Is Video Really The Future Of Marketing?

Well earlier this year, we put this to the test. Coinciding with the launch of our full video production service, Flaunt Digital Studios, we wanted to demonstrate the power that video can have. We set some personal goals to establish a position as industry thought leaders, create high quality video content on a small budget, and demonstrate just how easy it is to get started with video.

We came up with the idea to put together a range of different videos such as digital marketing tutorials, tool reviews, and a weekly round-up of the latest industry news. We didn’t have an existing audience on YouTube, but as we were starting from scratch we knew this would be the most effective channel to host our video content in the long-term.

In our first week of filming, we ended up creating four videos. It probably took about three hours in total to film the lot. But here’s where it gets exciting. We used these four videos to source the rest of our content marketing strategy, resulting in a whopping 23 different pieces of content. From four videos. This included podcasts, shorts for social media and full blogs using the video transcriptions. And each of these different pieces of content was distributed across a wide range of different platforms; Twitter, Apple Music and our onsite blog to name a few.

As we mentioned earlier, our focus wasn’t on vanity metrics like social media impressions, but rather focusing on improving the quality of our content. By week two, we were already seeing huge improvements in the video quality, audio quality, and the actual messages we were putting out. Saying that, since we began putting out video content we’ve seen some incredible results. Our website traffic has increased by over 65%, our bounce rate has gone down by 14% and our social media engagement has gone up by an unreal 1840%! And that’s after just one month… With a consistent output of high quality video content, we’re hoping to develop a community of returning viewers.

 

HOW CAN YOU CAPITALISE ON VIDEO MARKETING AS A BUSINESS?

The question you may be asking now is ‘How can I get started on video content’? Well, the great thing about video is there are so many different options depending on your goals and budget.

To start off, it could be useful to work out what type of video could work best for your business. What are your goals? Are you wanting to launch a new product? Position yourself as industry thought leaders? Or maybe you just want to put out some basic video content to increase engagement with your audience?

The next step is to decide on what kind of video production your budget will allow. If you’re on a low budget, it could be worth investing in a cheap DSLR camera, a shotgun or lavalier microphone and some basic lighting. You’ll also need to invest in some decent editing software – Windows Movie Maker is a big NO. Adobe Premiere Pro is the industry standard, but Apple users could make do with Final Cut Pro. Finally, you’ll need to find a suitable location to film your videos. If you have a visually attractive office or meeting room with plenty of natural light then you’re in luck. But if not, you may need to consider renting a more suitable off-site location.

If you have the budget, we’d always recommend going to video production experts. They will produce much higher quality content than most in-house marketing teams. And at a far lower cost than hiring someone specifically for that role. After all, they’ve spent years learning from the mistakes that you’d be sure to encounter whilst setting up your in-house production.

Video production experts can also help determine what the best approach is for your brand, taking into account your budget and your goals. Another great thing about video production companies is they tend to have access to professional recording locations. Of course, for ‘meet the team’ videos it could be more effective to film in your natural office environment. But for more visually demanding videos such as product launches, testimonials and interviews, a professional studio location can transform the face of your video.

From here it’s all about distribution. It’s so important to consider where your audience is most active before putting out any video content, otherwise you’re just playing a guessing game. YouTube is generally the most popular site for video, but that doesn’t mean you need to follow the trend. Maybe your content would perform better on Vimeo, Facebook or one of the many other video platforms out there.

As we mentioned above, don’t be scared to repurpose your video content as different formats too – it makes everything so much easier! 23 pieces of content from just four videos is impressive, even if we do say so ourselves. The more content, the better, as long as you’re not piling it onto your audience – remain conscious about oversaturating your timeline. Something else we’ve learnt is that it’s important not to focus on analytics in the early stages. Focus on pushing out high quality content that can provide value to your viewer, and making sure it is distributed effectively and the numbers should follow.

Like with the video production, we’d always recommend investing in marketing experts to handle the distribution side of things. They’ll have the knowledge and experience to figure out where your content will achieve the best results. Even better, why not get in touch with an agency that can help with both video production and distribution?

There’s no doubt that video is one of the most effective forms of content out there. And as you can see, it really doesn’t take much to get started. With a carefully put together strategy, the right investments and an enthusiastic team behind you there’s no reason why you can’t get your own video strategy moving.

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