5 Tips to Ensure Video Marketing Success

Creating a video isn't as hard as you might think. This isn't rocket science or even brain surgery. However, it could potentially be a pain in your side if you don't have a cut throat video marketing strategy.

Video is quickly becoming the most consumed type of content on the Internet. Video is a great way to capture your visitor's attention. Especially since the average user spends 88% more time on a website that has video. So what are the chances of keeping visitors on your site?

If you aren't adding video into your campaign, the odds probably not that good. For those of you that have seen the Hunger Games, " May the odds be ever in your favour!"

Now this isn't a game of survival of the fittest, it's about being able to attract the attention of your audience while providing them with relevant and educational content.

This is why visual content, ebooks, and a blog might not be a enough to reel your visitors in. You want to keep them on your site. Heck in a world where time and attention spans are limited, a competitive edge never hurts.

Keep in mind these 5 video marketing tips while implementing the tool into your inbound marketing campaign.

5 Essential Video Marketing Tips

Video is a great way to allow your audience to quickly consume a stronger marketing message. According to Brainshark, "Video equals higher viewer retention. The information retained in one minute of video is equal to about 1.8 million written words."

Tip 1: Every Video Should Have a Goal

Why are you creating that video? What do you want your viewers to gain from watching the video? Ask yourself those two important questions.

You cannot just decide to make a video. This is no place for a wing it mentality.

What is your goal? Do you want to increase the amount of engagement on your homepage? Do you want to answer your frequently asked questions and put them in one place? Video FAQ's a great when it comes to showing your customers or visitors what actions they need to take. People love knowing what they should do next.  Other wise they'll probably leave your site. Another goal you might have is to help your customers help themselves.

This leads me into the next idea; each video should also only have one message. There's nothing worse than a video trying to incorporate four or more topics into one video.

A great concept coined by Wisita, make five videos not one. Don't try and stuff every idea and tip into one video. Not only will it be longer than a Dicken's novel, but you won't be able to include every point you want to cover. Some points won't make the cut. Remember, videos with one goal and point make it easier to get your message across.

Viral videos are tough. Consider starting out with a low risk video. Maybe even add a video to your next email campaign.

Tip 2: Unless it's a Testimonial, Use a Script

This isn't a Broadway play or a multimillion dollar film production. You're filming a video for your visitors and customers. Even newscasters use a script. It's not like your viewers won't think you don't know your stuff. You are an expert in that industry after all.

Therefore, keep this little tip in mind; if it's not a testimonial create a script for every video. There's nothing worse than filming a video and your mind just goes blank. Hopefully, it's not a live broadcast.

If you're just creating a video for the homepage of your website, a video will allow you to show your personality. A script will help keep you on point and ensure that it's conversational. There's nothing worse than a video that's stating fact after fact without really bringing the viewers into the conversation.

Tip 3: Build on the Content You Already Have

You don't always need to create new content to film a video. Use the content that already exists on your site. This is a great opportunity to build upon that content.

Perhaps you have this great ebook about the do's and don'ts of social media. The down side it's extremely long. I know there are 7 major social media platforms a marketer can cover. This is where video is key. Develop a script for each social media platform and then develop a video for each. It's a great way to target your audience who's interested in learning more about using a specific platform for engaging with their audience.

Besides, who would want to read a 30 page ebook when they could watch a 1 minute video? Plus, your viewers are able to retain more information from the video than if they read your ebook.

That might leave some marketers wondering if video will kill the ebook.

Tip 4: Keep Your Video Simple

What does simple really mean? Simple could be referring to the language and context used with in the video, it could deal with the complexity of the location or what you're trying to film, and it can also mean keeping it short and to the point.

According to JunGroup, "Videos that are 15 seconds or shorter are shared 37% more often than those that last between 30 seconds and 1 minute."

One question many individuals ask when implementing video marketing is how long should their videos be. Primarily, videos should be between 30 seconds and 1 minute. The shorter the video the better. Just because the video is 30 seconds long, doesn't mean you should speak at a super fast pace.

Did you know that 50% more people will complete a 1 minute video than a 2 minute video? Therefore, you may not want to put all of the important and key points at the end. Your visitors won't see it. Also, according to finding from Wistia, "A 4 to 5 minute video has the same engagement as a 5 to 10 minute video." Those are both really interesting points. You might find that your video cannot be under a minute. It's just important to ensure that your providing your visitors will value throughout the entire length of the video. The ultimate goal should be for your viewers to share your videos.

Tip 5: Embed Video in Blog and Website

Make your video easy to find. Don't just share your video on YouTube or any other video sharing site. Place them somewhere your audience will find them. Two great places are on your blog and website.

You most likely have a resources section for your ebooks and / or webinars, so why not dedicate a section to your videos. It's an easy to find section, so all of your videos are in one place. Your visitors don't want to spend a significant amount of time tracking down your videos.

Your blog. You have blog subscribers and loyal readers who come back to your site every day or however often you publish your content. A short video is easily something that they can watch. Sometimes readers don't have the 2 to 4 minutes to read your post. They want to know the most important points as quickly as possible.

Simply embed the video into your blog and create an article around the most critical points the video covers.

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