Small businesses may not always have the funding, time, or skills to make a video marketing campaign.
However, thanks to videos, small businesses are increasingly using the power of the visual medium to attract, convert, and retain new customers—and achieve tremendous success.
Video marketing works best for small businesses because it increases brand awareness, brand engagement, and elicits an emotional response from the audience.
However, the idea of creating videos from scratch could be intimidating for small business owners, owing to several aspects that come with it, like scripting, video editing, marketing strategy, etc.
With this post, we will try to explain and guide you towards the what, why, and how’s of video marketing for small businesses.
Why is video marketing essential for small businesses?
With mobile technology and broadband networks advancements, people now watch videos as part of their regular online experience. While social media is still popular, an increasing appetite for video consumption has spurred commercial videos.
In the US alone, there were 239 million video viewers in 2020; and videos have a penetration rate of over 80%, making it a highly successful marketing tool. Creating video content allows you to capitalize on market trends and reach a much wider audience through a visual format.
What is the best part? Thanks to technology, you could now easily incorporate videos into your existing marketing initiatives with online video editors.
How small businesses can make the most of video marketing
Now, let us find out how small businesses can reap its benefit without getting overwhelmed:
- Determine the purpose
Before you go ahead, you must first determine the purpose of your video marketing strategy and campaign. A clear vision of what you want to achieve can help you make critical decisions about the video content and how you’ll share it with the audience.
A clear goal will also guarantee that everyone on your team is on the same page. It will help to research your target audience, preferences, and demographics because you want to ensure that anybody who comes into contact with the video understands your brand message.
- Set a budget
It is critical to establish a reasonable and sustainable budget before starting the campaign or hiring professionals such as video editors, filmmakers, etc. because you might get carried away with video creation.
If you’re a startup or small business with limited resources, don’t spend it all on a single campaign; instead, invest it intelligently and incrementally.
High-quality video content performs best, so you may want to invest in a good camera. You also have to calculate the cost of lighting, sound equipment, and editing software. You may want to shoot the videos on your smartphone camera and use an online video editor to edit them.
Whatever your choice is, you must determine a budget to avoid getting carried away and end with a subpar video because of stressed funding at the end!
- Abide by consumer preference
Know the trend! It is not surprising that nearly half a billion people view videos on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube every day, and that number will grow.
Also, 54% of consumers want to see videos from the brands they support (Wright,2020). So, there is demand. All you have to do is find out what kind of videos your consumers like and prefer to watch.
Figure out what type of video is appropriate for your company or business. Whether it’s an explainer video, tutorial, brand video, testimonial, or anything else, having the correct idea will go a long way to enhance the quality you produce later.
- Know your competition
Video marketing has been on the rise for several years and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated its growth by many folds. From B2C to B2B, you can use video marketing for your business to win new leads and raise brand awareness.
Quality, on the other hand, must come before quantity. You may only have one chance to dazzle the audience as a small business, so make the most of it. So, it is essential to learn about the competition and what you’re competing with to help you strategize.
- Audience targeting and engagement
There are people of diverse ages, genders, and locations on the internet. But, it is impossible to appeal to all via one master content. The divide of culture, age groups, individual tastes, and preferences simply won’t let it happen.
However, a deeper understanding of the target demographic at a much granular level (like age, gender, or culture-specific) will make it possible to cater to their pain points through the video, simply because it’s niched down.
Therefore, small businesses must make an extra effort to research their TG extensively, service buyers’ persona, and accordingly curate the video content that suits best. When people can connect to your video deeply, they will interact with your brand more.
- Use different types of videos
There are various types of videos that you can choose for your video marketing campaigns. Some examples of such video types are:
- Introduction videos
- Tutorial videos
- Explainer videos
- Product videos
- Digital ad videos
- Animated videos
Every video format is used for a different purpose, such as introduction videos that could be used to introduce yourself, your businesses, your products, and solutions.
Tutorial and explainer videos are best to demonstrate your products and solutions so that the audience and consumers can understand how they work or function. So, choose wisely what kind of video will suit your purpose and business the best.
- Social media optimized videos
Videos convey stories that arouse powerful emotions or elicit a reaction. People mostly use social media and video streaming sites for entertainment, so keep that in mind when creating videos for those platforms.
Similarly, people also use social media to learn about new products and businesses to make purchases. Knowing these user behaviors could assist you in increasing your online presence, brand awareness, and engagement. They could also help you increase site traffic, generate new leads, and increase conversions!
- Optimize the video page
Your videos must ideally index and rank on search engine results pages. So, first and foremost, you must select the best video hosting platform. For raising general brand knowledge, you may use platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
Choosing the right platform increases your chances of reaching a wider audience with your videos. You can use the videos on your social media to redirect consumers to your website. If you want to drive traffic to your website, include a call to action to encourage users to visit your site.
Video marketing has emerged as a content strategy leader, and it is the stuff your audience will look forward to in the future. The sooner you start using videos, the more probable it will be successful in the long run. So, conduct research, create and develop a plan, and launch your video marketing campaign to stand out from the crowd to mark your presence.
