Small Business Video Marketing: 5 Tips for Success
Those of you not exploring small business video are missing out!
Video is becoming the top content choice among many Internet users. So, it makes perfect sense why you’d want to explore video marketing.
What better way to reach people than with a super engaging (and fun) format?
Below, you’ll find some of our best tips, tricks, and strategies for making video work for your business. Follow these tips and you’ll see brand awareness, lead generation, and sales grow.
1. Learn the Basics, Make Mistakes, and Have Fun with Video Production
The video format is one of the most enjoyable to explore. You get to tap the full potential of creativity without feeling pressured to perform. The hardest thing to overcome is your willingness to be on camera but even that you can avoid!
Learn the Basics
There are many beginner video marketing guides there to support your beginner efforts. YouTube, for example, has a creator academy that shares everything needed to get started — all for free.
Make Mistakes (Often)
You’ll learn more from the mistakes you make along the way than the ones you read about. The best way to learn production is by going through the process without nit-picking. Be okay with failing because you will get better as you go.
Have Fun
What’s the point of exploring video for your business if it’s a slog? You should have fun creating them! Let the videos be your way of exploring fresh ideas you otherwise couldn’t do through other means.
Bring It Together
Video production is a skill anyone can learn given they’re committed. Going through the process will make the skills sink in. This openness to experiment and be creative is more powerful than any specific video tip.
2. Learn from Your Competitors, Creative Peers, and the Industry
Online video has a pretty extensive history dating back to the early ’90s. YouTube added to its popularity and commonplace. Today, many people watch more online video and streaming than they do television!
What does all this mean?
Well, creators have a pretty strong understanding of what people want. They also have video metrics to lean on. Plus, we’re starting to see best practices form with online video and its presentation.
Here is what you can do:
- Round up about 10 to 15 video creators in your niche
- Watch the top 2 or 3 videos of each of these creators
- Take notes about their presentation and video formatting
- Find a common thread between the best videos in your industry
- Create a new template you’ll use as a starting point for your production
The elements you may discover could include:
- Video length and editing type
- Presentation preferences
- Call-outs and graphic choices
This doesn’t mean rip off the best person out there creating videos. It means to learn something from them since you know what they do works. Leverage their work to get a head start when exploring and growing with video.
3. Let Others Tell Stories for You
Here’s the thing about creating video…
…a lot of people will see it as a commercial and this is a turn-off.
User-generated content is a fantastic way to offer authentic content to the community. This content is also dirt cheap to produce and plentiful.
UGC also gives a better peek into the community and its culture. This is quite welcoming to others thinking about getting behind your brand.
Here is how you can explore UGC:
- Hold a content where people join through video submissions
- Livestream and interact with viewers that also call in via video
- Do one-on-one talks or interviews with community members
- Encourage the community to make videos about your products
People like being the center of attention. They also like sharing their experiences with a great product, service, or event. Use the excitement to get content from your vocal community members.
What do you do after content gets created? Try:
- Sharing it on your social channels and have them help promote it too
- Drop a thank you and follow-up to “lock-in” their brand commitment
- Ask if they know others willing to contribute video content
People are more willing to trust reviews from peers vs what’s touted by a brand. Video content is the perfect method to deliver these reviews and experiences.
4. Explore a Variety of Video Formats and Types
You’re not bound to explainers or tutorials when creating a video for your business. Nor are you stuck to screencasts or drone-like interviews.
There are several formats worth exploring like:
- Brand and storytelling videos
- Corporate or TT commercials
- Training and customer support pieces
Variety is in your favor especially if your competitors stick to a tired format. Your videos will stand out among the rest, and this means more views.
Our suggestions? Try doing this:
- Try at least one of each video format
- Note the feedback and video analytics
- Narrow in on a handful of formats that work
- Refine what works but still experiment
Templates get created for the standard video formats from this process. Then, you have time to get creative and try new formats when the old ones get stale.
5. Do the Video “Tricks” That Work (For Now)
Online video is forever evolving so it’s hard to say what will stick. So, use what’s captivating everyone’s attention and evolve as it goes.
What are these “tricks” to do in your videos? Consider:
- Editing pauses between sentences, tightening up the presentation
- Using a quick but branded introduction graphic, video roll, or animation
- Leaving space for call-outs at the end to encourage content exploration
You can also try things like:
- Standardizing video thumbnails so they’re branded and recognizable
- Having a regular schedule much like having a show or series
- Complimenting recorded video with live streaming efforts
Make sure to get videos embedded onto your business site, too. Adding the video will boost the view count and encourage interaction. This can “jump-start” video marketing efforts by leveraging the community.
Add a touch of on-page SEO and the video (and page) will get a healthy bump in search, too. This further improves the video’s reach and branding efforts.
Captivate and Convert with Small Business Video
Small business video can become monumental for your branding lead generation, and sales. Getting started with it is easy, but it does pose one major hurdle: finding the time to make it happen.
Video benefits from consistency much like other forms of content. You may find this hard to do when you’ve got a business to run.
Let us take over the hard stuff while you come up with the big, fun ideas.
We offer several video specialties. And, we have a proven record of creating quality videos for our clients. We’d love to talk with you about how we can deliver the same, exceptional experience to yours.
Call 619-866-6148 or click to learn about our video production services.