experience - all without leaving their inbox. Here are a few places you can place your videos for free traffic.
YouTube
It's no secret that YouTube is today's most powerful video-sharing website, and for good reason. After all, it has over the past several years remained not only one of largest search engines overall but also among its own niche.
Your Own Website & Landing Page
Your website and the landing page you create on it are a business’s best friend. The average consumer today does most of their research online before ever speaking with someone in sales or making a purchase, so it's key that you put yourself front-and-center by creating videos which will be seen when potential clients visit your site.
Emails and Email Signatures
Email marketing campaigns are more successful when video content is included. When emails include video, they have a 96% higher click-through rate than those without videos! This shows just how effective the medium can be in reaching out and engaging potential customers to buy your product or service online.
Email signatures are a great way to keep your email branding consistent and memorable. Why not include video content in marketing emails too? Let each staff member that uses email add a video to their email signature video so that the right people will see it.
Instagram is quickly becoming the go-to social media site for companies of all sizes. Instagram has become an important way to reach your customers with short but engaging bite sized pieces that they can watch when it suits your audience best. The key to using Instagram effectively? Make five videos a day, each one only 20 seconds long!
Pinterest is a great way to grow your following because it's so visual. If you have video content, use Pinterest as an extra search engine alongside Google and YouTube. Video pins are becoming increasingly popular.
More than 4 billion video views take place on Facebook every day. More specifically, 500 million viewers watch 100 million hours of content in a single day. And about 65 percent (or 355) come from mobile users who prefer watching videos on their phones and about 85% of people don’t even turn the sound on. So be sure you use subtitles or closed captioning so your message comes across without needing audio.
Twitter data shows that video content has been growing 67% year over year and there are over 2 billion views each day, reaching a huge user base. This means increased engagement with the videos as well. Like with Facebook, make sure they look good on mobile and use subtitles so people can understand your messaging without hearing it.
What Types of Videos You Should Use?
There are many ways for small businesses to use video marketing to increase their visibility among potential clients and then use this awareness to generate sales revenue.
There are many types of videos that can be used by small businesses, based on the message they are trying to convey.
You can use animated videos, video blogs, or explainer videos to name just a few formats to create videos and share on social media, YouTube and your landing page or website.
The best thing about video content marketing is that it can integrate many different styles and types of videos into a single and comprehensive advertising approach.
Tutorial videos
In these videos, the company can demonstrate how to use its products, or demonstrate how to accomplish other tasks that complement the products it sells. In the case of a lawn mower company, for instance, they might include a video that shows how to cut grass and other tips on what length to cut it and how often.
Company And Staff Video Profiles
Company videos are a great way to show off your company and what you do. They can help promote name recognition for both the business, as well as trust in general from potential customers.
Staff videos might be one of the most powerful tools when it comes to authenticity. Allowing employees to talk about their passions helps make them seem more human.
Video Spokesperson
You can hire someone to be the spokesperson for your company in the video. There are video production companies that provide this service.
Video Testimonials
Testimonial videos are an excellent way for a company to directly reach its target audience and convey information about the product or service it provides while at the same time advertising its quality points. You can also use these techniques to record interviews with company employees, customers, and executives.
Reviews
Reviews are a time-honored method for building brand loyalty and engaging customers. Review videos are an innovative take on an old advertising technique that can be very effective. You can use these in your local marketing efforts and social media campaigns to reach your target audience and build trust for your brand and company.
Product Descriptions
This counts as direct advertising, and allows consumers to learn more about the product in a way that is more compelling and faster than reading the manual.
Come Up With Your Own Local Video Marketing Strategy
Marketing campaigns that incorporate a variety of these videos into their strategies are the most effective. When small business video uses different styles, they can reach into different viewer niches, which makes the strategy more likely to succeed.
The market for video marketing is growing fast, and it is certainly one of the most effective forms of advertising.
This type of advertising benefits small businesses most. Despite the fact that the large businesses already enjoy a high advertising budget and brand recognition for TV commercials, in the online world, small businesses are better able to compete with them.
Small businesses can quickly become the next big internet sensation by carefully planning their content and implementing effective video distribution strategies. This is just one of many reasons why online video marketing for local business is becoming so important.
