10 Tips on Creating Video Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses

Using video marketing for your landing pages has the potential to boost your conversion rates by as much as 86%.

Unfortunately, businesses all over the world are still resisting this powerful digital marketing strategy. Why? Well, it could be because 64% of marketers find video content to be the most difficult content to create.

From equipment to a hosting platform, the overwhelming world of video is often enough to make small businesses throw in the towel before they even begin. If this sounds familiar, you're in luck.

We've put together the top 10 tips to ace your video marketing strategies and finally reap the benefits of video marketing for your small business growth.

1. Understand Your Target Audience

The first step you'll need to take when developing your video marketing strategy is figuring out your target audience.

If you don't know who you are composing videos for, it's going to make it that much more difficult to come up with quality content. Beyond this, there's not much point in investing time and money in your video marketing approach if you aren't gaining customers from it.

Luckily, figuring out who your target audience is isn't that difficult. Just like with every other marketing platform, the best way to get to know your ideal audience is by creating a customer persona.

This not only outlines the demographic and location of your target audience but also what they are interested in and why you might be able to help. By understanding what they really need when they hit the internet, you can customize your approach to appeal to them on a more emotional level.

After all, the best way to draw in a dedicated and invested audience is to hit 'em where it matters. Plus, it never hurts to start building that personal connection and attachment to your brand nice and early.

2. Set Measurable Goals

Next, you'll need to set some measurable and realistic goals for your video marketing strategies.

Without purpose, it can be awfully difficult to keep up with your video marketing schedule. What's more is that without these goals, it's nearly impossible to tell if your video marketing strategies are paying off.

To start, you'll need to decide what you want to achieve with your videos. Are you looking to increase brand awareness? Draw traffic to your website? Collect leads?

Once you've decided what your goals are, you'll need to take some opening measurements to compare to later on. As you collect your data, you can contrast this against your starting point to figure out what's working and what you could use some help with.

3. Make a Plan

We're sure it comes as no surprise to hear that your video marketing strategy will take a little more planning than just picking up a camera and turning it on.

To be successful, you'll need to invest some time into planning your content before you even begin to execute it.

First, you'll need to decide what type of video content is right for your brand. This will depend heavily on your niche, target audience, and the goals that you established earlier. You'll also want to keep in mind where your video will be and how that content can add value to the page.

For example, if you are using a video for a lead generation landing page, what kind of video will help you draw attention and prompt your customers to drop their details?

Some popular video content types include:

• Educational videos
• How-to or tutorials
• Behind the scenes clips
• Interviews
• Explainer videos for products or services
• Customer testimonials

You may even find that you need to mix up your strategy and the types of video content you use based on their application. Just remember to always relate your content back to your unique branding.

Once you've planned your content, set to work on your script or storyboard to stay on track (yes, even for live videos).

4. Optimize Your Budget

Got some elaborate content ideas? Awesome! It's time to look at your budget.

There's nothing worse than getting started on a project only to discover you don't have the funds to pull it off. When it comes to your video marketing strategy, we suggest starting small and working your way up.

While video marketing is incredibly beneficial for engaging your audience, it can take some time to see results from your efforts. With this in mind, you don't want to blow your entire budget on your first 2-3 videos only to peter out when you're starting to grow an audience.

Figure out how much you have to dedicate to your video marketing and work this into your plan.

5. Create Consistency

Once your videos begin to gain some viewers, you'll want to ensure your audience knows what they can expect from you. If you continually throw out random content with questionable quality control, you'll begin to lose credibility with your viewers.

Instead, set some key consistency rules and stick to them. This may involve using the same backdrop for each video, choosing one content type and mastering it, or even establishing a distinct editing style.

It's also important to establish a consistent posting schedule that your viewers can rely on. While this may vary depending on your niche, we suggest publishing at least one video per week to keep your audience engaged and interested.

6. Get Your Tools in Order

Worried about the quality of your videos compared to your competitors? It's time to get your tools in order.

While the equipment you invest in will depend on your budget, there are a few basic things to keep in mind when looking to up the quality of your content.

First, you'll need a camera. While a DSLR is great for ensuring the best video quality, it's not necessary to get started. In fact, you may be surprised how far the camera on your phone may get you. The key is to shoot in the highest resolution possible and avoid quality busting techniques like zooming in too much.

Next, you'll want to spend some time researching and understanding lighting. Lights can be the difference between an awful video and an amazing one. Again, you don't need to spend a lot of money, but learning how to place and use lighting will be a massive advantage.

Are you speaking in your videos? If so, you'll need to find a good microphone for your videos. Trust us, skipping out on the audio is a sure-fire way to lose interest and tank your results.

And of course - your editing software. Again, this will take some research and serious practice to master. If you're going at it on your own, consider spending some time reading production blogs to gain valuable tips and insight.

7. Keep It Short and Simple

While there are a few influencers who can get away with posting incredibly long videos and keeping their viewers engaged, the truth is, it's rare.

When it comes to video marketing, the length of videos you produce should be short and sweet. Even if your content is compelling and interesting, the reality of marketing is that your audience has an incredibly short attention span.

They want to know what you've got to offer and they want to know it fast.

If you have a lot to share, consider breaking your video into parts. This is a great technique for drawing users along and increasing engagement with your brand. Beyond this, the short, digestible videos will be much easier for your viewers to binge.

If a video is too long, you may risk your audience abandoning ship to 'come back later'. If you're a seasoned marketer, we don't have to tell you - later rarely ever comes.

8. Include Video SEO Techniques

Once you've got your content on point, it's time to tackle the technical side: your SEO.

While video SEO may sound like a chore, we're here to tell you it will soon be your best friend. By incorporating a few strategies and techniques, you can skyrocket your video marketing success and reach an impressive audience.

By utilizing techniques like keyword research, you can put your videos in front of more interested audiences instead of entertaining viewers that are unlikely to make a purchase. A combination of short and long-tail keywords can help you narrow your audience and guide buyers through your sales funnel with ease.

At the end of the day, your content needs to answer the questions your audience is asking. Instead of crossing your fingers and hoping, do your research to ensure you're all over those answers.

Top it off with quality meta descriptions and optimized content, and you'll have a winning strategy for success.

9. Start Sharing With Swarmify

Finally, it's time to get sharing. Of course, the platform you choose to publish with can make all the difference.

Before you post to any old video streaming host, take the time to investigate what you need your video to do for your business. If your videos will be embedded on your website or even shared in your marketing emails, you'll want to be sure you choose a platform that has great integration.

Investigate what each platform has to offer with your unique goals in mind. While many brands default to sites like Youtube, these aren't necessarily the most business-friendly platforms.

At the end of the day, having high-quality video content is only beneficial if it's usable. That means posting on Youtube and waiting for the magic to happen is rarely ever effective.

Instead, consider features like high-video quality, streaming speed, and WordPress integration. Here at Swarmify, we believe in making your videos work for you instead of trying to fit you into a generic content box.

10. Ask for Feedback and Listen

Last, but certainly not least, it's time to ask your viewers what they think.

There are two ways to do this. First, you can literally ask viewers for feedback. Work the question into your script by prompting your audience to like a video if they found it helpful or comment about their favorite part. This is a sneakier way to ask for their honest feedback without outright saying 'do you like me?'.

Of course, there's no shame in asking this either! Let your audience know you want to create the best possible content for them and ask for their input.

Audiences love the chance to get involved and will jump at the chance to tell you what they want to see. Just don't forget to actually listen to their requests!

The other method is much more discrete but incredibly accurate. Remember those goals you set earlier? How are they measuring up?

Use your analytics to understand what your audience is enjoying and what could use some work. Are they falling off at a certain point? Maybe this is a sign about your ideal length of videos for the future.

Did one video collect hundreds of comments while another barely captured views? Take these numbers into account to shape your video marketing strategies for future posts.

At the end of the day, even if your feel your content is amazing, it's not worth the time it takes if your audience doesn't love it too.

Master Your Video Marketing Strategies

With so many benefits of video marketing, it's time you bit the bullet and hopped aboard the engagement boosting bus. With these tips and tricks for building your video marketing strategies, we're confident you'll be on your way to capturing viewers and skyrocketing sales in no time.

Ready to get started on your video marketing journey with the best business video platform? Sign up today to experience the difference a small business video streaming service can make for your brand and your audience.