Video marketing tips for beginners pt. 2

Written by Marliese Andexer 06 / 03 / 2012

Video marketing tips for beginners - 6 questions you really need to consider Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of Impact Marketing’s blog series ‘Video marketing tips for beginners’.

In ‘Video marketing tips for beginners pt. 1‘, we looked at the first three fundamental questions you will have to clarify before you get stuck in with video marketing – or any type of marketing for that matter. In this article we will look at defining your key message, the basics of online video distribution and how to measure success.

4. Key message

The word ‘message’ in itself refers to a piece of communication that is received and understood. The basis of developing a winning key message is to ensure that it matches the needs of those who receive it.

Once again ask yourself:

What makes me different from my competitors?
What’s the biggest benefit of my offering/ buying from me?
Why should people come to me/ buy from me?

Sometimes it can help greatly to obtain fresh views from people who are not closely involved with your business – such as your customers. Speak to your existing customers to find out why they choose you over your competitors. You may be surprised about some of the answers you will hear!

Features vs. Benefits in your key message

Potential customers are mostly not interested in the exact features of a product or service. It isn’t the feature they are buying, it is what the feature does for them. As marketers we have to have a clear answer to the consumer’s questions: “What’s in it for me?” or “Why should I buy this?”

When you describe the benefits to a prospective customer, the likelihood of them making the connection in their brain that they need/want what you have to offer increases substantially.

All sales decisions are ultimately based on our emotions. Even when we seek to be objective and rational, we only buy when we feel that something is right for us. In the best case scenario you are able to highlight that your product or service presents a solution to a problem.

Try out the following with your own product or service:

Draw up a table consisting of 3 columns and several rows:

1. In column 1 – list every possible feature of your product/service.

2. In column 2 – ask yourself the question “What’s in it for me?”

3. In Column 3 – ask yourself “Which emotional benefit do the answers of column 2 create?”

Keep repeating this process until you’ve exerted every possibility.

Now check the emotional benefits against your target market and ascertain where they connect with what your target customer wants and/or needs. These are the stories you need to be telling!

5. How will I get people to see my video? How to get (more) traffic?

Your job will not be done by creating a video and uploading it to your website. In order to attract a number of quality viewers you will have to put effort into the promotion and distribution of your video marketing product. The following tips will give you an overview of the basics required, please bear in mind though that each and every one of the following bullet points will call for more of your research time.

9 fundamentals of getting your video seen

Identify the most relevant keywords. Be specific (don’t use highly competitive keywords such as “funny” or “hilarious”).
Optimise your video. Choose a descriptive and effective title.
Upload it to your website
Upload it to as many different platforms as you can.
Ensure that you follow the best practise of optimisation on each platform. For a step-by-step guide on ‘How to optimise your videos for YouTube’ please download our <YouTube optimisation Cheat sheet here>.
Market your video and link to it! Post links in your email newsletters, on all your social media profiles and on bookmarking sites.
Engage with other videos from your niche. Post comments and get involved in conversations with the aim to drive traffic to your videos
Always encourage viewers to take some form of action if they like your video. YouTube loves engagement – it will help you rank higher on YouTube and if you’re lucky even Google will show your video in its search results.
Don’t give up! In case your first attempts fail – do more research, refine your video marketing product and strategy and keep trying.

6. How will I measure success rates?

Online marketers are still faced with difficulties when it comes to measuring the exact ROI of video marketing. As a rule of thumb – it’s not the number of views that counts. It is a success of course if you manage for your video to be seen by a large number of people, however what you are really after is a high level of so called ‘engagement’ and ultimately conversion.

Video engagement refers to the actions viewers of your videos are happy to take.

Conversion refers to website “visitors who convert casual content views or website visits into desired actions based on subtle or direct requests from marketers” (source Wikipedia).

You will find that if you manage to appeal to the prospects’ emotions and/ or offer a solution to a problem, viewers will be happier to engage with you and your brand and your conversion rate will increase exponentially.

Monitor the following:

Numbers of likes and comments
Numbers of subscribers
Re-posting and embedding of your video content (viral spread)
Reactions of your customers. If you can, do ask you customers how they found out about you. In case they have been attracted by one of your videos – ask them what they found particularly useful and/ or enticing about them. You can do this on a either on a personal level or in form of customer surveys.

It is certainly worth mentioning that video should be part of an overall integrated marketing strategy. Video marketing will work if done with a considerate, well thought-out approach with the right budget, effort and time put in.

Remember: a consistent audience requires a consistent approach!

If you would like to know more about how Impact Marketing can help you create exciting video content and how to get maximum exposure and return from your efforts, please contact Marliese today for a free consultation.

About the author:
Marliese Andexer has an extensive background in all aspects of the web and social media. Her current focus (and love) is video marketing and how to best leverage the exciting medium to create exposure for arts related organisations and businesses. Marliese is Impact Marketing’s project and video production manager.

Email: marliese@impactideas.co.uk