The Beginner's Guide to Video Marketing
You’ve likely read (or heard) that video is a powerful marketing tool— and we couldn’t agree more! From the moment we launched Sourced Co., we were fortunate enough to have a bit of video rolled into our marketing strategy and it was the thing we received the most positive feedback about. So, while we’ve talked about the easiest way to incorporate video into your marketing strategy, video marketing tactics to try this year, as well as shared a video marketing checklist with you, we figured it was more than time to put together a roadmap to get you going if you haven’t already. Here is your beginner’s guide to video marketing! Read on for easy to follow and easy to implement tips to help you get on the video marketing train with confidence.
Get Some Basic Video Equipment and Tools
You might think it’s expensive to get the gear you need to start using video to market your business, but as fellow small business owners, we’re here to tell you it is possible to do it on a budget! No need to invest in thousands of dollars in equipment and spend an entire week struggling to learn how to edit, here are the basic of all basics you need to get started.
Quicktime for making quick and easy edits (it comes standard on Macs)
Stock video clips to use when you need them
Define Your Goals
Once you’ve picked up a few basic tools to work with, you need to figure out why and where using video can help you build your business and/or brand. From wanting to keep people engaged on your website for longer periods of time to helping customers understand how to use your product, you can have a single or a complex set of goals. Here are some examples of what your goals can be, but regardless of what you define as your goals, be sure to write them down!
Increase your engagement rate on social media
Decrease the bounce rate on certain pages of your website
Educate your customers about how to use a product
Create free educational or instructional content to use as a lead magnet
Make it easier to share your brand story
To become the public face of your company
To build your reputation as a subject matter expert
…the list goes on and on. But, you get the idea.
Create a Strategy
Now that you’ve defined the “why”, now it’s time to get strategic. Don’t be intimidated by this bit—I promise you’ve got it! At its core, a strategy is simply a plan that answers some basic questions. What are you doing? Where are you doing it? When? How often? And, who is responsible? So, based on the goals you set, you need to figure out:
What type of video will you create?
Vertical video
Tutorials to share on your website
Masterclass style video or webinars
Brand videos
Advertisements
Where will you share it?
Instagram posts, stories or IGTV
Facebook page or group
On your tutorial page on your website
On a Youtube channel
In a sales or onboarding funnel
In a video banner or block on your website
As you map these details out, be sure to include things like how often you’ll be creating these videos, who you might need to include in the project to make it happen, deadlines, and any sort of budget you might have for any of them.
Measure Your Success
While sometimes a gut feeling is good enough, having data is even better (especially if you are investing time and money into something). So, in addition to having your plan mapped out, you need to have an idea about how you will measure success (or conversions). Some of the ways to measure include:
Click through rates to your website or landing page
Email newsletter signups
Product sales
Reduction in the number of customer service requests you get
Increased customer adoption
Reduced bounce rates on your website
Impressions and view counts
Saves and sends on IG
Use these metrics and insights to inform your next move when it comes to creating video, so you can be confident about the resources you are putting towards it!
