Video Marketing in 2024: The Ultimate Guide
- by Alyson Shane
By Starling Social President, Alyson Shane
If you spend any time on social media then you’ve already witnessed the overwhelming amount of video content floating around - and it’s no surprise! According to Wyzowl, 94% of marketers consider it “essential” and 91% of businesses are always using it as part of their marketing strategy.
If you’re on the fence about getting into video, I get it: it can feel overwhelming at the start, but leaving this type of content out of your strategy will also leave you in the dust!
What is Video Marketing?
Video marketing is exactly what it sounds like: it’s using video content to promote your products, services, or your brand on social media, on your website, and through webinars and email campaigns.
Why is Video Marketing Important?
There are lots of reasons to include video in your marketing strategy! Here are a few:
Higher Social Media Engagement
A peer-reviewed study found that news articles that include videos get more engagement (likes, comments, and shares) on social media than those that just have photos.
User engagement is also an important way that algorithms on social media platforms rank what content is, and isn’t, worth showing to other users. So the more people that engage with your content, the more it’ll show it to users who don’t already follow you.
Videos stand out more on someone’s screen more than a static image does. Someone spending more time looking at your content is called “dwell time” and short, engaging videos are a great way to increase dwell time on your social media or website.
Research suggests that videos are also more likely to create an emotional response with the viewer, which encourages them to react to the video by commenting, liking, sharing, or sending the video to someone they know.
More Leads and Sales
Videos are a great way to get people to interact with your content, increasing the likelihood that they’ll turn from just viewers and into customers. According to Wyzowl, 87% of companies using video marketing said that they led to increased sales.
Ending your videos with a call-to-action (CTA) like “Click Here” or “Buy Now” encourages the person viewing the video to take the action you want them to take.
So you’ve already pulled them in with an interesting and engaging video, helped familiarize them with what you do and what you offer them, and you’re able to encourage them to convert. Win-win-win!
Better SEO Rankings
Embedding videos on important landing pages on your website has a twofold effect: first, some people don’t want to read copy and would prefer to watch a video, and second (and maybe more importantly) it causes people to stick around on the page longer, which improves your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) rank.
Videos also get picked up by search engines like Google, meaning you can get your message out in front of people who aren’t even visiting your site.
Better User Experience
Let’s face it: some people just prefer to consume content through videos. They don’t have to read huge walls of text and are able to sit back, watch, and listen as they follow along.
Specifically, videos like tutorials and product explainer videos are a great way to connect with your customers. For example, product explainers and service explainer videos break down how what you offer benefits them and explains how they work, setting you up to look like a helpful subject matter expert.
Improved Brand Recognition
Video content is like a sneaky shortcut to help familiarize someone with your brand.
Video is much better at evoking an emotional response in someone and can show off a fun and dynamic side of your brand, which is what sets you apart from similar companies.
Strong branding = increased sales, so this is a great approach.
Types of Video Marketing
There are lots of kinds of videos you can make to connect with your audience, including:
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are educational tools that break down points of interest or product features to the viewer.
These are not sales tools — they’re ways of educating and empowering the viewer and showing them how what you offer can benefit them. So while you should include a CTA at the end of every video, make sure to focus on what the viewer needs to know instead of trying to sell at them.
Product Demos
Demo videos are deep-dives into how a specific product works. Usually they show someone using it in real-time and showing off its features and functionality.
Customer Testimonials
We love testimonials! This type of video showcases a real-life person who has used your product or benefitted from a service you offer.
This is referred to as “social proof” because it’s not coming from you or someone else involved with your business or organization; this is a “regular” consumer who loves what you offer enough to sit down and talk about it.
They’ll share their experiences, talk about what made the product or service so great, and (ideally) inspire others to try it out for themselves.
How-To Videos
This video type is exactly what it sounds like: they show the viewer how to do something.
The internet is littered with how-to videos for pretty much every product or technique out there, from makeup how-to’s to DIY renovation projects, so in addition to shooting some of these yourself, a great way to make the most of this video type is to reach out to influencers and content creators in your niche and pitch them on partnering with you to do a how-to video using your product.
Livestreaming
We’re all probably familiar with the concept of a livestream by now, but as a refresher, this style of video is… streamed live.
Livestreaming is a great way to show the raw, unfiltered side of your brand and to help establish trust and credibility with your viewers because what they see is what they get.
You can livestream on Instagram/Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, but just make sure to promote your livestream in advance so people know when to tune in!
Event Videos
These videos capture key moments from an event you’re hosted or attended, and can be a great way to show how your brand engages with the community. This video type offers a behind-the-scenes peek into your company culture and creates a more personal connection with your audience.
Another benefit to this video type is that they can get attention from people who weren’t able to attend and might want to show up in the future.
Animated Videos
Animated videos are a great way to break down complicated concepts and can be used for a variety of things, from explaining products and services, to creating engaging content that isn’t just a “talking head” on a screen, as well as showing how different processes work.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC is content created by other users who aren’t directly connected to your brand, like reviews, testimonials, or videos of themselves using the products you sell. This type of video is great for conveying authenticity and credibility about what you offer.
Like I said above: connecting with influencers can be a great way to create this kind of content, but encouraging your customers more generally to create UGC you can re-share. Some CTAs you can use in your marketing to encourage this type of content can look like:
- “Show us how you’re using [product]”
- “Send us a video showing your favourite way to use [product]”
- “How do YOU use [insert product]? Send us a video and we’ll reshare it!”
How to Make High-Quality Video Content
Gone are the days when “potato quality” videos were acceptable. Here are a few tips to create scroll-stopping videos:
Define Your Objectives in Advance
Firstly, decide what your goals are with your video content. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, educate your audience, drive sales…?
Whatever your objective(s), your video content should work towards these goals.
Next you’ll want to identify your target audience. Some things to ask yourself include:
- Who are you making these videos for?
- Where are they on their buyer’s journey?
- What kinds of videos do they want to see?
Once you’ve defined these areas, you’ll want to set goals for yourself in terms of the amount of content you’ll create (be aggressive, but realistic) and which metrics you’ll track to understand which videos are helping you achieve your goals, like video views, engagement, click-through rates (CTRs) and conversions.
Build Your Video Marketing Strategy
Using the research you just did, look into the social media platforms where your ideal customers are spending their time. There are lots of things that might play into this, but one of the key elements is their age. Here’s a quick breakdown of age demographics and platform usage from Sprout Social to make ti a bit easier:
- 18-29 years – Snapchat (41%), TikTok (35%), Instagram (32%)
- 30-39 years – LinkedIn (34%), X/Twitter (34%), Snapchat (33%), Instagram (32%)
- 40-49 years – LinkedIn (25%), Facebook (22%), X/Twitter (21%)
- 50-59 years – Facebook (29%), LinkedIn (24%), Pinterest (24%)
Another thing to consider is a “bricks and feathers” approach to your video content. I dug into this concept in this blog post, so don’t miss it.
Plan and Write Your Script
I can’t emphasize this enough! Without a script you’re likely to sound unprepared, and will probably pepper your videos with lots of “umms” which can detract from your message.
Here are the steps I use when creating video content:
- Outline the script. I like to get as granular as possible with this and will literally write out exactly what I want to say, in large text (so I can read it on my screen) and line breaks where I want to “cut” the video.
- Be conversational. Act like a real human and speak the way you would as if you were talking to someone face-to-face. If you have to use technical terms or jargon, make a point to explain it in the video, too.
- Use a hook. “Hooks” are a statement that tells the viewer what they can expect from the video, so include one as the first or second thing you say in your video.
- Include a call-to-action (CTA). Like I said above, tell people what you want them to do after they’ve finished viewing the video.
- Include visual direction. Don’t just sit in front of your screen like a talking head. Use your hands, show emotion and excitement through your facial expressions, lean in and out for emphasis, and use graphics when appropriate.
- Be mindful of your video lengths. Different social platforms have time limits for videos, so look this up in advance so you don’t accidentally shoot something that’s too long. Here’s a reference for that.
- Practice! If you’re new to creating videos, you might need to run through your script a few times before filming, and that’s okay! Practice makes perfect.
Shoot and Edit
These days a high-end smartphone is often more than enough to shoot a decent-quality video.
Use natural light when possible along with a ring light to even out the light in your space. If you’re using a ring light it will typically come with a tripod, so make sure to use this as well so your video isn’t a shaky mess.
Once you’ve captured your footage you can either use a video editing tool (I use iMovie because I’m on iOS for my horizontal videos) or use in-app editing tools which can be found on platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
Include Captions
Captions serve several important purposes:
- Increasing accessibility for people who might have issues hearing your videos.
- Encouraging viewing since lots of people scroll through social media with their volume turned down or off completely.
- Increasing your social media search engine optimization (SEO) since social media algorithms crawl and index videos based on the text in the captions.
Choose an Engaging Thumbnail
Thumbnails are the still image of your video that shows up on users’ timelines before they start viewing the video.
For platforms like YouTube that don’t auto-play videos, you’ll want to use a tool like Canva to create an attention-grabbing thumbnail, but for platforms like Instagram and TikTok you can usually get away with choosing a still from the video you’re uploading to use.
Incorporate Branding Elements
Reinforce your brand identity by including things like logos, colour schemes, or taglines that draw a stronger link between your video and your brand overall.
If this feels too heavy-handed or technical, choose a spot in your office or home (if you work from home) that has interesting elements that can become familiar to viewers when they see your videos pop up on their timelines.
Publish and Promote
Once you’ve published your video you need to do a little leg work to get it out into the world.
Include relevant keywords in your title, captions, description so your content can be found by people who are searching for it. Make sure to re-share it to your Instagram/Facebook and TikTok Stories with a sticker linking the viewer to a relevant page on your website.
Video Best Practices
Before we wrap up, let’s review some “best practices” for your video content:
- Keep it short. The best videos are concise and to-the-point. Decide what the single focus of your video will be and stick to one topic.
- Stick to your core message. Choose what the message of your video will be and don’t deviate from it.
- Tell a story. Have a beginning (hook), middle (demo, explanation, testimonial, etc.), and an end (CTA).
- Add captions. Increase accessibility and boost your SEO so more users can find your video.
- Include a CTA at the end. I’ve probably beaten this point to death, but every video should have a call-to-action (CTA) at the end.
Get Started With Video Marketing Today
Video is here to stay, so if you haven’t taken the plunge then there’s no better time to dive right in and start creating entertaining, engaging, and informative content that highlights the value of your products and services.
Still feel like you’re struggling with your video marketing strategy? Just click here and connect with a team of content marketing professionals (hint, that’s us!)
