Are you proud of your video marketing strategy? I bet the answer comes pretty quickly.
Nearly every marketer I speak with these days is using video in their web, social media, demand, content marketing, or sales enablement programs. They all think it’s important, and they all plan to increase their investments in video because they believe it works. Yet when I ask the simple question “are you proud of your video content or your video marketing strategy”, the answer is typically a muffled, very humble, “no”.
When I ask the unfair follow-up question “do you know how well your videos are performing or what your ROI is on your video investments?” they typically laugh, or cry, and repeat the same answer.
This got me thinking about why marketers are still having such a hard time with video marketing, given how important and impactful it can be (check this recent post for some meaty stats that reinforce this). And more importantly, what they can do to get on the fast path to video marketing success. Without further ado, here are some quick tips to help you get moving on a video marketing strategy you can be proud of:
1. Place the Emphasis on Impact, Not Quality
I find that many marketers aren’t proud of their video strategy because they feel their content just isn’t that great. But often “isn’t that great” simply means they don’t think it’s high quality or it hasn’t taken off on YouTube with thousands of views.
For most marketers, great content is simply whatever gets the job done. Is your content keeping your target audience engaged? Is it increasing their time-on-page and driving better conversion rates? Is it moving audiences through the funnel and influencing key decision makers? If you don’t know the answers to those questions, you simply don’t know what’s working and what’s not.
Maybe your not-so-great videos are actually driving more pipeline than the other content initiatives that you think are oh-so amazing. Maybe you should be proud after all! Or maybe not. But don’t be subjective and don’t make assumptions. You need to let the data speak itself. And to do that, you need to start by getting the right data!
2. Get Creative in Your Use of Video
In general, I find that marketers are still very conservative in how they use video content. Explainer videos and educational webinars are pretty commonplace now, since marketers know that video is the best way to educate given its high retention rates.
But don’t forget that video is also the best way to inspire, entertain, and connect with people on a more personal and emotional level. Get creative with using video to deliver fun, approachable, and humanized content campaigns. Inspire your audience with humanized stories of customers using your products or services to achieve better results. Or simply use video blogs, culture videos, and company updates to connect with your audience on a personal level. Try some things out and diversify how you use video content, and you’ll start to discover what you’re good at, and what your audience really cares about.
3. Try Something (Somewhat) Daring
Let’s face it, no one (including your customers) will get excited about your video strategy if you’re publishing another boring, screen capture video with a voice-over to show off your latest feature.
But you know what they might get excited about? If you delivered an interactive video with survey questions to really engage your audience. Or if you added a splash of humor to connect with people in a more emotional way. Or deliver a personalized video campaign that literally brings each viewer into the story in a way that’s relevant, interesting and memorable. ‘
Now that would get people talking — and might even boost your confidence.
And if you follow tip #1, above, you might even see that it generates some stronger conversion rates. But if it doesn’t? Well, like anything in marketing, fail fast and learn from it. At least you’re moving forward.
Now, don’t just say you’re going to do it…DO IT! Think about it RIGHT NOW and challenge your team to come up with something so daring that it just might work. And if you’re afraid it’s too risky for your business, you’re likely on the right path.
4. Use the Right Technology to Bring Confidence to Your Video Game
Our team recently met with Travis Bickham, Demand Generation and Content Marketing Manager at a fast-growing technology company called Tradeshift. Travis has an incredible story around using video content and analytics to differentiate their company, boost conversion rates, better score and qualify prospects, and deliver campaigns that get the attention of their CEO. He’s one of those marketers that is actually doing what I’ve talked about above (and admittedly, a huge inspiration for this entire post — thank you Travis!).
But the one thing that Travis said during our conversation that gave me the most pause (in a good way) was the following:
When I sit down with our executives, our sales team, and my marketing peers, I’m more confident because I have access to the data that let’s me know which video assets are delivering real results.
Travis is one of those few people that is actually proud of his video marketing strategy, and a big part of that is due to the confidence he has in the results. It’s not because they’re producing amazing blockbuster videos that get tons of shares on social media. In fact, his team produces the majority of their content in-house — and most of their videos get a modest number of views. But he knows that the people watching are targeted and qualified prospects, he uses actual engagement data to generate insights and help his sales team convert them faster, and he delivers innovative campaigns like a personalized holiday greeting that generate a lower cost-per-opportunity than their average cost-per-lead for other programs.
This Is All Great, Now How Can I Learn Some More?
Great question.
Travis and I agreed that the best way to share more ideas and to show some of this in action is through a … wait for it … video! So we’ll be hosting a live webinar on July 19th to discuss the latest trends and best practices in B2B video marketing. I’ll expand on how other marketers are being creative with video throughout the buying journey for audience building, lead generation, qualification, and sales enablement. Travis will share real world examples of how they use video content, personalized video, and viewer analytics to drive audience engagement, enhance lead scoring, and create memorable customer experiences. And we’ll wrap it up with a very quick demo of the Vidyard video marketing platform and a lively Q&A. Hope to see you there!
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