Arguably, videos have become the most effective media in marketing. Branding campaigns are orchestrated in such a manner that video marketing assumes a central role. The fact that social channels are dominating the global consumer viewership adds further credence to this norm.
For brands and businesses, a failure in effective video marketing can lead to a disastrous fall. However, as we will see in this discussion, writing a video marketing plan that can boost a business or advocate a cause effectively is not that hard. All one has to do is follow certain key steps to devise a video marketing strategy that can catch the targeted audience’s eye.
Building a Video Marketing Strategy
Here are some key video marketing guidelines which, if followed properly, can contribute significantly towards the achievement of success-oriented business policies.
1. Goal Identification
Awareness
Here, the challenge is to attract new customers.
Consideration
Engaging an interested audience is what defines the consideration stage of a video marketing funnel.
Decision
Here, a service must prove to its prospective customers, why it is the best in the business. When we talk about goal identification, it essentially means identification of the stage of the marketing funnel for which you want to create a video.
2. Audience Identification
The next step is to identify the buyer’s persona. No matter how good the remainder of the strategy is or how excellent are the equipment used in making the video, without figuring out the intended audience, it is most likely to flop. More often than not, it is the nature of service that can give a clue about the target audience.
3. Scripting the Story
This is one of the most crucial phases in the process of developing a video marketing plan. The story depicted in a most catchy manner is a prerequisite for success. Before you or your team starts playing with words, it is ideal to figure out the emotional response that you want to elicit from the targeted audience first. Funny, sad, inspired, moved are some of the key emotions that are evoked via video marketing commonly.
Once you have figured out that bit, move towards the next step, which is writing the outline. The most popular strategy used to construct the basic framework is to present the issue as a problem and your product as a perfect solution for that particular problem. The final script should be impeccable, so you can order proofreading services to make sure that there are no errors in it.
4. Creativity
One can learn to be creative, but learning to manage that creativity is even more important. Improvising and having sudden creative brainwaves is fine, but only as long as it doesn’t mess up the set timeline. This might sound like a trivial affair, but numerous projects never materialized because of this one issue.
5. Adhering to a Schedule
Setting a timeline at the beginning of a project can serve as a guideline throughout the project. It will keep nudging you as to what has been done, and what needs to be done.
The convention is to set two weeks for creative planning, three weeks for pre-production, and the same number of weeks for production and post-production. A similar timeline can be devised for video distribution and other associated tasks as well. We are afraid that devising them is the easier bit, following them to the letter is tougher.
6. Budget Considerations
Money. That’s what almost everything comes down to. If you are not keeping your marketing strategy in alignment with your budget, it is unlikely that you will not face some serious hurdles during the process. Pool your money and resources to know exactly how many coins have you got jangling in your pocket. Only then it makes sense to start scribbling down a marketing strategy.
We are sure that this will not come as news to you that cost varies with the nature of the video. Using unique features to make your videos even more appealing will require a few more pennies disappearing from your wallet. Remaining cognizant of financial limitations all the time is a must when it comes to creating a most effective video marketing plan.
Popular Video Types
Figuring out which type of video is more suited to your marketing objective is the next box that one has to tick. It is pertinent to mention here that while there are dozens of video types, only a few have been used repeatedly, and with great success, by brands and businesses all over the world. Owing to the limitations of time and space, it is only these types that we will be commenting on in the following lines.
As the name indicates, these video clips are made to grab eyeballs on social media platforms only. Because there is so much content available on social media, the attention spans are short on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, etc. Hence, creating short yet specific videos is crucial. The ideal time for a video to be posted on Facebook, for example, is around the thirty seconds mark.
2. Commercials
The most common type of video content, commercials, often end with a clear call to action. In terms of appeal and scenery, their scope is certainly bigger than social media briefs. More often than not, the objective behind creating a commercial is to leave a long-lasting impact on the viewer’s mind.
3. Explainers
Like commercials, explainer videos end with a clear call to action as well. However, the nature of these videos is more introductory than captivating, the idea is to familiarize the customer with a particular product or service. Typically, questions like what, how, and why are answered via such videos.
4. Testimonials
Nothing boosts a prospective customer’s confidence in a product or service like seeing satisfied customers talk about it. This is what testimonials are all about. They are usually 30- 120 seconds long and are highly versatile by nature.
5. Live Videos
Research shows us that the engagement rates may be higher when it comes to live videos, as compared to other video types. The biggest perk that these videos offer is interaction, viewers can participate in Q/A sessions and learn/understand a product or service with much more lucidity.
A Word About Distribution Platforms
Before we conclude this rather detailed overview of writing a video marketing plan, comments on different distribution strategies are in order. Here, we refer to the owned, paid, and earned distribution methods. Of course, in terms of convenience, publishing video content on the owned channels is the easiest method of distribution. Websites, blogs, email, and social media channels are common routes of content dissemination in this regard.
Coming towards the paid mode of distribution, native advertising, search ads, influencer outreach, and paid social media distribution are the most popular strategies used. As one would expect, the success rates associated with these strategies are quite high. As for the earned mode of distribution, it involves using traditional PR agencies and product review strategies. Which distribution strategy is the best for you is a question that is best answered by your video goals and strategy.
