Digital marketers are flocking to video marketing as a preferred way to build an engaged client base. Videos are quick, accessible, SEO-friendly, and can easily be recycled and repurposed for other things.
However, to be successful with this opportunity, businesses must have a strategy in place. This plan will outline the steps ahead and clarify success metrics.
Here are eight essential steps for building a video marketing strategy.
Develop Your Brand Voice
Before you start posting video content, you must have an understanding of how your brand resonates with your target demographic. To accomplish this, you should develop your brand voice.
Consider the various aspects of your brand that personify it and make it come to life. Factors like the tone you use in communications to your core values are all important parts of your brand. It’s these elements that ultimately connect with customers in a meaningful way.
By developing a brand voice that aligns with your ideal customer values, you’ll create a benchmark by which to measure the appropriateness of your content. In other words, you won’t waste time creating content that isn’t in congruence with your company.
Identify Your Goals
Clarify what you hope to accomplish with your video content. Many businesses have a few goals and use those to create a content mix. For example, you might determine that 80% of your content will build brand awareness and create trust with qualifies leads. Conversely, the other 20% might be focused on conversions.
These goals will likely tie into your larger content marketing goals. However, it’s wise to drill down and look at your video efforts specifically, as video content creation requires more resources.
Determine Your Platforms
One of the beautiful things about video marketing is that it can reach across various platforms without reinventing the wheel. According to Celebian, this is an effective strategy when using TikTok to reach a broader audience, as the videos can be promoted across Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and more.
Determine which platforms you’ll be cross-promoting your video content on and what that process will entail. It’s also worth considering things like turning quotes into graphics or transcribing tutorials and webinar videos into blog posts. The more content you can derive from a single video, the higher your ROI.
Do Keyword Research
Once you’ve created the base for your video marketing strategy, the next step is to start conducting keyword research to determine where your focus should be. You can use SEO tools to determine what your target demographic is looking for. Additionally, using hashtags on social media platforms is a form of keyword research that can help showcase your opportunities.
When looking at social media content specifically, take time to see what hashtags industry influencers are using. This exercise is a great starting point for developing a keyword strategy.
Develop a Content Calendar
The next step is to develop a content calendar that identifies when videos will be created, edited, and published. Consider how your video content will tie into your larger content calendar. Your mix may vary depending on the platform.
Consistency is key in marketing. Posting frequently on social media triggers the algorithms while regularly refreshing content on your website appeals to SEO. If managing a content calendar is new to your business, start slow with one video per week and scale up over time. This approach will ensure you have time to smooth out the kinks and create a sustainable process.
Create Storyboards
Developing storyboards can help outline the video content creation process and ensures everyone knows what’s supposed to happen. These storyboards don’t have to be polished and perfect; they’re meant to be a rough guide of the video flow.
When engaging in video marketing, it’s important to act quickly to take advantage of trending items. Having a storyboard process in place can help with that process.
Implement Best Practices
While high-quality video recording technology and editing software are readily accessible to companies of all sizes, professionalism still reigns supreme. Ensure that your video is stable by using a tripod when appropriate. Pay attention to lighting and sound quality when creating informative content.
It’s also wise to be up to date on social media video formats and what works best on each platform. For example, TikTok videos should be no longer than 15 seconds. While you can create one-minute videos, having a shorter clip improves your video completion rates and enhances your stature with the algorithm.
Take the time to edit your videos and ensure that they’re in alignment with your brand standards.
Execute, Engage, and Analyze
The work doesn’t end when you hit “publish.” Once your videos are posted, it’s crucial to engage with your audience. Respond to their comments and start conversations. This practice will give you valuable insights into their preferences and behaviors. Furthermore, more interaction on a video triggers social media algorithms and helps build trust with potential customers.
Review your video posts’ analytics and determine which content resonates with your audience and what falls flat. Use these insights to shape your content calendar and creation strategy going forward.
With these eight steps, you can create an effective video marketing strategy for various platforms.
