Must-Haves: 7 Things Your Video Marketing Strategy Should Have
In previous articles, we have often stressed on the mistakes and obstacles commonly faced by video marketers.
This time, however, let's take a look at the must-have aspects of a good video marketing strategy. Getting these right will already set you up on a safe path towards a viable plan that should help you meet your goals.
1. Consistency
The importance of having a consistent publishing schedule cannot be overstated. A regular output of fresh video content keeps you relevant in the viewer's eyes. Given the optimizations put in place by social media giants such as Facebook, it is better to publish regularly in order to get the maximum possible coverage via channels like the users' news feed.
2. A fleshed-out distribution plan
Distributing your content on a single platform is usually not a good idea for several reasons. First, no matter how niche your target audience, it almost certainly exists on multiple platforms. Moreover, a consistent publishing history over multiple channels lends your accounts more credibility and also insulates you from being negatively affected by sudden algorithmic changes that may not act in your favor, as you have your backup channels to reach out to your audience.
3. A healthy amount of variation
In terms of format, you should not get comfortable with a single form factor and should instead vary between video lengths, content types, and well as broadcasting method (video upload vs live video, for example).
This also applies to the type of content you create: video just covering different use cases of your product will not have the desired effect unless they are supplemented by customer testimonials and training guides.
4. Custom thumbnails, Optimized title, and Front-loaded value
These three have been grouped together for the purpose of this list because they share very similar aims. The idea behind optimizing your titles and creating custom thumbnails is to entice the user into clicking on your video.
On the other hand, pushing more relevant information towards the beginning of your video leads to viewers spending more time watching your videos. This is often referred to as 'front-loading' value.
5. Customer-generated content
Customer testimonials lend an extra ounce of credibility to your value proposition. Prospects understand that as salespeople, you are a source of first-party information which may not adequately cover the shortcomings of your product.
However, customer-generated video content, much like text reviews, can bolster your case. Obviously, this is subject to the content being appreciative of your product, but nevertheless supplementing your video marketing strategy with positive user-generated content is a solid idea to try.
6. A call to action
Once a viewer has clicked on your video, you have significant control over their attention for a brief amount of time. Use this control to get viewers to submit to your call-to-action. This may include signups, website visit buttons, or data collection forms.
7. Integrated Analytics
Tracking relevant metrics is always important, and having a strong analytics service (like StoryXpress) measuring the success of your strategy is of paramount importance. If you are not well-versed with video analytics terminology, here's an article to help you out.