By now, you probably already know that video marketing is essential for attracting new customers and encouraging existing ones to stay loyal. Figuring out the best way to implement it into your marketing strategy is another story. It’s not enough to create a couple of homemade videos and hope for the best. Today’s consumers are inundated with innovative, creative video content that engages them on a personal level. If you want to compete with your competitors, you’ll need to approach video marketing strategically. 

The great news is that there are a lot of ways you can develop and implement a video marketing strategy. This guide is full of video marketing tips that will help you stand out from the crowd in 2021 to drive traffic to your website and generate more leads.

Benefits of Video Marketing in 2021

Knowing what other brands are doing can help you formulate a video marketing strategy that makes sense for your audience. Here are some of the ways brands are using video marketing in 2020 that are expected to continue into 2021. 

1. Build Brand Awareness

Interesting, engaging videos can be a great way to inform consumers about your brand. According to a report from Animoto, video ads were the number one way consumers discovered a brand they later purchased from in 2020.

2. Build a Social Media Following

Social media platforms are a hot place to post new branded videos. The same Animoto report found that 58 percent of consumers visit a brand’s social media page before buying from them. A video can help nudge these consumers in the right direction to follow your social media page and eventually buy your product or service.

3. Drive Website Traffic 

A report from Wyzowl found that an overwhelming majority of marketers (84 percent) say that video marketing drives more traffic to their website. The same report found that 81 percent of marketers have found that video helps with lead generation.

5 Video Marketing Tips

Building brand awareness, developing a large social media presence, and driving more organic traffic to your website should all be good enough reasons to create and implement a video marketing strategy for 2021. Now, let’s get into the details about how, exactly, to do that. 

Here are five video marketing tips that can help you boost sales and revenue in 2021. 

1. Determine Your Video Marketing Goals

Your first goal is to develop a video marketing strategy, but why? Think about what you want to achieve through video marketing. It could be to generate leads, drive website traffic, or hit a specific sales target or metric. Knowing what you want to get out of your video marketing strategy will help you develop an effective one. 

It can help to consider which stage of the marketing funnel you want to target. You will eventually want to create videos that target every step, but you have to start somewhere. Here are some things to consider.

Awareness stage

This is the stage in which a consumer recognizes they have a problem that you might solve. Videos that target the awareness stage should attract new customers and provide introductory information about your brand to a new audience.

Consideration stage

At this point in the funnel, consumers are aware of your brand and are contemplating whether it can solve their problem. During this stage, consumers are deep into research. They might be looking for product reviews, customer testimonials, and product comparisons to help them make a decision. These can be portrayed in a video format to gain viewers’ trust and confidence in your product. 

Decision stage

At this point, you want to be the product of choice, so consumers decide to purchase from you. Videos addressing this stage of the funnel should be focused on customer satisfaction. They should also focus on why your brand is the best out of your competitors. 

Loyalty and advocacy

Once you have obtained customers, you want to keep them loyal. Videos that target existing customers should include information about new products or product enhancements. Personalized videos can help customers feel appreciated and keep them engaged. Videos targeting this segment should be easily sharable to encourage advocacy among loyal customers. 

2. Decide What Type of Video to Create

Once you’ve figured out your goal, it’s time to narrow down the type of video to create. There are a ton of options available, including innovative ones your team develops. Once you get familiar with video and start gathering data that shows you which videos your audience responds to the best, you can refine your strategy. 

Here are some ideas of types of videos you can create to get you started:

• Promotional videos
• Customer testimonials
• How-to/explainer videos
• Behind-the scenes videos
• Product reviews and demonstrations
• Livestreams that answer questions from customers
• Livestreams of product launches or speaking engagements

3. Use the Right Tools for Editing

Video technology has come a long way over the last few years. Now, you can easily shoot and edit a video using your phone or tablet. With the right video marketing tools, you can quickly turn your amateur video into a professional-looking masterpiece. Add sound effects, music, visual effects, text overlay, and more without spending a fortune.

There are many video editing tools available. Here are a few to check out:

• Magisto
• Fastreel
• WeVideo
• OpenShot

4. Post Across Channels

Consumers are used to seeing video everywhere. Use this to your advantage by posting your videos on all of your social media channels. Include them in emails and blog posts. The more attention you can get from your videos, the better!

In addition to getting more eyes on your video, posting your videos across channels can help boost your search engine optimization (SEO). Videos have been shown to improve click-through rates and keep people engaged on your website for longer. Both of these are important elements for SEO and can improve your website ranking on search engines. According to Google, most consumers (64 percent) search for a product when they’re in “I want to buy” mode, so having a website that ranks high will increase your chances of getting customers into your website and converting immediately.

5. Use Data to Drive Your Strategy

It’s essential to have a goal when you are first starting your video marketing strategy. However, it’s even more important to be flexible and use data as a guide to help you refine your approach. You might be surprised at which videos engage your audience or what platforms your audience uses the most to watch videos. 

Review your video marketing strategy regularly to figure out the most effective use of your company’s resources. Be prepared to make adjustments that will maximize your ROI.

Bottom Line

Creating high-quality videos is easier than ever, thanks to new digital technologies and editing tools. Make 2021 the year that your brand invests in a video marketing strategy that addresses your customers’ pain points and increases brand awareness with new audiences. Start with strategies that exist and work for other brands as you discover the best ways to use video marketing for your customers.