10 Different Types of Videos Viewers Love [2021 Edition]

"Variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor." - William Cowper. Inspire yourself with 10 various video types that viewers can't stop watching in 2021.

Are you a newbie hungry for the best video types for your best video marketing strategy yet? If that's not the case, perhaps you're the seasoned marketer tryna revamp a digital marketing campaign.

Whichever group you fall in, you're right where you need to be. You'll find 10 types of videos that viewers on the web love watching. You're probably familiar with some video types, but the aim is to learn something new today.

Remember you can stick to one type of video or mix styles to hit your goals. That's because there is no one "perfect" video type for every business. Success depends on your goals, content, and promotional strategy, among other things.

Plus, IMO, there are some grey areas as far as categorizing videos go. For instance, what's the main difference between a how-to and an explainer video? Also, can you consider a detailed video review a product video?

Think about it for a second and indulge me, please.

Is a video testimonial an individual type of video or a "user-generated" video if you had the user send it in? What if you sent out your video production team to the user for the testimonial?

Let's say you host a live stream to show how your product works. Does the video change from a live stream to a "how-to" video? What happens when you upload a funny video of the office pet? What do you even call that type of video?

These are a few things to consider when choosing video types for your campaign. Why? Because each video you push out must serve a specific purpose. Plus, you can always repurpose your content as different video types later.

So, don't make things harder since video marketing is big business. That goes to say choosing the right cocktail of videos increases brand awareness, boosts engagement, builds customer loyalty, and ultimately, grows your sales.

With that preamble, let us start.

10 Video Types Viewers Love Watching in 2021

The video types you choose depend entirely on your goals and scenario. If you're hosting an event, conference or press release, for instance, you might want to live stream the entire show.

At the same time, you could live stream a webinar, product announcements, or a Q&A/interview session for your audience, which clearly shows how you can use the same video type for different purposes.

While there are many different types of videos, here are the ten best to try in 2021 going forward.

Product Videos

If you're like any other business, you're constantly working your butt off to get your product(s) in front of more people. Unfortunately, most advertising formats aren't good at highlighting your product in the best possible way.

Enter product videos and your day is saved. How? If you're like many other online shoppers, you'll probably prefer watching a short and exciting product video to reading a long description of features.

Product videos are the perfect type of video to showcase your product's best qualities, features, and how it will help the customers solve the problem they are facing. In other words, product videos eliminate hiccups in your sales funnel.

So, do you have a fabulous product that you can't wait to share with the world? If that's a yes, you should create a product video right away. If you have existing products, create videos as well.

Product videos needn't be lengthy or complicated. It be can as short, succinct, and impactful as this 1:22-minute-long video for Google Translate:

Make your product videos relatable by laser-focusing on your target audience. You can infuse some fun or humor to make the product video memorable, and even use your customers as characters for that extra kick.

With 88% of marketers seeing positive ROI from video, product videos are ideal for your landing and product pages. It's the perfect video type to boost credibility and conversion rates; gain trust and make prospects click your CTAs.

With some strategic promotion, you can repurpose your product videos for social media and reach even more people. You can further use product videos in onboarding emails and demos, which saves you lots of time.

Testimonials

Herd mentality is a real thing and it's not even your fault. You're human and have the built-in desire to "belong." We've formed tribes and followed the crowd for eons, and psychology states this intrinsic yearning is going nowhere.

But that's not such a terrible thing if you're a video marketer looking to increase conversions or sales. You can leverage the power of herd mentality to grow your business via video testimonials.

Get this...

If it was easy convincing someone to spend money on your website, video marketers (you, too) would never bother one bit about conversion optimization. You'd have field days for days because prospects convert on the first visit.

This is where video testimonials by your incredibly happy customers come in. For starters, it's the perfect type of video for social proof. If you see that people with a similar problem are using a product, you're more likely to commit as well.

Basically, video testimonials show real people saying how much your product has been of help. The videos offer you legitimacy, which makes prospects more comfortable buying from you, even if it's their very first time.

You can go the extra mile and feature celebrities and other popular personalities in your video testimonials. Popularity is often related to high quality, which means you can drive more sales simply by featuring a celeb in your testimonials.

Whether you go with a celeb or your average customer, ensure the video testimonials are real because - eventually - people get better at telling when you're pulling their leg.

If you need the perfect example, here's how Apple use video testimonials to tell real stories:

After watching the above video, you'll agree Apple's video testimonials elicit a lot of different emotions. And while they aren't bothered to shove a list of features in your face, you can clearly see (or is it feel?) the Apple watch in action :)

Keep in mind that video testimonials are never about you, your product, or your company. Video testimonials are all about the customer, and how your product is helping them solve everyday issues. Let them share their experiences.

Company Culture (Behind the Scenes) Videos

You rolled up your sleeves and built a company that people are really proud of. You've been killing it and sealing the deals and your product is really good. Nothing should stop you because you're aiming for great heights.

But...Who are you? Yes, you've worked hard to create a company that offers a brilliant product or service. The only problem? It's faceless, and it's time you changed all that. It's time you put faces to the people behind the company.

It's time to humanize your company!

And company culture videos are exactly what the video doctor ordered. Call them behind the scenes (BTS) videos, but this type of video content gets people going. BTS videos offer prospects a glimpse of what goes on behind the curtains.

I mean, don't we all love BTS videos? I watch them all the time because, just like you, I'm curious and love learning how stuff works. Plus, I like watching how my favorite brands do whatever they do without leaving my seat.

Company culture videos can be as simple as a staff lunch break, a day in the life of a team member, funny videos of the office pet, and other punchy stuff that shows your company is home to diverse personalities and vibrant vibes.

Are there businesses killing it with company culture (BTS) videos? Of course, yes. Here's an example.... well, sort of:

Have you cultivated a company culture you're proud of? It's time to create a video. Want to show your prospects how you work behind the scenes? That's great; create a video. Your office pup deserves some fame too, so shoot a video already.

Here's a perfect example of company culture videos by DELL because - Conan:

The main point is you can use company culture and BTS videos to humanize your company. Your prospects will get to see the people behind the brand and trust you even more.

Q&A/Interviews

Lights, camera, ACTION!

Real quick, let me ask you this. If you had three wishes, what would they be? Buy a new camera? Expand the team? Nail Q&A sessions and interviews like a pro? Well, I would buy cameras with two wishes and then nail interviews.

Why?

Because interviews are amazing for many reasons.

Firstly, you can invite industry experts to your interviews to create more value for your audience. Your users will love the fact that you are willing to bring expert opinions on board to answer tough questions and provide deeper insight.

Secondly, you can host Q&A live sessions for your target audience where they ask questions and get answers in real-time. Remember that your prospects can also engage with your support team during live interviews.

Thirdly, hanging out with the best in the industry - and subsequently learning from the best - helps you to build clout, or authority in your niche, if you wish. If your prospects trust you're the go-to expert, you've won.

Plus, if your guest is popular, they just might invite their followers, which results in more views. You could even start a weekly series where you host different people within the industry. You know, just to keep up the momentum.

It's a wonderful way of showing your audience you're open to new experiences and driven to work with other people. To add icing on the cake, prepping video interviews is super-duper easy.

Here's Mark Cuban showing you how to easily hack a Q&A session via Twitter:

Plan your questions in advance or have fun answering questions from your fans instead. Best is to ensure you engage with your audience when they ask questions. It's really that simple.

Moving on swiftly.

Live Videos

I am a huge fan of live streaming. I have done a couple of live streams with my wife, and it was great. It started as a fun activity to pass time during the lockdown, but I was impressed when we started gaining over 40k+ views per stream.

The point is you can use live streaming videos to boost engagement and grow your audience without doing much on your part. The best part is live streaming works for either individuals or companies, and it's incredibly easy to set up.

With major social media platforms offering built-in live streaming features, you just need a smartphone to start. By any means, feel free to use any other setup depending on your budget and needs.

Live streaming allows you to with your audience on a one-on-one basis in real-time. It's your chance to connect with your audience and answer their questions instantly.

That, plus you can use live streaming in many other different other ways, such as:

• Hosting live behind-the-scenes videos
• Live Q&A/interviews to address popular trends in the community
• How-to videos and tutorials to educate your audience
• Repurpose existing content for your live streams
• A random live stream covering company culture of a day in the life of your employee
• Use the opportunity to raise money for a charity of a cause you support
• Host live events such as a conference, class, event, or concert
• Organize live contests and giveaways
• And so much more

Now, do you see why I said categorizing videos can be a bit ambiguous? Live streaming covers nearly every other type of video you can think of. It's a brilliant video type to drive huge amounts of traffic to your business.

Many companies already use live streams with great success. With the ideas we shared above, becoming a live streaming star shouldn't be a problem. Also, plan out your live streams in advance just like any other video type.

How-To/Tutorial Videos

Humor me this: How many times do you watch tutorials or how-to videos to learn more about a product before committing? I wager a couple of times. How-to videos (just like how-to blog posts) educate your prospects.

What does that mean?

It means your users can convert successfully without back-and-forth queries to your support team. That makes it incredibly easy for you to increase conversions and sales.

That's right, using how-to videos on your website reduces the number of support calls by a whopping 43%. Just imagine how much that means for your bottom line? Plus, your support team will have more time to serve existing customers.

Here's a great example if you're a seafood aficionado:

You can use how-to videos to demonstrate how your products work, your processes, and everything else in between. If you have a product that could use some demonstration, create a tutorial video already.

If you want to increase the reach of you video, you can have a celebrity or social media influencer demonstrate how your product works. Many businesses do this on Instagram and other social channels already with amazing results.

One more thing...

Let's say you seal a partnership deal with Kim Kardashian (222M followers on Instagram), just think how much all that exposure means for your biz. She can create influencer how-to videos for your products as many times as you can pay.

Product Reviews

Over the course of my writing career, I have penned down lots of review articles for a number of WordPress plugins, themes, and products. So, when the time was right, I ended up creating video reviews to support my blogs.

And do you know what happened? The review posts that had accompanying videos outshined their counterparts without videos. That's probably because I was getting more views from YouTube, and people love watching reviews.

I will be honest; I watch reviews all the time I want to buy anything online. Be it a new TV, headphones, and everything in between, I look for video reviews first. 90% of the time, I make the purchase decision after watching review videos.

Why? Because just like testimonials, reviews show your visitor that people use and love your product enough to create reviews. It's also a form of social proof and great way of leveraging herd mentality and getting your name our there.

If your product is featured in a review on reputable websites, you can expect to drive more traffic your way. And not just any type of traffic, but relevant traffic that converts.

Product reviews are a solid way of driving lots of traffic to your products. After all, people are already using and reviewing your product. And just like video tutorials, people are more likely to commit if they watch a review from people they love.

Contests/Giveaways

Don't we all love free stuff? It's just human nature, which should explain why contest or giveaway videos are popular. People love free stuff, and you can use this to your advantage to drive more traffic to your business.

You can use a video or two to promote your contest or giveaway on social media and other platforms. People already love video, which makes contest videos a brilliant way to drum up interest for your giveaway.

On top of that, contest videos are a great way of spreading brand awareness. People are willing to share great videos, and if you throw a giveaway into the mix, you can expect your video and brand to a larger audience.

The best part is contest and giveaway videos can take any form. You can host a live stream, use a pre-recorded video, or even take advantage of new content forms such as social media stories.

Here's what to unlock the power of giveaway videos courtesy of James Charles:

Side Note: Swarmify is an equal opportunity company where we support all genders, sexual orientations and races without discrimination.

James above knows how to work the contest video magic to keep you watching her videos to the very end. She can offer you a tip or two on how to use giveaway videos to your advantage.

Vlogs

Vlogging is a brilliant way to reach your audience, boost viewership and generally be awesome. For a company, we totally understand it can be incredibly hard to create vlogs.

For a solopreneur, it might be easy to push out vlogs about your lifestyle. If you're a corporate business, coming up with ideas for you daily series, especially if you don't what to do, is tricky. Lucky for you, you're here today.

You can create vlogs for your business site and other web properties easily. You don't need a hefty investment to invest in video blogs. Plus, the ROI you'll realize from vlogs (provided you do it right) is worth every cent.

But how does an enterprise create vlogs? It's simple. You can organize impromptu interviews for your employees. Secondly, you can showcase the day-to-day activities at the office.

For best results, you can take a humorous stance in your vlogs. You can give your audience a sneak peek of what happens behind the scenes using vlogs. Popular brands and celebs do it all the time with great success.

Here's a fabulous example:

There are a few points to keep in mind if you're considering using daily vlogs. For starters, you must treat every viewer not as a stat but as a real person. Give your viewers the VIP treatment.

Vlogs have that personal appeal, but if you're a company, how can you be personable? Well, it is simple. Remember that company culture we talked about earlier? You can use daily stories from your staff to feed your vlogs.

If you're flying solo, you can broadcast a video about your daily activities. Many small businesses and celebs have used vlogs to grow a large following on social media.

Plus, vlogs (as we've hinted) are super-duper easy to create. You need a simple setup to start a vlogging channel. If you don't have your dream camera yet, you can start with your smartphone.

User-Generated Videos

At this point, you already have enough points to take your video marketing campaign to the next level. Still, we can cover one more video type that many businesses ignore.

Ladies and gents, say a big hello to user-generated videos. User-generated videos are videos that your audience creates and sends to you. It can be anything: company culture, a passion, suggestions and so much more.

User-generated video content works just like testimonials or reviews. Plus, it draws people in because you've created an avenue where users can share their views about your business in video form.

Here is a fantastic example from the GoPro Instagram page.

Conclusion

Video marketing is no longer a fad; it is here to say. Businesses like yours are using videos to drive more engagement and sales daily. So, what are you waiting for?