Strategy First
Too many businesses are approaching video without having a clearly defined strategy which is a recipe for failure. You should always create a video marketing strategy first, about your business’s product or service.
Designing an effective online video strategy is a process that takes into account many things. Here are 7 steps to build your ideal strategy.
1 – Know your audience
Who are you communicating with/selling to?
What challenges do they face?
How does your product/service solve their problems?
2 – Define your Goals
What exactly does success look like with this marketing objective? What do you want your videos to achieve? Whether brand awareness, social engagement, conversion or advocacy, be as specific as possible.
3 – Plan your video content
Be strategic based on your audience and goals. Think about what your audience is interested in and the style of video that will engage and elicit action.
Different goals require different content. For example, a brand awareness video is very different than a sales video.
Before you start the video marketing campaign, be clear what type of video you need.
4 – Determine Distribution (Fish where the Fish are)
Which platform is best to reach your audience? Start with a strategy for that platform.
Then maximize your video efforts by considering how the content can be repurposed for various platforms.
5 – Optimize your Content
There are two major considerations for optimization
Audience optimization – What content will stop your audience from scrolling past you?
Algorithm optimization – Align your content with the platform’s algorithm so that it promotes your content.
6 – Produce Content
Now for the creative and technical part. Use the last 5 steps to make your production decisions. Some considerations include:
Will you D-I-Y or do you need to hire a professional?
What equipment is necessary for video production?
Will you need original footage or stock footage? Music? Voice over?
7 – Track Metrics
Determine which metrics matter depending on your goal. Some examples include reach, views, engagement.
Track the data that matters and it to improve future content.
If this seems overwhelming, we get it.
We wish we could tell you that you don’t need to do this but honestly without taking all this into consideration, you will be wasting your time and money.