As technology continues to expand, so do the ways we market our businesses. The use of video marketing has been growing steadily in recent years, and the ways people use it have expanded along with the available technology. Video marketing can mean anything from full production videos to quick cell phone videos, live streaming, tutorial or explainer videos, interviews, and other formats.
As with any marketing effort, it’s important to have a strategy, and there are some key questions to ask before you dive in to video marketing.
What are your goals for using video?
First, you need to define your goals for using video marketing. Are you looking to showcase your brand and help people get to know you? Is your primary purpose to educate people on complex topics related to your business? Do you just want to play around with the idea and have some fun? Once you think about your goals for using video in your marketing mix, you can develop a strategy that helps you use video to reach those goals.
Is it an effective way to reach your audience?
Have you defined your audience and considered how they engage with online video? A HubSpot study shows that 78% of people watch online videos every week and 55% view online videos every day. Those aren’t all marketing video, but some of them certainly are.
Take some time to review your audience demographics and then research what platforms they’re most likely to use and what types of video they’re engaging with most frequently. With video marketing being such a popular topic, there is plenty of survey data available to help you better understand how your target audience engages with video.
Do you have the time or budget to do it well?
Like most marketing strategies, there are two options for marketing videos: the DIY approach or contracting with a video marketing company. The DIY approach will probably take more time than you realize, while hiring a video marketing company requires a budget commitment.
As with anything in marketing, consistency matters. If you go the full-scale production approach but can only film one 60-second video right now due to budget constraints, that video could get old quickly. If you opt for DIY but have bad lighting and poor sound quality on the final product, your video may not help you reach the goals you’ve identified. Whichever option you choose, be sure you can commit the time or money to seeing it through and being consistent in order to see results.
Video can be a fantastic way to tell your organization’s story and engage with your audience, but it’s not right for every organization right now. Think through the above questions and the rest of your marketing priorities to determine the best video marketing strategy for your organization.