Video has exploded in popularity as a content marketing format in recent years, with more than half of internet customers preferring to watch brand videos above any other format.

This means that if your company does not use videos to promote its products and services, it will fall behind the competition. But why are so many businesses still hesitant to use video marketing? The fundamental reason is the high cost and entry barrier. While various video editing tools can help you with the video creation process, you'll need to learn about the many parts of video marketing to get the most out of it.

That is why we have put up a detailed video marketing guide that will walk you through all you need to know to get started.

Let’s dive in.

What is video marketing?

Video marketing is when you use video content to connect with your audience to advertise a product or service, educate your audience, or enhance social media engagement. Video marketing provides brands with a new method to communicate with their customers that is more engaging and appealing.

Videos are a better way to provide tutorials and testimonials, and live streaming provides new ways to interact with the audience.

Why is video marketing necessary?

According to a survey, after employing videos for marketing, around 87 per cent of marketers saw an increase in traffic. Furthermore, 94 per cent of marketers felt that explaining a product through video helped audiences comprehend it better, and 86 per cent of marketers discovered that using videos helped them create more leads.

Videos are more interactive, allowing your customers to create stronger bonds with your business and retain more information. As opposed to text-based content, which has a retention rate of only 10%, videos have a retention rate of up to 65 %. This indicates that 65 per cent of people will watch your complete video against only 10% who will read a blog post you've created.

Overall, videos are critical if you want to engage your audience, aid in information retention, and ultimately convert them into paying customers.

Let's have a look at several sorts of video marketing for your business.

Types of video marketing

Now that you know why video marketing is so crucial, let's look at the different types of videos you can make to help your brand or business flourish.

1. Social media Video

Social media videos allow you to connect with people who use social media and position your product or service as a solution to their concerns. You can post such videos on Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks, or even embed them on your website. These videos keep clients informed about your company's activities.

Most brands utilize social media platforms to create short-form, easy to understand videos that accomplish a range of objectives, ranging from brand awareness and developing an online community to assisting with sales. Now, social media videos can come in a variety of formats; here are some of the most popular:

a. Short videos

Reels and TikTok are popular forms of short-form video on most social media sites. These are vertical videos that are less than a minute long and fill the entire screen of the phone. These have been designed to be seen on mobile devices.

Short-form videos provide you with a lot of leeways to try out different video styles to see what works best for you in terms of keeping your audience engaged.

b. Long-form videos

While short-form videos have become the norm, longer videos still have a role in explainers, testimonials, and any other topic that requires in-depth coverage.

Brands may acquire a lot of traction by using entertaining long-form videos that are packed with pertinent content that is valuable to their consumers. Brands may use these types of videos to express their narrative and engage with their audience more effectively.

2. Video ads

If you want to leave a lasting impression on your audience and increase brand awareness, video advertising is the way to go. They assist you in reaching out to a larger audience and increasing brand recognition.

Let's take a look at some of the different sorts of video commercials you may use to promote your business:

a. Video ads on social media

The videos we see on our social media pages' posts and feeds are known as social media video advertising. These commercials are highly interesting and successful at persuading viewers to take action.

On social media, video ads can display in a variety of places, including your feed (for Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter), your stories, the explore page and even scrolling through your Instagram Reels and TikToks videos.

Ads on social media are designed to attract users' attention as they scroll through material online, and they provide businesses with a strong tool to meet their target audiences where they spend the majority of their time.

However, you must first determine who your target audience is and what type of material they respond to. Then you must determine which platform they spend the most time on and concentrate your efforts accordingly. Keep in mind that you'll need to customize your material — videos, graphics, copy, and so on — for varied audiences and platforms.

b. TrueView Video Ads

TrueView video commercials are skippable video advertisements that appear before, during, and after other YouTube videos. TrueView is available in two different formats: in-stream and discovery.

Discovery advertisements show all across YouTube alongside regular content and across the Google display network, whereas in-stream advertising appears before a viewer watches the video they've chosen on YouTube.

Your money is only spent when a person watches your ad for at least 30 seconds or until it ends, whichever comes first, with TrueView in-stream and discovery advertising. Advertisers are compensated when someone decides to watch an advertisement (cost per view) rather than just seeing it (cost per mile)

3. Video Animation

Animated videos are a powerful tool for conveying thoughts and concepts. They're simple to follow, entertaining to see, and incredibly engaging. Animated videos can be used for a variety of purposes, including product demonstrations, educational content, explainer videos, promotional videos, and more. You can make a motion graphics animation or use characters with animated videos in a variety of ways.

a. Videos with 2D animation

2D animation is the most prevalent style of animated video, which is ideal for marketing and can easily be utilized to produce explainer videos. In comparison to 3D animations, they are easier to alter and make, and they often have a broader appeal.

If you want to make a 2D animation video, you can hire an animator to develop a bespoke design for you after you've decided on a story to tell.

b. Videos with 3D animation

A 3D animation video is a superior option if you need to demonstrate your goods or service realistically. However, due to the large expenses required, these videos are only utilized infrequently. These videos are used by most brands who wish to show off product prototypes that haven't been built yet.

Because people are accustomed to seeing the real world in three dimensions, 3D animation makes it easier to create immersive experiences that will resonate more with your target audience. Many of us have a better understanding of three-dimensionality than we do of flat two-dimensional objects; we merely see them less frequently because our eyes prefer depth perception to flatness.

3D animation is used to illustrate the product and how it works in this video. The movie explains how the vision line system adds value to the client's life by resolving difficulties.

Creating 3D animation videos offers two alternatives that are similar to creating 2D animation videos. You can employ a 3D animator to create custom animations for your brand.

4. Educational videos

Educational videos are excellent for use on your website, social media, and email marketing campaigns. They let you demonstrate your knowledge while simultaneously teaching your audience, and they're also a great way to generate leads.

To begin, add value to your audience by creating informative videos that lead them through a process or demonstrate how to accomplish something. You can also use client testimonials or case studies to develop educational content. Finally, if you want customers to act, tell them what they should do next by recommending another video or an offer.

What is the best way to develop a video marketing plan for your brand?

You can't expect strong results from your video marketing efforts until you have a solid strategy in place. Any campaign's success depends on proper planning, timing, and execution. Let's look at how your brand can use video marketing to its advantage:

1. Establish your objectives

Before you get started with video marketing, you must first determine your campaign's goal. It could be anything from product promotion to audience education to the sales increase.

How do you go about setting your objectives? — You must first determine which step of the funnel you should concentrate on. This is significant because the videos for each stage's audience are different.

The top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) audience demands videos that display items and highlight their features, whereas the middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU) audience requires videos that demonstrate products and highlight their features. To persuade the bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) audience to buy, videos containing customer testimonials and reviews must be used. In summary, setting goals allows you to stay focused on your marketing strategy and execute it more effectively.

2. Determine who you want to reach

Your target audience is the group of people who are the best fit for your product or service. Certain demographics, such as age, gender, and geography, can be used to identify them.

Identifying your target audience allows your company to customize its messaging to a specific group of people who are most likely to convert while excluding those who do not value or relate to your offer. This niching down procedure can help you save money on marketing and increase your marketing ROI.

Use social media analytics and previous video performance to determine who your target audience is and which group is most engaged with your material.

3. Set aside money for the video

One of the first things to think about while making a video is the budget. If you don't pay attention to the fees involved in the process, video production can become very costly.

The advantage of creating a budget is that you can keep track of your marketing expenses and minimize costs after properly examining the process. It also aids in determining which regions demand additional investment. For example, video authoring is less expensive than shooting and editing.

You'll need to consider not only production and editing costs but also distribution charges when deciding on a budget for your video marketing approach. It will not cost you anything if you plan to share the video on your social media channels. However, if you want to run it as a video ad, you'll need to consider how much it will cost to accomplish the conversion you want.

4. Examine the effectiveness of your videos

While videos are one of the most engaging marketing mediums, simply posting them on different platforms will not benefit your brand. To gather insights and incorporate them into your next video marketing efforts, you must properly assess the performance of your videos.

Set some video metrics to begin analyzing the performance. These metrics can vary depending on your goals for the video content and could include things like watch time or social media channel shares.

Google's video analytics tool also provides information on the video's interaction, new audiences reached, and past audience retention. This information can help you create more focused and relevant content for your audience, as well as better engage them.

In closing

Video marketing, if done right, can help you scale your business to greater heights and that is why with this article we’ve attempted to simplify the world of video marketing for you.