How to develop a video marketing strategy for small businesses

Small businesses can use video to boost awareness, leads and sales using these 6 tips

Cisco recently predicted that video content will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic this year.

This is the last call for all marketers who until now have avoided video content, convinced that it's just a fad or that creating professional videos takes way too much time, effort and money. Well, here's a piece of good news: video marketing today is within reach of all kinds of companies, including small businesses looking for novel ways to spice up their online marketing activities. How to develop a video marketing strategy that works? Here are 6 key tips to help your small business develop a video marketing strategy.

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This guide explains how develop a video marketing strategy structured around the Smart Insights Reach-Act-Convert-Engage framework.

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1. Know your sector and audience

Before you start to define and develop your marketing strategy, research your industry to see what kinds of videos are used by other companies in your sector. Once you have a grasp on the general use of video in marketing similar products or services, it's time to think about your own goals, which should power your strategy in general and every single video in detail.

What are the possible goals of video marketing? Here are a few examples:

• Helping customers learn new skills
• Teaching your audience how to use your product
• Providing advice and answering popular questions to minimize support requests
• Building a brand personality
• Growing specific sections of your audience (for instance, newsletter or blog subscribers)
• Building company culture and attractive employer brand

2. Try different video types

It's important that you incorporate different video types into your strategy – it will help you learn which perform best for your business and truly engage your audience.

There are three main types of videos used for marketing:

• Storytelling videos – videos that present the company, its story, as well as employee profiles. This kind of video help customers to learn the story behind a brand and get an idea about the people operating the business in some interesting behind-the-scenes videos. Such videos are excellent for building a strong brand and fostering a sense of consumer trust and loyalty.
• Animated Explainer videos – these videos are focused on solving a problem, explaining it in a 'how to' format. This kind of videos is great for SEO – over the years, their search rankings have literally exploded as consumers learned to trust this format.
• Video testimonials – sharing videos which show third party testimonials are great for building your credibility and showing potential clients that your product or service brings tangible benefits

3. Collaborate with a professional studio

Small businesses have limited marketing budgets, but investing in a collaboration with a professional studio that will help you realize videos is worth the price. Great video marketing will bring you new leads and sales, so if you find people who know their way around video making and can help you with planning and integration, go for it.

If someone in your team is able to create professional videos, there's nothing standing between you and video content marketing. The web is actually full of free or paid tools that can help your team to create videos and animations to perfectly showcase your product and brand.

4. Make sure every video delivers a single message

Imagine you've just stumbled upon a video about a brand. You click play and get to see the company headquarters, a review of its products, a note about its heritage, some photos of new locations, information on business awards, behind-the-scenes footage and a few words from the CEO. What exactly did you learn about the company? Nothing at all – in fact, it's a miracle you've made it through the video at all.

When creating scripts and realizing your video, make sure that every single piece includes a message. This way you'll ensure that viewers leave your video with one specific takeaway that will help them to differentiate your brand from competition.

5. Mind the length

One research study suggests that 20% of users abandon a video after a mere 10 seconds if they don't find it engaging enough. It's your job to make sure that the first seconds of your video count. Additionally, the longer is your video, the less likely users will continue to watch it.

Make sure to keep your videos short and to the point. In most cases 60 to 90 seconds will work perfectly – just enough to deliver a piece of meaningful content, offer a few takeaway messages and leave your audience craving more.

6. Include call-to-action messaging

Every single video you make should be there to realise a specific goal. You won't achieve your objectives without making them clear to your audience in the form of a call-to-action – give your audience the next step to follow. Include a call-to-action message at the very end of your video – 'Give us a call for a free quote', 'Visit our website to learn more' or 'Follow us on Facebook/Twitter'.

Developing a successful video marketing strategy takes time, but by trying out different video formats and testing their performance as you go, you'll be on your way to making the most of this innovative medium and finding a space for yourself in the lucrative video marketing industry that's just around the corner.

Thanks to Kelly Smith for sharing their advice and opinions in this post. Kelly Smith is a digital marketing specialist at Career FAQs. You can follow Career FAQs on Twitter.