Video Marketing Doesn’t Work

Video Marketing Doesn’t Work

You run a business and you’ve heard that video is essential these days if you want to be noticed online.   You’ve tried creating a few short videos to promote your products or services, you’ve put them on your website and shared them on Facebook.  What happened? Nobody got in touch, let alone bought from you.

So that means video marketing isn’t worthwhile?

Well, not exactly.  Video marketing is the same as any other type of marketing.  It works when you have a plan and a strategy – and crucially, when you join up all the different strands of your marketing.

Emotion and Attention

It works when the content of your videos appeals to the emotions of your viewer  – emotion is the primary buying trigger, whether you want to admit it or not.  We buy emotionally, and justify the decision logically –  our brains are wired that way.

It works when you TELL people what to do when they’ve watched the video –  a call to action is vital.

It works when you grab people’s attention in the first 5 seconds of your video.  The average online attention span is less than 8 seconds.  So make sure there’s an eye-catching visual right at the start.

It works when you share your videos across your website and all your social media platforms, with accompanying text that gives people a reason to view.

Video marketing works when you integrate it into every other aspect of your marketing strategy on a REGULAR basis.   One video every 6 months isn’t going to make an impact. You need to be sharing videos at least weekly, preferably more often.

What Sort of Videos Should I Create?

Right, we’ve cleared up any confusion as to whether video marketing works –  let’s take a look at the types of video you SHOULD be creating for your business.

Note that you don’t have to get in front of a camera yourself, although it’s very important that your potential clients should get to see you in person at least on occasion.  I completely understand that being live on camera is way out of many people’s comfort zone – mine too! The good news is that any of these marketing videos can be created using other formats such as animation, styled slideshows, or even a combination of “talking head” and the others.

• Educate viewers about your products or services. Tell them about the features and/or benefits of using your products/services. Let them know what it is you’ll receive when you make the purchase.
• Do product reviews. Take one of your products or services that would interest your market and do an in-depth review of its features, benefits, pros, and cons.
• Grow your potential customer list.
  Create a video that encourages prospects to give you their name and email by offering them something such as a report, an e-book, a newsletter, a tutorial video, a webinar, etc. Determine what it is your prospects would find useful and design a giveaway around it.
• Telling a story is a great way to get people to relate to you. Weave in lessons that your viewers can take away. Try talking about a past event that shaped who you’ve become, or how you run your business today.
• Debunking myths in your industry and offering real examples to show why they are myths is a popular video topic. You’ll educate your viewers and give them the facts.
• Take your viewers out of the office in to your natural surroundings and behind the scenes. Introduce your family if it’s appropriate.
  Show your viewers what’s meaningful to you.
  You could tie in some business secrets such as how and why you set up your own business. Take a little time to work out the best behind the scenes content to share.
• Ask questions and provide the answers. Ask your viewers if they have any questions and then include them with the answers in your next video. These are great ways to start a conversation and launch a discussion.
• Discuss different case studies and the results of these case studies. Show a case study of a customer who followed your directions, used your product, or used your service – and the outcome.
  Or share testimonials from some of your happy customers.

These eight ideas are a great way to get creative with your marketing videos – let’s take a look at how to get started…

Video Creation Tools

There are now scores of apps and software packages that allow you to create eye-catching videos –  at a wide range of prices!  Here are a few I’ve used or investigated:

Whiteboard animation:  Explaindio, Videoscribe, Easy Sketch Pro, Powtoon, Doodly  
For whiteboard animations that I create regularly for clients, my go-to software is the generally recognised industry standard, Videoscribe. Nothing else produces truly realistic drawing effects.  

General Animation: Animaker, Biteable, Moovly
I regularly use Biteable to create my “budget” animations – it’s very cost-effective and produces great results.

Slideshow: Adobe Express, Animoto, Magisto, Promo, Ripl (iOS, Android)
Adobe Spark is my personal favourite – even the free option is good and very easy to use.

Video From Blog Post:  Lumen5 is an innovative web-based tool that enables you to input the URL of a blog post and create a video using text and images.

Don’t forget that you can create videos in Powerpoint, Keynote or even Google Slides.  All of these allow you to add animations, and export to video format.  Many of my videos are done with Powerpoint – and I also have a pack of DIY Powerpoint templates that anyone can use to create fabulous promotional videos.

I’ve only scratched the surface with these – more are appearing all the time so it’s worth keeping an eye open.

I love helping businesses to get the best from their online marketing. Please contact me if you need further advice on creating videos.  Not happy doing it yourself?  Check out my done-for-you video packages here.

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