Are you ready for the next post in our video marketing series? With some help from the experts at Wistia, we’ve now covered video basics, video marketing on a budget, and video SEO. Next on our list? Video marketing strategy.
See what Kristen Craft, Marketing Evangelist at Wistia, has to say about the importance of developing a killer video strategy — and how you can do it yourself.
Q: Why have a video strategy?
A: It’s important to define a video strategy for two main reasons: it’ll make your videos more powerful, and it’ll help you assess how well they stack up. A strategy won’t hinder your creative process; rather, it will ensure that your videos are as relevant and helpful as possible for your audience.
When plotting your strategy, think about what you’d like to achieve generally, as well as what you’d like to achieve with specific videos. Here are some possible goals for your videos:
1. Help customers learn new skills.
2. Teach people how to use a new feature or product.
3. Provide documentation to minimize support requests.
4. Increase traffic to your website.
5. Grow your newsletter or blog subscribers.
6. Develop company personality and brand.
7. Recruit new employees or build company culture.
Your overall strategy might focus on one of these goals or include a constellation of them. The same is true of each specific video. Regardless, it’s important to think about goals initially as well as when you make a new video.
Q: How should I create my video strategy?
A: First, look for places where video will help you achieve the goals you’ve defined. If you create support documentation, use video to explain some of the trickier pieces that people struggle with most often. If you have a blog where you teach or give useful advice, share that advice on video from time to time.
Second, make sure that your video strategy aligns with your general marketing strategy and approach. If you normally don’t send sales-y email blasts, you shouldn’t start doing it with video. If your tone tends to be casual, the tone of your videos should be casual as well.
Last, but not least, your video strategy should have a regular cadence, similar to most companies’ approaches to blogging. Video isn’t the kind of thing that you do once and then consider complete. You should make a video, put it out there, analyze the results, then use this feedback to iterate and make another video, and then another, and then another! Build this cadence into your strategy so that you’re holding yourself accountable for making video.
Q: What should I tackle first?
A: We suggest starting with low-risk videos. This means starting with something on the easier side that doesn’t impact your whole company or audience. An “About Us” video, for example, is NOT low-risk. “About Us” videos often live front and center on your website, and you’d probably need to get buy-in, as well as input, from many people to execute on the idea. Instead, try for something that’s more limited in scope.
Let’s get specific. Here are some options that are more low-risk, but still allow you to get a lot out of video efforts:
Product announcement or policy changes: this information can be dry at times, so try using video to make the message more interesting. Put a team member’s face on camera to explain why you’re making the change and why it’s important.
Training videos for clients: if you’re doing training in person or via GoToMeeting, consider making a training video that people can access anytime instead.
Product demos for sales leads: you can make your sales process far more efficient by creating product demo videos. Plus, you can look at video analytics to see which parts of your message are most engaging by seeing what parts get re-watched, as well as which parts people tend to skip.
Educational videos: these can help you build a rapport with your audience, as well as develop your credibility or thought leadership.
You can use video to support nearly any big picture marketing initiative. The key is making sure you set goals and integrate the strategy with the rest of your sales and marketing strategies.
Stay tuned for the last post in our video marketing series, which will focus on measuring your video efforts!