Video marketing is a hugely successful way to promote a brand. More than 4 billion hours of video are watched on YouTube each month—an even more impressive feat when you consider how short most videos actually are. It’s certainly a medium with marketing potential. But creating a video isn’t like writing a blog. It requires a little bit of extra effort to stand out. But when you put that effort in, the payoff is well worth it.
The first thing you need is a concept for your videos. This isn’t just an idea for what one video should be about, but more the format that your video marketing campaign will take.
- Will you use vlogs, featuring one or more people sitting in front of a camera voicing their opinions?
- Do you want to make instructional videos, or documentary-style content?
- Or would you prefer more of a narrative structure, telling a story?
You can experiment with different formats and styles, but ultimately it’s important to find a niche that people can associate with your brand. Video marketing, like any other kind of marketing, is about building up an image for your brand. The question you need to ask is not so much what you want to say with your videos, but what you want your videos to say about you.
Next, concentrate on production values. You don’t need a lot of expensive film equipment to create videos that are popular and engaging. Plenty of videos have gone viral that were filmed with only a smartphone or a webcam. If you’re creative enough, you don’t need a lot of money. But it’s important always to make the best quality videos that you’re capable of creating. So if you’re going to invest money, the first place it should go is not toward equipment, but toward hiring people who know the craft: writers, directors, actors, camera and sound technicians, editors and post-production people—these are the people who can deliver quality videos that will entertain, engage and keep people coming back for more, even if your production budget is low.
But the most important thing is, once you’ve created a successful video for your brand… keep doing it. The way to promote your brand successfully on YouTube is to keep people looking forward to the next one. When your videos are popular, people will subscribe to your channel. And that gives you the perfect opportunity to reinforce your brand. So your videos need to be regular, just like a blog, an e-mail newsletter, or any other form of content. Post new videos at least once a week, if not two or three times. Create an editorial calendar to plan and schedule what videos you’re going to make and when they’ll be posted. This will help you maintain your quantity without sacrificing quality.
People love watching videos online. With a little effort and a lot of promotion, your videos can be the ones they look forward to seeing, that they watch over and over again, and that they share with their friends.
