If you are in business these days, you need a video marketing strategy. A bold statement maybe, but a true one nonetheless.

Video marketing has always been around; it’s not a new strategy. What is new is how important video has become on every marketing channel.

This means video marketing is no longer just a small piece of your overall marketing plan; it is now central to your campaign efforts, especially your social media strategy.

Video is now so crucial that research by HubSpot has shown that four of the top eight channels, where people go to watch a video online, are social media platforms.

What does this mean for your business?

If you are not creating videos as part of your marketing strategy, you are more than likely falling behind your competitors.

What is video marketing?

The standard definition of video marketing is: “the use of video format to promote a brand, message, product or service.”

Why is video marketing important?

There is lots of research out there showing how vital video marketing is, including:

90% of consumers have said that videos help them to make buying decisions

Video on landing pages can increase conversion rates by over 80%

The word “video” in your email subject line can increase open rates by 19%

But video is not just key to raising brand awareness; it can also help with the entire sales funnel – from helping your salespeople to connect with prospects to helping your customer service teams support customers better.

Five types of marketing video

There are lots of different types of marketing videos you could use as part of your marketing strategy, but there are five main types of video that we think every business should use, and these are:

• Corporate Video – to express the core of your business and brand
• Explainer/Product Videos – to help illustrate how your product or service works
• Thought Leadership Videos – to help build credibility with your target audience by showcasing your industry knowledge
• Internal Training Videos – to help your employees understand your company, culture and services
• Customer Testimonial Videos – to show potential customers the stamp of approval from your existing customers

You can read more about these videos in our blog post: “5 types of video every business should have”

What goes into making a good marketing video

Once you have decided to invest in video marketing and work with Zool to produce your video, you might be surprised to learn how much time and effort goes into making one.

The first stage is planning, which involves talking to you about the purpose of your video, as this will affect every other decision we make about the video.

The next step is to script your video – this step is vital to avoid wasting time and budget with multiple edits.

Then comes the actual video shooting – we may take a lot more video than you think we need, but this helps with editing. It also gives us options to create many shorter videos for social media.

Once we have shot the video, it needs to be edited (which is a complex procedure in itself).

You may also want to consider recording a voiceover for your video, which will happen once the video has been edited.

Once the video has been completed, it is time to publish it. There are a variety of video-hosting sites online, including YouTube and Vimeo. You can find out the pros and cons of each of these platforms in our blog “Which is the best video marketing platform?“

Ok, so you may be feeling a little overwhelmed right now. There is a lot involved in video marketing, we know. Here at Zool, we specialise in creating professional videos for businesses to tell their story authentically and engagingly.

Please get in touch if you need help with your video marketing strategy.