2020 was a complicated and challenging year for most businesses. However, it has been successful in stimulating marketing and sales professionals to identify novel services and cutting-edge tools for branding promotions. Now is the perfect time for utilizing all plausible resources for crafting the most effective marketing stratagem. It is not such an easy task to grab the audience’s attention. In a crowded and highly-competitive digital landscape, business owners need to identify ways to stay ahead of the curve and stand out from the rest. They must focus on resonating with their audiences. It is a known fact that brands can effectively boost engagement with a well-planned video marketing stratagem. As per Cisco, it is expected that video marketing will constitute 82% of the overall consumer traffic on the Internet by 2022.

The Power of Ads

The potential of videos is not only limited to video content. You can further harness its power by coupling it with the income-generating potential of ads.

According to a Global Digital Arts Trends report, advertisers plan to increase their video ad budget. Why is this so? Video ads play a critical role in audience engagement. In fact, in an analysis of over three billion ad impressions, it was found that prospects prefer online video ads over rich media ads and typical banner ads.

The good thing is that business-boosting video ads are within your arms reach. With a good advertisement maker, you can just choose a template and customize it according to your brand’s style and image, and voila – you already have a powerful marketing tool on your hands.

Some Striking Benefits of Video Marketing

For several medium-sized and small businesses, 2021 is bound to be dominated by video marketing. Around 78% of consumers are used to watching videos every week. Moreover, 55% watch videos every day. If businesses do not create superlative video content, they will be missing out on great opportunities to boost engagement and enhance conversions. Video marketing provides a host of benefits to businesses. Statistics have revealed that a website seems to have 53 x more chances of securing a higher ranking on the Search Engine Results Page of Google if it incorporates videos. As per reports published by Hubspot, your conversion rate could go up to almost 80 percent if you incorporate a video into your landing pages. Videos can be instrumental in enhancing your organic traffic’s overall quality. Some studies and research have found out that videos can boost organic traffic by as much as, 157%. Moreover, the video content seems to be far more shareable as compared to conventional articles or ads. Some benefits of video marketing in a nutshell are: 

• Instant social shares
• Attention-grabbing content
• Entertaining & Educational content
• High conversion rates

Video Marketing Tips from Experts in the Industry

Focus Your Attention on Consumers

Creating a video that is meant to cater to everybody without precisely defining your target market could be a slippery slope leading to nowhere. If you are not specific about your target audience, you may reach people who are not at all interested in your product or brand. Hence, in all probability, they will be leaving without triggering any conversions. On the other hand, those who are interested in your product, service, or brand may not get any exposure to your content.

Videos are a massive part of the way consumers make ultimate decisions. If you wish your potential clients to consider engaging with your business or brand, you should focus your attention on creating top-quality video content specifically from their perspective. Find out what they are looking for, and accordingly, it is your responsibility to deliver it.

A thing that fascinates consumers is an explainer video. Studies have revealed that compact and short DIY videos, how-to-clips, and other such explanatory videos go a long way in helping prospective customers to feel far more comfortable and confident about their purchasing decision and buying choices. Experts believe that if done in the right manner, this sort of content could help in educating, entertaining, and advertising- all simultaneously. Videos can not only boost sales but also, provide assistance with customer service and help in reducing support calls. Moreover, B2B marketers could utilize video for sharing product information, boosting leads, and conversions.

Play It Safe & Nice. Avoid Doing Any Harm

As per the Search Engine Journal, video is the winning factor for both medium-sized and small businesses, particularly during the uncertain crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. While utilizing video during unpredictable times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, experts recommend the following tricks for positive and robust public relations. 

• Generate helpful how-to or tutorial type videos. Chefs across the globe managed some spare time to create and share helpful cooking videos for staying right in front of the target audience during the lockdown. 
• Review what has already been scheduled and take a good look at your content. Avoid video ads of a student abroad program, exotic international holiday packages, luxury cruises, etc., when flights are not operating and people are confined to their homes.
• Do not stay in silence. Do not sever all connections. Remember crisis times prove to be immensely challenging. Do not hide. Remember that now is the right time for staying connected with your audience whether, via Facebook Live, Zoom calls, by coming up with some special offerings, or only by being nice. 
• You may consider sharing behind-the-scenes moments across your entire #WFH unit or team. Just like the Today Show, you can go live from your family rooms, basement, kitchen, etc.

Consider Taking It Vertical & Live

There are a plethora of video formats you could consider choosing from as per the platform. It is a good idea to come up with content in the most simple and convenient format just right for your audience because a wide majority of people are used to viewing content vertically. Hence, more marketers are generating vertical videos. Additionally, it pays to point out that vertical videos are having a 90 percent completion rate so; they are capable of grabbing the attention of the audience every step of the way. 

Statistics reveal that 57 percent of the marketers in 2019 were utilizing live video before the pandemic. Covid-19 compelled all conferences, classes, and events to take place online. All businesses started taking advantage of platforms, such as Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram for live-streaming. As per Wyzowl, today, almost 85% of all businesses are using video as an essential marketing tool. As per Animoto, 96 percent of marketers have strategically placed ad spend currently, in 2020-21on videos. In this highly-competitive digital era, it is best to use the expertise and experience of a reputed digital marketing organization like Digital Assets Factory for perfect video marketing, SEO, and overall digital marketing solutions.

Concentrate on Keeping Things Silent, Sweet & Short

Silent films seem to be making a lot of noise. On average, around 85 percent of all videos on Facebook are auto-played silently while Facebook users are scrolling through their feeds. Put a lot of emphasis on your visual component and ensure that it is dynamic. If you need to focus on communicating narration, dialogue, or interviews, bite-sized, clear subtitles are the most effective.

Moreover, in this fast-paced digital era, people have no time for long descriptions hence it is of pivotal importance to keep your video content of fewer than 2 minutes duration. %0 percent of all videos seem to be 0 to 60 seconds long. Some videos are of just six seconds duration. We understand that all these bumper advertisements are an inexpensive and economical way of boosting brand awareness online.

Ultimately, you may consider precisely, how your business’s video content helps to add value to the way your business or brand is perceived. Once the global pandemic started impacting all aspects of our lives, businesses were compelled to assess swiftly what they were scheduled to share as per plans before COVID-19 onset. Video ads for overseas adventures and events fast became insensitive and irrelevant while helpful fitness, cooking workshops, and gardening videos on Facebook Live gained phenomenal popularity. Stay positive, and never forget the context of your video content.

Put Focus on Editing Effectively

Video editing is as important as production and marketing, and any other stage of the pipeline. Once you have the B roll and content for the video, you need to put your focus on editing it to come up with a compelling end-product. There is a very strong relationship between video content and SERP success, which is why the resources you allocate towards perfecting video strategy are not wasted at all. Your team must make use of all their technical and business smarts to come up with a polished video that serves value to the visitor.

Live Video is the Order of the Day

Four in every five online shoppers today prefer streaming live video content over reading lengthy blog posts. More than 60% of social media users in the 18-34 age segments are frequent consumers of live video. YouTube broadcasts, Twitch, and Facebook, and Instagram Live have provided approachable and powerful tools for more users than ever before to engage with large audiences in real-time. Live streams can also be reposted in their entirety later, letting you have your cake and eat it too. If you are looking to stream more, here are some great tips:

• Engage as much as you can with people watching.
• Host long Q&A rounds and have training sessions in your area of expertise.
• Go behind the scenes for exclusive events and let them have a sneak peek.

Vlogging to Get the Word Out

Video blogs, or vlogs, are a robust video format that allows you to serve content to your viewers that they can consume passively, like on the commute. You can talk about something completely new or even spin-off your written content on your vlog, thus maximizing your content output as well as your visibility. It has most of the advantages of live streaming without the immediate pressure of performing on the spot- you can shoot, plan, and edit your vlog well in advance and get over any butterflies before you let it out.

Conclusion

2021 is the year video takes over from any other traditional content form. There is no better time to jump onto the bandwagon. Invest in expertise, enabling technology and promotional news so you too can come up with an awesome, effective, and cross-platform video strategy.