We have talked amply before about the benefits of video marketing for small businesses. You might have heard it from other business owners in your area, but their experience will vary depending on how good they’re doing. Some people have a skewed vision of what good video content is, and this tends to spread and affect people that don’t know better.
Why is video marketing so effective? Video content is a powerful tool, and we want you to take full advantage of it by following the best practices in the industry. Here are the 8 do’s and don’ts of video marketing that you should never forget!
Do’s
Include a Call-To-Action
One of the most common mistakes that people make when creating video content is leaving out the CTA. Grabbing your audience’s attention and with a well-made video will do you no good if you don’t guide them towards a goal. And don’t tack it in at the last moment, because people will detect that and it won’t feel organic for them to follow it!
Educate your audience
Teaching people about a subject or, better yet, teaching them how to do something adds a lot of value to your brand. Most searches on the internet are about how to deal with an issue, and there’s nothing that people love better than a step-by-step tutorial with great visuals. Depending on your industry, choose a subject that your customers deal with regularly and explain it on video; write your script with a strong CTA in mind, and go for it!
Invest in SEO
You don’t have to be a massive operation for your video to reach the top of search engines. Today, it’s all about speaking directly to your pre-approved audience. Think of a group of people that, after going through a lot of information and careful planning, you have chosen as the one that’s most likely to do business with you. This process is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and, long story short, is all about improving your unpaid, organic reach on the internet. All successful businesses nowadays depend on SEO in some way, so don’t get left out of the game!
Have a clear-cut strategy
Having a good idea for a video is only the small, first step in a long journey. You must know who is it for, what people going to get out of it, what you expect them to do after watching it (and how you intend for that to happen), and much more. Even a video with the best production values in the world will not accomplish much if it doesn’t have a clear purpose. Make sure that your planning phase is thorough, and that you know your audience deeply.
Don’ts
Make your video too long
Short and straightforward is the best policy, and there’s data to back that up. Studies have shown that audience engagement goes down hard after the first 30 seconds, mainly if the audience is not familiar with your brand. Always go for making the best impression in the shortest amount of time possible, or you risk people not being there when the “good part” of the video arrives.
Obsess over “going viral”
Business owners that are not particularly internet-savvy tend to obsess over the term “viral” since most think that virality is the end-all, be-all of successful content. If you follow that logic, all that energy and time will be wasted trying to achieve that status, from a professional point of view. It’s like pouring all your hopes on planting magic beans. On top of that, “going viral” and achieving success are hardly the same thing when you have a good strategy. Remember that you’re trying to reach the right audience, not the largest.
What good would it do you if a video reaches millions of people around the world if you have a small-town business?
Overexplain your subject
Cramming too much information into your video can confuse your audience. Depending on what kind of video you’re making, this could work against you in different ways. For example, a tutorial that overexplains every little detail and goes on tangents will definitely lose someone’s attention. On the other hand, a video that serves as a presentation for your business and goes on for longer than necessary will make people think that your brand is boring or too self-important. The key is setting clear goals for you
Self-promote shamelessly
Creating a video as an introduction for new costumers to your business is good. But, a video that does nothing but talk about how great your company is and how everyone should do business with you is a bad strategy. The key is to make content that people want to share on social media to spread the word because the value is high for them. Remember people don’t want to be advertised to so blatantly. They prefer the feeling that a business is both human and useful so that they can spread it around via word-of-mouth.
