Top 5 Ways to Drive More Sales with Video Marketing in 2021
Marketers are making a killing with video content everywhere you look. Here is how to drive more sales with video marketing.
I think my next line with strike home for many of us.
We all watch a ton of videos.
I bet you watched at least one YouTube or Facebook video today. Heck, you probably binge-watched 10 episodes of that guy or girl you love.
If you haven't, you're probably about to get your regular fix. Probably? Nah, who I'm kidding? We are all suckers for great videos.
And we can't help it. Videos are a million times more fun to watch than, say, reading a wall of text.
Also, probably because our brains process visual content up to 60,000 times faster than text.
It's why we spend countless hours watching funny videos on YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook.
We can't get enough video, and it's the main reason video marketing is booming.
With so much potential, it's sad many small businesses (and some giants, too) haven't added video to their marketing strategy.
Yeah, it's sad, especially when you consider:
- Publishers that use visual content grow traffic 12% faster than those who don't use visual content
- Video content represents more than 80% of all internet traffic
- 4x as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it
Source: The Rising Power of Visual Content - Social Media Today
And that's not all. We recently published 40 Staggering Video Marketing Statistics, and from the article:
- YouTube has over 2 billion users (Oh boy, that's a huge market for your brand)
- Video boosts your lead generation by 66% per year (Damn, doesn't that mean more sales for you?)
- More than 90% of mobile video viewers share videos with family and friends (More exposure means more leads, which translates to more sales)
These statistics (and more from the article) are all evidence that video will keep growing. That said, you had better brush up on your video marketing skills or fall flat on your face.
Not to worry. We've peppered today's post with several gems that will help you take your video marketing to the next level.
Ladies and gents, here's how to...
Grow Your Sales with Video Marketing
To a business, videos have a lot of benefits. Here is a brief list of how video can help you, you know, just so we can build some momentum for the next section.
Effective video marketing helps you to:
- Boost your traffic
- Build your email list
- Create brand awareness
- Increase customer engagement
- Spread your message like wildfire
- Introduce and promote new products
- Gain more followers on social media and build a loyal following
If you're a complete beginner, everything on the above list will lead to more sales down the line. That's how important videos have become over the years as a marketing medium.
The time to make a killing with video is now, and here is how.
Know Your Target Audience
As the adage goes; if you try to market to everyone, you'll end up marketing to absolutely f**king no one. And Mike in the above video knows that :)
You can't market to the entire world. That's the quickest way to fail, not only with video marketing but with every other type of marketing.
Before you get to the production stage of your videos, you must have your target audience figured out.
If I'm not wrong, you probably have buyer personas for your other types of marketing. Video marketing is no different.
You must know:
- Who you're talking to
- What their language is
- The places they love hanging out online
- The video platforms they watch videos
- What challenges they are facing
- And their motivations
If you start creating videos just because everybody is doing it, you'll totally miss the mark with your video marketing strategy.
Remember you're trying to drive more sales with your video marketing strategy. You can't afford to shoot out of the blues and waste hard-earned marketing dollars.
You must create targeted videos that connect with your audience in a language they love and on the platforms they throng.
If you understand your target audience, you will be able to create meaningful videos that provide value to your customers.
Understand your target audience in and out.
Storytelling is Key
Who doesn't love a good ole story? Video storytelling is one of the most effective marketing tricks to create brand awareness, drive sales and engage with your customers.
The trick here is to reel them in with an engaging intro, keep them watching a captivating middle, and drive the point home with a great ending - all the ingredients of a perfect story.
Nowadays, marketing is not about promoting what you make. Marketing, especially video marketing, is about the stories you tell, so endeavor to create a strong narrative.
Hire screenplay experts for the best plotlines and storyboarding, and ensure your characters are in tiptop form. That means you should use lovable and relatable characters that viewers will remember.
If you lack prior experience creating video stories, you're better off hiring a professional video production house to craft the perfect video story for you.
Other than that, use plenty of emotional triggers and the power of music to evoke powerful emotional reactions that get your viewers going.
Video storytelling is a broad topic to cover in a single section. At the same time, we cannot ignore it's a powerful tactic to drive more sales without breaking the bank.
Honestly, you don't even need fancy cameras and equipment to shoot a video that tells a great story. Your smartphone is good enough.
Social Proof All the Way
We are social animals by nature. We like congregating in tribes and becoming a part of a larger group of peers.
As such, we are naturally influenced by the actions and opinions of others, a concept known as social proof.
It's the reason toothpaste ads are endorsed by dentists, and exactly why Wayfair is using Catherine Giudici and Sean Lowe in the above video.
Social proof is why Instagram influencers, testimonials, and product reviews are great at driving sales.
"These factors add an element of trust to a new purchase, swaying prospective customers who might need a little convincing." - Lemon Light.
Try your absolute best to incorporate some type of social proof in your video marketing strategy.
You can show a celebrity or expert directly interacting with your brand. Alternatively, you can use testimonials videos of some of your customers.
On top of that, you can use a concept known as the wisdom of the crowd, whereby you point out how many customers you've served in the past. That's why you will see many brands say "100,000 businesses trust us..." and so on.
There are many other forms of video social proof, so don't shy away from the idea of experimenting.
Leverage Live Streaming
While pre-recorded videos are still popular and going nowhere, live streaming has been gaining a lot of traction lately.
Many brands have taken to live streaming to engage with customers, brand ambassadors, influencers, and fans in real-time.
Other businesses are live streaming Q&A sessions, product launches, customer support, interviews, special announcements and so much more.
And the results are amazing. Many big-name brands such as Experian, Nestle, Nissan, and General Motors have all used live streaming successfully.
Small businesses and freelancers, too, are leveraging the power of live streaming to build powerful brands with thousands of loyal followers.
I have witnessed other streamers grab data from live chat in terms of FAQs or common customer questions/problems, etc., and use that data to inform their decisions when making exceptional marketing videos.
You too can use live streams to create communities of engaged fans who won't get enough of your live streaming videos.
A live stream is better than blog posts and pre-recorded videos because you can respond to customers' comments in real-time. You can have a two-way conversation.
But how do you use live streaming successfully?
Endeavor to show behind-the-scenes live streams of your business to create a personal connection with your brand.
Behind-the-scenes live streams can take the form of:
- Impromptu interviews with staff members
- Live streams of coffee or lunch breaks with employees
- Day-to-day activities at the office
Behind-the-scenes live streams are popular and quite effective since they are human and real.
Another way to use live streaming to your advantage is by streaming live events. If you're attending a conference or any other live event, you can live stream the whole thing to your customers.
The live events can be anything from press conferences, talks, conferences, presentations, tours, concerts, demos, and so on.
Research more about live streaming to learn how you can use this promising marketing channel to grow your business.
"If you don't live stream your show, you're missing out on a huge opportunity that your competitors are going to pick up on." - Caroline Herrera, Digital Manager
Optimize Your Videos
If you want to boost your sales with video marketing, you want to ensure your video content is optimized to:
- Rank well on YouTube and other search engines
- Perform without hiccups across multiple devices
Let's go over each point briefly.
YouTube is the second largest search engine with billions of users and views. As such, it's quite a competitive platform, especially if you're a beginner looking to rank your videos.
I won't go into the intricacies of YouTube video SEO because Brian Dean up there has done an excellent job at that. I recommend you watch the video and later subscribe to his channel for even more SEO videos.
It's quite a lengthy process, but he will show you exactly how to optimize your YouTube videos so you can rank #1.
Other than optimizing your videos to rank well on YouTube, you want to ensure your video plays without stalling and buffering.
You also want to ensure that your video doesn't lose quality when played on different devices or browsers.
For that, you can hire advanced video equipment that can easily compress your videos for maximum loading times. It's expensive and time-consuming.
Instead, you can invest in a rock-solid video acceleration service such as Swarmify, which helps you to deliver custom and professional video experiences on your website. At a fraction of the price.
Swarmify SmartVideo also leverages a global delivery network and ultra-fast video CDN to ensure your videos load exceptionally fast without buffering or stalling.
Additionally, Swarmify optimizes your videos for the best quality and performance across multiple devices and browsers. Your videos won't be choppy or grainy no matter which device the viewer is using.
Bonus Tips
If you need bonus points to go with the above five, here is a quick list for your pleasure.
- Add a Call to Action (CTA) to all your videos - Tell viewers what to do after watching your video. Never leave them hanging, persuade them to take some desired action throughout the video.
- Share your videos on social media platforms - Usually, social media sites have large user bases that can help you expand your reach easily. You can try using social media video ads too.
- Encourage your viewers to create videos - You engage with your customers and get free video content by asking your viewers to create videos that you share on your YouTube channel or website. Some users will create better videos than yours, which is another advantage :)
- Add videos to your email marketing - Emails with video content (and the word "Video" in the subject line) have higher open rates and click-through rates compared to a typical email without videos.
- Study the competition - Check what they are doing or not doing and beat them at their own game. Use a tool such as SEMrush to study the competition.
Conclusion
Video marketing is here to stay, and you can expect exponential growth in the coming months as more people appreciate the benefits of using videos.
And as more marketers jump on the bandwagon, you can expect the competition to become fierce.
But with today's tips, you are perfectly poised to compete favorably and drive more sales with video marketing.
Just don't create your video marketing strategy haphazardly. Take the time to study your target audience and leverage whichever tools at your disposal to create video content that is useful to your viewers.
