Discover The Benefits of Video Marketing
Marketing has changed greatly over the years. Whilst some of the traditional techniques are still in use today, the advancement of technology has given rise to some additional possibilities. Online video is one such development and in this article, I will discuss the benefits of video marketing and why it is good for your business.
Everyone uses a variety of marketing strategies and the aim is always to get more traffic to the website. You need to take some time to investigate and plan out whether each strategy is really suitable for your business model. If you feel video is worth looking into then you will find it will be a useful tool to use in your marketing. Of course, the benefits of video marketing reasons why you should be using video in your online efforts are numerous.
Once you have invested either time or money into creating a video it will keep on working for you 24/7 for 365 days a year. Yes, just that small investment on your behalf will bring wonderful benefits in the long run.
When you look at the long-term picture it is not hard to see just why the benefits of video marketing will be good for your business. It certainly is the most cost-effective way of marketing your business. Traditional print advertising has a very short shelf life, especially in these days of the internet. It’s very hard to track where your visitors are coming from and how they are finding you.
With online video, you are able to track where your viewers are from, precisely how many people are watching your video, and what time they are watching your video up to. This is another reason for looking at the benefits of video marketing. You are able to get very precise monitoring information which is extremely useful to you. Once you know some of these statistics you can start to target your videos better.
If you are a small business owner you should really be taking advantage of video. Once your video is done it will stay on the internet forever, bringing you brand new customers week in, week out. It’s a very low-cost system, bringing you the benefits of video marketing. You will also find it to be extremely cost-effective.
If you are creating general videos with yourself on camera you really do not need to go out and buy a heap load of expensive camera equipment. Have you heard of the Flip camera? This is a small camera, the size of a smartphone in fact, that shoots great video. Also, if you do have a smartphone such as an iPhone then you will be able to experience the benefits of video marketing. With the iPhone in particular, you will find you can obtain some great results from the high definition video available.
If you want to create video sales pages or convert articles into video then you would need some package that can handle this. Even better, outsource it to someone who will get the job done for you. Just send them your text sales page format and let them do the rest. By doing this you are getting the benefits of video marketing while concentrating on other aspects of your business.
You will need a computer to process the video. The files can be large at times as video takes up a lot of space so make sure you have a large enough hard drive to store your results. Also, make sure you have a good size memory on your computer. If you are using a Flip camera, for example, the video files tend to be quite small so you may gravitate towards that kind of camera when exploring the benefits of video marketing.
Visual engaging format
Imagine for a moment you are looking to buy a product and you have arrived at the sales page. How long is it? Are you faced with the possibility of reading what looks like an encyclopedia when you just want the facts? The benefits of video marketing can certainly be seen to be useful here. This is the problem with many sales pages today. They are full of fluff and just way too long. Our attention spans will only take so much.
Video offers the ability to give you more of a visual experience. You can hear someone talking out the sales page as well as the possibility of actually demonstrating the product. Having a visual experience is certainly one of the benefits of video marketing.
Branding yourself
With a static sales page, nobody knows who you really are and if you actually exist at all. There are so many fake pages on the internet making wild claims and it is easy to fall for them.
The video will allow you to show yourself and this builds a level of trust with the viewer. In effect, you are branding yourself and your company. Of course, even though you are using the benefits of video marketing, you may not want to physically show yourself to the whole world. This is not an issue as you can still have a video with plain text and narration. This would be a video sales page and a novel way of marketing yourself.
Video marketing tools
How can you market yourself with the video? There are many options here for you. It takes work and patience but will offer more of the benefits of video marketing quickly. Firstly there are many tools out there that can help you create your online video and help you get the benefits of video marketing. If you find you do not have the time to do it then simply outsource it to someone who does this kind of work. You will find they have the required video marketing tools to get the job done.
Having a finished video means you have the possibility of getting backlinks back to your website. Once you put it on other sites you will get a backlink to your site. This has the added value of giving you more website visitors. Are you starting to see the benefits of video marketing today?
Viral video marketing
Once your video has been created it should be uploaded to video sharing sites such as YouTube. If enough people like your video it would go viral and spread to other sites. You can even share it yourself on sites such as Facebook. This is known as viral video marketing.
When a video goes viral you have the benefit of getting more traffic back to your website and improving your conversions. These are more of the benefits of video marketing. You will discover more video marketing secrets as you progress with online video.
Conclusion
Studies have shown that we prefer to watch a video as opposed to read the dry static text. Video is what we have grown up with and it is familiar to us. You have no need to struggle again when it comes to getting clients and sales.
You can create video content quite quickly. Compare that to text and you can see why video marketing is a good bet. It can take quite some time to write a sales page or article for example.
You need to know just why video traffic is your best low-cost bet for marketing your business. This could be the best investment you ever make. Are you really willing to not experience the benefits of video marketing and leave things to chance?
How to Create Your Online Marketing Video for Less Than $100
It’s a bit of a catch 22 – your business needs a video to start selling but you need to sell to afford to have a video done, which is why you’ll want to read on. There are plenty of options and you can actually get your online marketing video going for less than $100 with this step-by-step guide.
#1 Write a Script
The basis for a good video begins with the script, so take your time and get this part right. You want to capture the viewer’s attention, tell what your business is about in a way that’s easy to understand and keep your visitors engaged.
You might do a video that shows your viewers how to do something or explains how to fix something. Don’t forget to close with your company name and invite your viewers to call you, sign up, buy something, or whatever the next step is.
#2 Record Your Voiceover
Once your script is complete, you need to do the voiceover. You’ll need a decent microphone, a space that’s echo-free, and a good voice. If you don’t have a good voice recruit family or friends to help you out here. You can also hire a pro to do the voiceover.
#3 Create the Necessary Visuals
Before you start to create your visual assets, you’ll need to complete your video. It’s helpful to brainstorm and create a written storyboard with your script to see how it best plays out.
If your video is not going to be live, there are a number of ways of getting still video footage. Sites like Getty or iStockPhoto have thousand of images that are royalty-free. If you have your own camera, you can take your own images. If you are giving directions or doing ‘how to’ videos you can also use screen capture.
#4 Editing your Video
Now you need to put all of it together. Here’s where you bring your project to life. Most professionals use Adobe After Effects but there are some other cheaper options like Camtasia or PowerPoint. The software is fairly easy to learn.
#5 Add SFX and/or Music
Next, you’ll want to add any special sound effects or music. However, remember, it is not legal to just pick a song and use it. There are many stock music websites online so you can purchase royalty-free tracks for under $50. Make sure your music track doesn’t drown out your voice track. Fading In and Out is a nice technique that adds a professional touch.
Step #6 Publish your Online Marketing Video
That’s it, you’re ready to publish. YouTube is the most popular site for publishing. The MPEG-4 format is ideal for high definition. Make sure your video has a good title and description. Also, make sure that you do a good job with your tags so that the right people find you.
There you have it. Six steps to get your first online marketing video up and running, and all for under $100.
6 Tips to Optimize Your Marketing Videos
If you are new to online marketing videos, you will want to check out these 6 tips to optimize your videos to make sure you reach your key audience.
#1 Make Sure You Make the Most Out of Your Title
Your headline for your video can go a long way in its success. Video titles, when done right, can pull in powerful traffic. Your title is important because it can immediately grab the attention of a viewer, and when you use the correct keywords in your video’s title you are much more likely to appear in the search engines when surfers are searching for your topic.
#2 Offer Top-Notch Content
Take the time to analyze what your ideal viewer looks like. What will they find valuable? What will you be able to teach them? How-to videos are so successful because they offer the viewer excellent value and they also showcase the skill and knowledge that you have on the subject. This is very important in your brand growth. Also, make sure you do not create a video that’s too long because you will lose the attention of your viewer.
#3 Make Sure Your URL is in Your Video
When you edit your video, take the time to add your URL. The easiest way to do this is with a text box added to your video.
#4 Make Use of the Branding Opportunities
Make sure your company logo is prominently displayed on your video screen. You can do this at a specific time during the video or you can leave it visible all the time.
#5 Make Sure You Have an HTML Link
When you post your YouTube video, you can write a short description of the video. Start with a link because your goal is to drive your viewers so don’t miss out on the opportunity to do so. Then you can add a short description below the link. Make sure your keywords are in that description.
#6 Take it Passed YouTube
Most beginners make their marketing video, post it to YouTube and call it a day. However, you should also embed your video into your website. This increases the number of time surfers will spend on your site and this will grow your audience. In addition, Google’s algorithms take into consideration how many times your video is watched and it counts embedded video views. This is important for you to show in Google searches.
There you have it – 6 tips to optimize your marketing videos. Every beginner should implement all 6 tips.
