Happy New Year! The changing of the calendar always makes for an exciting time for business owners and marketers alike. It’s a new opportunity to craft your brand message, re-engage your current customer base, and attract new interest to your product, service, or mission. Of course you know video plays the most important role in creating and maintaining brand awareness – but what are the best ways to use video for your businesses in 2018?
Whether you’re hiring professionals or looking to do-it-yourself, you must harness the power of video this year. Here are some tips – both pro and DIY - for making video a more central part of your New Year’s marketing plans.
Pro-Tips
1. Create an “evergreen” video mission for your business
A lot of companies forget that video has a long shelf life. Sometimes a business owner or marketing director is wary of the price tag that comes with a video, but remember – if you’re creating a piece that describes the mission of your company – it should stay relevant for years. Use your new mission video to educate your consumers, clients, or donors.
A short, evergreen mission statement like this one is the perfect addition to any home page. It creates an immediate familiarity between company and client.
2. Tell customer stories. Share stories with customers.
One of the most powerful types of video remains the tried-and-true testimonial. People connect to people when they watch videos online, and it can’t be overstated how important the human emotion element is.
Video captures emotion and makes a personal connection better than any other medium there is.
Have you positively impacted the lives of others? There is no better way of creating an emotional connection to you than through testimonials.
3. Product Demos
Now more than ever, if you have a product to sell, you must show people how it works. Look at the anecdotal successes of products that have been launched on Kickstarter and other crowd funding platforms. Most consumers want to see how something works before they commit to purchasing it. A simple how-to or “unboxing” video goes a long way towards educating and exciting a customer.
A simple how-to video can both educate and excite an audience about your product or service. 90 seconds does the trick!
DIY-Tips
The "Season of Light" event was an online hit for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
1. Live Stream!
As audiences move farther away from the TV, it’s critical to meet them where they are – on their phone. The best way to do that is Facebook Live.
Does your company have a signature event? Invite an audience online.
Are you volunteering? Create a community of people who can feel good about the work you do in and out of the office.
Are you exhibiting your product or service at a trade show? Give your online followers the same presentation you’re making to those in person. This is a super easy, absolutely free way of keeping your brand and your people at the top of the mind of your audience.
2. CEO Address
Create quick company updates to share with your clients, consumers, or team members. Once or twice a quarter, take 15 minutes to prep your message (don’t wing it!), and record it on a cell phone. This is a fast, easy way of adding video content to your website or a landing page, sharing policy updates internally, or enhancing the quality of YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook accounts. (Just remember to record your messages in a quiet, well-lit room for best possible quality. And film it horizontally!)
3. Enhance those email-marketing campaigns
Be sure to include any of your video assets into your email marketing efforts.
Hubspot tells us video in an email leads to a potential 300% increase in click through rates. If you don’t want your emails to end up in the trash bin, center your campaigns on a video.
We've used video in our email newsletter for the past two years. Our own click through rates rose by 75%.
Video marketing will be more critical than ever in 2018. Cheers to a successful New Year!