The end of the year is a busy time, when individuals and businesses are summing up their achievements of the last year and setting goals for the upcoming one. In case you’ve read our recent post on major trends in video advertising for 2018, and are certain you need to leverage video marketing and advertising to grow your revenue, today’s post is for you.
According to HubSpot Research, 54% of consumers prefer seeing videos from the brands they support rather than other content. In addition, compared to text and images, video content is the most memorable for viewers. So, in order to launch your video advertising campaign right at the takeoff of the new year, you need to build your strategy to serve as the roadmap on your way.
Essential Steps in Creating Your Video Advertising Strategy
1. Define the mission
“Selling more of [your product name]” isn’t the best approach to setting the mission your videos should accomplish. In fact, the purpose of your entire video marketing efforts should be to inspire, entertain, educate audience, rather than bluntly promote your product to them. To achieve your ultimate business goals through video advertising, you’ve got to have clear understanding of:
- what kind of videos you are going to produce
- who will be they for (again, it’s all about the target audience, the more details about it you include – the better)
- what value should the videos bring to the consumers? – even ads in the video format can be useful and memorable, so why miss this opportunity?
If your videos are great, they need no the traditional promo elements – social sharing will do a much better job in promoting your brand.
2. Come up with the topics
Yes, you got it right. Videos give you much scope for creativity, and successful advertising campaigns tell stories, not sell. So, what kind of story would you like to tell in your videos? Some ideas to start with:
- company history,
- introducing the people behind your product,
- lifting the veil on the production stages (if applicable),
- how-to videos,
- entertaining pieces
- customer testimonials.
The key here is that the topic you choose should be closely related to your brand – and contain a call to action.
The video below serves as a perfect example of successful video marketing by Lowe’s – a home improvement company, which creates short DIY videos for consumers and has hundreds of thousands of subscribers, who do appreciate the effort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxWbfHAcFJw&list=PLXRbmDDj3R95Qw55ilQADO9nCwmD-ETMX
3. Determine how and by whom the videos will be produced
Basically, you’ve got three options:
- Hire an agency
- Create videos in-house
Definitely, outsourcing video creation to professionals would be the ultimate way to save time and efforts and obtain a high quality product as a result. But you realize that these benefits come at a price, in many cases – sky-high. This is why this option is often considered by big businesses, whereas SMBs might find it more affordable to work on the video content by themselves to save financial resources. If you choose to go for the latter variant, it is highly recommended to appoint people responsible for the video part and have them complete a corresponding course(s), and take some time for initial training. You might want to save money, but it doesn’t mean cutting down on the time or quality.
4. Work out where and how to promote your videos
Still believe hosting your videos on your YouTube channel with an occasional post on your Facebook page = promotion? Well, it might be, but it can be hardly called a strategy. So here’s an alternative variant:
- Choose the most important channels to promote videos (depends on which are used by your audience)
- Define the thought leaders in your niche for each channel and try to make them willing to share your content. Obviously, your videos should bring value and be worth attention, therefore again – be careful not to make them overly promotional (at least, not ALL them).
- Use the traditional ad placement services to reach your target audience. It may not be as “natural” as creating viral content, but it still works.
Ready to launch your video ads?
With TRACKLAM online service, it happens literally in a few mouse clicks. Whether indoor or outdoor, digital or out of home, TV or radio advertisements – the service’s got you covered (and your ads placed in a variety of formats and locations), and you don’t have even to step out of the office. Simply choose the desired media and available carriers (user feedback helps to make the right choice) – the rest will be handled and detailed stats available right within your account. There’s no better time to try than right now, so sign up for Tracklam and go ahead!
