So you’ve been hearing a lot about video marketing and how everyone is using it.
But being a small business owner, we know small businesses already have a lot on their plates and adding videos in the marketing game just seems more than enough.
You can give hundreds of reasons to not include videos in your marketing strategy like you don’t have the proper resources, video production is time-consuming, and it costs a fortune.
Truth to be told, videos are inevitable for small businesses (in fact for all types of businesses) and you just can’t avoid it now.
The good news is: It doesn’t have to be a pain, even if you are a small business owner and tight on budget. You can always include videos in your content marketing strategy to level up your game.
In this post, we will be talking about the types of videos that small businesses can use to boost their visibility and how you can start video marketing in 2020.
Following topics that we will be covering about video marketing for small businesses:
1. Why videos can help your business grow
2. Types of videos for small businesses
3. Tips that small businesses can use to develop a video marketing strategy
A. Why videos can help your business grow
Let’s talk facts-
- According to Hubspot, 72% of consumers prefer to watch a video of the product/service than reading its description.
- 53% of internet users watch youtube videos monthly and the number is to grow more and the average time duration is more than an hour daily- DAN Report
- The online video covered a total share of 22% in the total ad spent on digital media in 2019 in India, which has seen the highest growth among all other ad formats.
- Videos are shared 1,200% more than text and links combined- (Forbes)
- 92% of marketers have already confessed that video is an important part of their marketing strategy. (Wyzowl state of video marketing 2020)
Last but not least, Youtube is the 2nd largest visited website in the world.
So, we are clear about the part that video is a must in your content marketing game.
Now another common question people usually ask is where to use videos?
The answer is everywhere!
You can use videos everywhere, like on your website, your blog pages, social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tik-Tok, etc.
Let’s move on to the next part-
2. Types of marketing videos for small businesses and how you can use them
Here is the list of 8 types of videos that you can use to maximize your reach when you are tight on budget.
1. Brand Videos
Brand videos usually get associated with huge marketing campaigns with superb animation.
But that’s not the case.
Brand videos could be a simple video explaining what do you do and what problems do you solve. Outline a few points like your vision, mission and your key selling points with a combination of storytelling, visuals, and audio to make your video memorable.
How can you use it?
You can either use a simple animated video to explain the points and add a voiceover to it or else you could record a person outlining the above-mentioned parts and then edit it.
Example-
2. Tutorial Videos
Tutorial videos are really helpful when giving an in-depth tour of your product or service. The majority of people watch a video to learn about a product/service.
How can you use it?
If you offer a service, you can simply make a screengrab of your service explaining the features and how to use it.
If you have a product, you can simply speak about its features and how it works.
Example-
3. Testimonial Videos
As a content consumer, I know testimonials works. Testimonials work to build credibility among your customers and make them believe that you are the solution to their problem.
How can you use it?
Ask your clients to give their valuable insights about your product/service and how it helped them, you can record them, or ask them to record themselves so it’ll be a user-generated testimonial.
If you are not able to record a person then you can also convert several written testimonials into a simple animated video.
Example-
4. Interviews/Q&A
Interviews are a great way to engage your audience. Interview questions or specific Q&A videos helps you answer the burning questions of your audience and also helps the audience to understand you better.
How can you use it?
Sit with the thought leader of the subject within your team, or outside (if you could get any), or an online chat and record the video.
You can prepare the questions in advance, or whatever seems comfortable to you.
You can also take up the Quora question and answer them in detail.
5. Event Videos
Event videos are trustworthy and engaging because let’s be honest we all love some unscripted content.
How can you use it?
If you could host an event about your industry, if you are a panel member in any event or if you just simply attend an event related to your industry, show it!
Give your followers an exclusive look, you can choose to go live or you can record the video and share it with your experience and insights.
6. Promo/Deal/Offer
Who doesn’t love to know about the promos, offers, and deals about the services that they are looking for? (At least I don’t ;))
How can you use it?
Convert your offers into a catchy video and induce emotions in your audience, emotion of scarcity, missing out, etc.
Planning to offer a discount? Say it in a video
Offering a Promo code? Say it in a video
Got a whopping deal for your product/service? Say it in a video
Example-
7. Contest and Giveaways videos
Everyone likes free stuff! Contests are a proven way to drive engagement.
How can you use it?
Create videos promoting your content and use other people to carry the chain, it’ll help you reach out to a maximum number of people.
Make sure to outline the key facts and the giveaway prise of the content (works even better).
After your contest is over, make a video on the winner, you can also get user-generated videos showing their giveaway and then you can post them on your social media platforms.
Example-
8. Company Culture Videos
Showing your company culture is a good way to build brand awareness and it also helps in reaching out to other potential talents.
How can you use it?
Show your office, show your people, show the events you celebrate, show if there’s any campaign you do for a social cause.
Open up in front of your audience.
Example–
B. Tips that small businesses can use to develop a marketing strategy
We all know that you can’t just take upon anything before making a proper strategy.
The same goes for video marketing.
Before you start recording your videos, here are the following things to keep in mind.
1. Define your purpose– Define your purpose, how do you want to present your brand in front of your audience, what action you want them to take after watching your video. By outlining all of these essential points, it’ll be easier for you and your team to create the script and further processes.
2. Know your audience– I know you have been hearing this all the time and that’s because it’s important. You will have to know your audience, what they like, what do they want to hear about, and their profile. Only then you will be able to create the content that matters to your audience.
3. Plan out the types of content you can experiment with– You don’t have to stack up and try out all the types of content at the same time. Pick something easier for you, measure the result of it like what’s the engagement rate and the conversation around it. Then try with something else and keep on doing it until videos become an inevitable part of your content game.
4. Take help– Quality video content takes time, you either take help from someone you know to edit your videos, hire an in-house video making professional, or hire a freelancer from sites like Fiverr which would be affordable when you are tight on budget.
Last but not least, keep on measuring the results of your efforts. It might take time, but consistency is the key to success. Right?
Next Steps?
Get your team ready and start working on the creatives. Get inspiration and start moving ahead.
In the next blog, we will be talking about 10 best online video making tools that you can use on your own and create stunning videos.
In case you want to hire a professional video making company to create video content for you, we have curated a list for you. You can rely on these companies to handle your video marketing project from stage one to the final stage of the creation, on budget.
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