The Video Marketing Edge – Making Your Voice Heard in 2020

In a sea of content marketing tactics, strategic video marketing provides an opportunity to connect and engage with your targets in fun, helpful, and memorable ways. 

By KPI Target

In 2020, businesses are appropriately shifting focus from strictly promotional advertising to a more authentic brand of marketing that provides direct value to the customer through relevant content and helpful information. 

Personalized content marketing is more relevant than ever, as it revolves around providing consistent value through content that is tailored to the unique needs of your target audience. 

By helping people without asking for anything in return, you lay the foundation for long-term trust and credibility. When you build authentic trust, people are far more likely to seek you out when they are in need of a product or service that you provide in the future.

Producing consistent video content is one of the most effective ways to engage your target audience, provide them with helpful information, and inspire them to take action through the power of visual impact and storytelling.  

It’s the ideal medium for informing and educating in an informal and fun format that people can relate to. In a world of digital distraction and endless scrolling, video has the potential to grab attention and help you stand out amongst the crowd. 

Extend Your Reach with Engaging Content

By 2022, video streaming and downloads will account for 82% of global internet traffic. In 2018, users spent a weekly average of 69 minutes watching online videos and this trend is only likely to continue increasing. 

A whopping 85% of internet users in the U.S. watch video content and at least 50% of them do so every day. Regardless of the industry, video is one of the most effective methods of content marketing in terms of increasing audience reach.

Video should no longer be viewed as additive or a luxury, as it might have been in years past. With 85% of businesses using video marketing, video has become a staple in the marketer’s toolbox, one that is not only accessible and relatively affordable, but also necessary to support customers, explain offerings, and attract target customers.

The prevalence of social media and mobile device capabilities have also worked in tandem to add to the widespread adoption and consumption of video. The freedom and ease of use provided by social media on mobile devices equals a major uptick in traffic from people who may have not otherwise spent as much time online on a daily basis. 

Of all the content leveraged by brands on social media, video stands out as the consumers’ favorite type of content. In 2018, users in the 18-34 age range consumed an average of 105 minutes of video via their cell phones alone, per week, and this trend line shows no indication of slowing. 

Resonate with Interested Viewers

Increased reach would be of little consequence if the messaging that you were using was not effectively engaging and resonating with the people consuming it. The power of video marketing extends beyond engaging viewers’ attention. Executed properly, it has the potential to inspire them to take action and share important conversations. 

Consider that 93% of marketers attribute landing a new customer to a video on social media, while 73% of consumers claim to have been influenced by a brand’s social media presence when making a purchase decision. 

But aside from achieving outcomes, the immersive experience of watching a video is an inherent key to the medium’s effectiveness. The particular quality of immersive engagement with your message is crucial. By providing condensed information in less time, you ask less of your target’s time while still providing value in a way that seems unobtrusive and informal. 

Ultimately, videos attract more traffic and help to nurture leads. Just by adding video to your email campaigns, you have the potential to increase click rates by 300%.

Determine Objectives First

The benefits of video content marketing are well documented, but depending upon your level of experience, perhaps you’re still wondering what it takes to get started. That’s ok, and there are more resources available than ever when it does come time to go into production.

Don’t get too bogged down in what particular kinds of videos you’re going to create before you determine the purpose they are meant to achieve, and what actions your target viewers are meant to take as a result. When you understand your targets’ pressing needs, you’ll be in a position to decide how best to communicate with them. 

And you’ll have plenty of options at your disposal. From vlog’s, live streams, and culture spotlights, to product demos, brand documentaries and user testimonials, the sky’s the limit. 

But as you plan how to integrate video into your overall content marketing strategy, consider that certain formats are more effective than others with specific regard to non-promotional and value adding content. 

Tutorials / How-To Videos

People value actionable insights that help them with real-world challenges and questions. Just by providing free educational videos around best practices in your area of expertise, you build social proof and earn credibility and trust with interested viewers. 

In exceptional times, such that we’ve seen thus far in 2020, you do not need to be a healthcare provider or medical professional to meaningfully add your voice to the collective narrative of how to address and overcome pressing challenges. Creating educational content helps to achieve that end. 

For example, the L.A. Times did a handwashing tutorial to help educate viewers about one simple but effective way to combat the COVID-19 virus. 

Ask yourself- what would be of real value to my target audience today? Consider their needs from a place of purpose now, and you earn the loyalty and advocacy that such authenticity warrants, tomorrow. 

Animated Videos 

When it comes to the world of animation, there are virtually limitless varieties and options, from 2D and 3D animations to motion graphics explainers and whiteboard videos. While animations are tailor-made for brands with technical or multifaceted value propositions, they are effective for any company looking to convey a message as simply as possible.

Animated videos are perfect for delivering information in the clearest and most straightforward terms. The nature of how they are designed is ideal for breaking down features into a step-by-step format that just about anyone can understand. For this reason, animated videos are most often used as explainer videos.

As with tutorials, explainer videos provide value to the viewer by offering insights, knowledge, and perspective. Within the context of a helpful explainer video, you have the opportunity to concisely describe a common pain point and outline how your solution addresses it. Explainer videos are perfect for a “soft sell” approach when the emphasis remains on the problem/solution and how it directly impacts your customer. 

A good example of this is CISCO’s explainer on how their software solution helps hospitals and healthcare facilities guard against phishing schemes. The “sell” is a byproduct of the valuable and relevant information being provided to the target viewer. 

Testimonials

Videos that put the spotlight on an existing customer allow you to show the value your business provides directly to the audience. Whatever your products or services may be, the key to creating genuine video testimonials is showing real satisfaction in real customers. 

Show, rather than tell, that your solution is relevant to the lives of people just like those others consuming your content. What your audience will take away from watching these videos is that your brand understands and cares about your customers and knows what is required to make them happy. 

Putting the focus on the featured individual and their personal expertise, rather than your product or brand, is a surefire way to connect with your base in a way that feels personal and earned. 

The key to effective video marketing, as with all successful content strategy, is to proceed from a place of authenticity and knowledge of what it is that your target audience actually needs. It’s from this place that you can begin to wield the power of video to inspire your audience in any memorable and engaging way you choose. 

If you’d like to chat about using video in your digital marketing strategy, contact KPItarget Founder and President, Mike Rowan at mike@kpitarget.com.