In a crowded world of blogs and battles for thought leadership on an endless number of topics that you cannot calculate, digital marketing through video is a fresh way to make an impact and rise above the noise.
From a strategic perspective, your video goals should be the same as you would through a blog: have a content marketing strategy that communicates authentically, and in a way that captures the attention of your users. As a result, you’re now at the nexus of brand marketing and digital marketing. You’ll bolster your user experience and polish your brand with a rich story that continuously unfolds for your customers.
In a nutshell, video marketing requires smart decisions with hardware & software, planning, content, distribution, and analytics. Here’s a five-step plan below.
1. Hardware and Software for Video
The first thing you got to do is to avoid being intimidated by the technology. The sooner you just get started, the sooner you get better.
There are lots of options to grow your way into full expert mode. Start with your smartphone and get comfortable with creating videos. After that, check out the midrange DSLR or mirrorless cameras, or move on up to heavy-duty cameras.
Here are a couple of links to shop, USA Today and Digital Camera World.
Video editing software? Apple’s Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere.
2. Create a Video Marketing Plan
What’s your vision and mission?
Who’s your audience (such as a key demographic)?
What do you want them to do (purchase)?
Why should people care about you over others?
When you start to ask and
answer these foundational questions, you understand your audience, deciding
what questions they need to be answered, and producing a story that shows how
your product or service is the solution..
It also will determine how you develop your on-air presence (i.e. formal or
informal), your setting, lighting and dress code.
3. Content Strategy: Plan your Video Content and Stick with your Plan
Who will be the on-air talent? Who will define the editorial plan, the content, frequency, and cadence? The more the better, but err to the side of quality over quantity, and once you nail the quality, commit to consistency.
Be nimble to be producing time-sensitive content, but also maintain a deep backlog of evergreen content to help you from getting overwhelmed by the daily grind.
4. Distribute Your Videos
Share, share, share. Check out YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and you’ll see the options are seemingly endless but the purpose of each will vary. Test and see what platforms work best for you.
And always think of SEO. As most marketers know, this may be the most important thing to know: YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world, because it is owned by #1. A highly engaged video presence is one of the most significant things you can do to improve your site search rankings. Embed these videos in your articles, provide transcripts, and always invite people to share your videos.
Here’s my primer on SEO marketing.
5. Analytics
Like everywhere else in digital marketing, numbers grow only when you commit to measuring the results. Have a goal for each video, track the data, and adapt accordingly.
