Video Marketing for Small Business – Why and How to Use Video Content

In today’s competitive environment, the #1 focus for any small business should be to attract more buyers – and to keep them. Although there are a plethora of ways to do this, video marketing is one of the absolute best and most effective tools available to attract potential customers and then engage them in a long-term relationship.

The primary reason video marketing is so successful right now is because of the skyrocketing popularity of video content and its demonstrated ability to not only communicate a marketing message but “convince and convert” readers to become customers as well.

The opportunity to reach potential consumers via video marketing for small business is huge!

Video marketing is working smarter because, today, it is the right tool for the job. You will get the most bang for your marketing dollar with video content because it can be easily converted into other types of marketing material too:

• Marketing articles can be created from scripts and video transcripts.
• Audio content, podcasts and audiobooks, can be created by using just the audio portion of your video.
• Still images, cinemagraphs and GIFs can be created from screenshots and snippets of your video.

The increase in demand for video content means that video marketing provides an enormous platform through which small businesses can reach potential customers.

Video content is clearly more effective than even social media when it comes to communication. Combine the two with a positive message and a clear call to action and you’ve reached marketing nirvana. – L. Scott Harrell

Unfortunately, there is no fixed formula to create an effective video marketing campaign though there are certainly important rules of advertising with video as well as huge mistakes to avoid as well. Through extensive research and a bit of trial and error, you need to determine the type of video that will make your audience respond.

First of all, let’s answer the question, “Why do I need to use video marketing to market my business?“

Here are 4 reasons why video marketing is a must for small businesses:

1. Your Message Can Go Viral

What does it mean when your content goes viral? It is exactly like it sounds. Similar to a virus, your message has the potential to spread to a very large number of viewers effortlessly. When a video makes an impression on a person, that person is almost certain to share it. Your message takes on a life of its own. Compared to the other content marketing methods, video marketing is one of the easiest ways to make your content go viral. As your video message gains popularity and is shared more often, you are certain to realize a huge surge of traffic to your website, and a lot of new customers coming to you.

2. Video Increases Customer Conversion

It is no secret that content marketing is built on trust and requires a relationship between a business and its customers. Video marketing is a great tool to help build that trust and foster the relationship. Savvy business owners who use marketing videos to explain the benefits of their products and services have realized a double digit increase in sales and customer retention.

3. Enhanced Search Engine Optimization

Videos engage your visitors and require them to spend more time on your website. The goal is to speak to your viewers in such a way that you can touch them and motivate them to engage and interact with your videos. The more time your visitors spend on your web page, the more trustworthy they are deemed by search engines and the better page ranking you will receive.

Click the image to learn more about the search engine benefits of using video content…

Video Marketing is Now a Fundamental Part of Search Engine Marketing

4. Direct Communication with Your Audience

Video marketing can actually be better than social media marketing in terms of user engagement. YouTube’s comment section is always full of comments from the viewers, especially if the video is very popular. By taking the time to read all of the comments about your videos, you can actually get a very clear picture of exactly what your market thinks of your product or brand. More importantly, you can communicate directly with each of them.

Now that we have established why your small business needs to use video marketing, let’s take a look at a handful of creative ways to reach your target market.

Here are 5 great ways to reach your target audience using video content:

1. Inspire and Motivate

Is inspiration and motivation necessary to promote your business brand? Yes! It’s necessary. With the increase of 24-hour news and social media, negativity is abundant. Inspirational and motivational videos are quickly becoming the most popular genre of video content (well behind funny videos though). Research has proven that the better consumers feels about a brand, the more likely they are to purchase that brand and become repeat customers. Your goal should be to create a positive emotional connection with your audience. As a result, they will put more trust in your brand and remain loyal customers.

2. Provide Interesting Facts

Everyone likes to have a few random, interesting facts at their disposable. Using your video messages to inform your audience and provide them with some brief facts will likely result in an instant attraction to your brand by your audience. Facts are interesting to learn and easy to digest, especially if they are presented in list format. The beloved BuzzFeed videos are a prime example of this niche.

3. Use Quality Animations in Your Video

We like to refer to high-quality animations as “eye candy” since they will keep your audience glued to your content. Again, for prime search engine optimization, you are trying to engage your audience and keep them on your web page for as long as possible. Quality graphics and animation will help retain their interest.

Even if you cannot animate your own video content, there are freelancers who can create whiteboard and explainer videos for you for way less money than you might imagine. All you really need to get started is a 150 to 200 word script, which is about 60 to 90 seconds of voiceover narration, and you can even get the script written for you, too.

4. Match On-Screen Talent to Your Market

If you are going to use an actor to stand in as your spokesperson, it’s important that you use presenters that reflect your target market as well as the roles they are playing. For example, if you provide accounting services, you probably would not want to feature a teenager in your video unless the concept of family is important in that particular script. Conversely, if you are promoting the latest fashion trends in the market, it wouldn’t make sense to feature an elderly man as your front person. Your audience is seeking to absorb information from your videos, so don’t create cognitive dissonance.

5. Encourage Feedback and Discussions

It is easier to attract your target audience if you can encourage feedback and discussions in your video. Create a video that can potentially motivate your audience to leave you comments and discuss it. Do not forget to actually encourage them to discuss the topic in your video. Once your audience begins a discussion via the comments on your video, do not hesitate to participate in the discussion. People will begin to relate the “personal” interaction they have with you to their “relationship” with your brand. Keep in mind that there WILL BE TROLLS, YouTube is notorious for them, but dealing with trolls is pretty simple once you get comfortable with the fact that some people are just going to be miserable bastards when they think they are out of reach in the relative anonymity of the Internet. Don’t let them get in the way of your success.