Running a small business requires a lot of effort. In fact, it can feel like juggling a dozen tasks all at once, with limited time and resources. You’re not alone if you find yourself struggling to get the word out about your business, reach new customers, or compete in the digital age. But don’t fret, because in this blog, we’ve got your back. Get to know why video marketing strategy matters for businesses like yours and get valuable video marketing tips to enhance sales for small businesses.
Why Video Marketing Should Matter to You
Video marketing is a great way to grab the attention of your audience and explain your business and the changes it brings to your customer’s life. Show don’t just tell. Put visuals, sounds, and text at play. According to Wyzowl, a study revealed that a significant 87% of consumers have a strong desire for brands to provide them with more video content. But creating mindless, boring content won’t cut it. Techsmith reports that 16% of individuals discontinue watching a video due to finding it unengaging or dull. Putting little to no effort into making a video will only reflect badly on your business. The importance of video marketing for your business clearly cannot be underestimated. You can check out our blog to understand the mistakes that you must avoid while creating videos.
With video marketing, you can actively involve your audience. It combines visual and auditory elements, making it easier to convey complex ideas and evoke emotions. In a world where attention spans are shorter than ever, videos capture and retain viewers’ attention more effectively than text alone. A strong video marketing strategy can bring you the attention your business deserves.
Creating A Video Marketing Strategy
As a small business, your resources are limited, and all hands are on deck. With great content and compelling videos—whether ad films or product videos—you can stand out in a crowded market. This approach helps simplify your message for potential customers, build a strong brand, engage your audience, showcase why your approach matters, and much more. Here are a few things you must include in your strategy:
1. Define Your Goals
Decide what you hope to accomplish with video marketing. Establish your goals for using video marketing. It might be boosting sales, increasing website traffic, creating leads, or raising brand awareness. It depends on which stage your MSME business is currently in.
Ask yourself. Do you want more people to know about your business (brand awareness)? Do you want more visitors to your website (web traffic)? Do you want people to sign up for your emails or newsletters (lead generation)? Or do you want more people to buy your products or services (sales)? Make your goal as clear as possible. Instead of saying, “I want more sales,” say something like, “I want to increase my product sales by 20% in the next six months.” Now, set a realistic deadline.
Check out the ad film we created for Adhistu, a brand specializing in healthy nutrition bars, to promote its product and create brand awareness.
2. Understanding Your Audience
Understanding your audience is important. It helps you speak their language. When you understand your audience, you can create messages that resonate with them. As a small business, it will also help you save time and money. This will also build trust. People trust businesses that “get” them and their needs.
To understand your audience, you must pay attention to what your current customers say and do. Their preferences and feedback are valuable clues, often captured through customer testimonials.
Take a look at this customer testimonial we created for the Philips Air Fryer, where a satisfied customer happily shared her feedback on using the kitchen appliance.
You can also create simple surveys to ask your customers what they like, dislike, and want. This can give you insights you might have missed. To get a better idea, look at what your competitors are doing. Who are they targeting? You might find a similar audience or discover a niche they’ve overlooked. Apart from these, social media platforms offer tools to see who’s engaging with your content. Study this data to learn about your audience’s demographics and interests. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback directly from your audience. They can provide valuable insights that can help you tailor your offerings and content.
3. Choose Video Types
Select the types of videos that align with your goals and resonate with your audience.
i) Introductory Video
In a big crowd of small businesses, it’s smart to say hello the right way. And what’s better than a simple video introduction?
Whether you’re doing a quick Q&A live video on Facebook, showing how your business works behind the scenes, or putting up a video on your website, intro videos are like saying “hi” to your audience. Make a video online to answer common questions, show what happens in your business every day, and tell your brand’s story. It’s like starting a chat with your customers!
Take the following video as an example –
ii) Customer Testimonial Videos
After your first intro video, the next step in good video ads is to get creative and ask your customers to talk about your stuff. Customer explainer videos and reviews are like proof that your company is awesome on social media. They let you make cool content that doesn’t sound like you’re trying to sell something.
Customer reviews in videos are special because they’re real and not forced. They show what real customers think about your stuff. When you ask customers to make videos, keep it simple. Let them do it in their own place, like at home or in your office. Don’t make them read from a script. Let them talk naturally.
Check out this customer testimonial video we created for our client, Onestack, showcasing its customer, Sevalia Urban Co-Op Bank.
If customers aren’t making video reviews, you can ask them nicely to make one. If you have contact info for people who wrote you reviews before, start with them. Ask if they can make a video review to put on your website and social media. Or put them through to your video production company.
You can also check social media to see if people are talking about your brand. If you see your name in someone’s posts or stories, reach out and ask if you can share their video or if they have more cool videos. Talking to your customers like this helps build a connection and makes more people interested in what you’re doing.
iii) Product Videos
Product videos are great. They let you visually show off your product’s cool features and benefits. Not just that, crafting effective product videos helps you show customers what they’re missing out on when they don’t add it to their cart right away. You don’t need long paragraphs to explain all the myriad benefits that your product provides. Plus, seeing a product in action encourages more people to buy and use it.
In the above product video we made for Philips, we ensured it was short and crisp while effectively showcasing the product’s main feature, capturing its sleek design and impressive cooling efficiency.
iv) User-generated content for Video Ads
A great way to attract new customers and earn their trust is by using customer-made video ads. People trust what other customers say, so it’s a smart move.
Here’s how you can do it too:
- Ask your happy customers or content creators to make videos with your product and talk about it.
- Use online tools to make cool video ads. Use templates or start from scratch.
- Show off what customers love about your product in the videos.
- End with a strong message like “Learn more” to get people interested in your product.
v) How-To Videos
If your product or service is innovative or unique, a how-to video can educate potential customers on its value and how it works. This is especially useful in markets where your offering is unfamiliar. By providing step-by-step guidance, you can also demonstrate your expertise and build trust with your audience. In a market where trust is crucial, this can be a significant advantage.
How-to videos are essential tools of video marketing for local businesses. They can also serve as a 24/7 customer support tool. Customers can access these resources at their convenience, reducing the need for direct support and improving customer satisfaction. For a small business, how-to videos can prove to be very cost-effective in many ways as we mentioned.
4. Create A Content Calendar:
Creating a content calendar for your business is a great way to stay on track and improve your social media presence. Decide how often you want to share videos, like once a week or twice a month. This regularity keeps your audience engaged and expecting more. You should also plan what each video will be about to cover different aspects of your business or products, keeping your content fresh and interesting. For instance, you can schedule a post detailing 10 brilliant corporate video ideas to boost marketing.
With a content calendar, you won’t be scrambling for video ideas at the last minute. It makes creating video content for your business easier, saving you time and reducing stress. In simple terms, a content calendar is your small business’s secret weapon for staying organized, keeping your audience engaged, and growing your online presence with ease.
5. Budgeting
Budgeting effectively as a small business is crucial for financial stability and growth. Our advice? Start small. You don’t need a Hollywood budget. Begin with simple videos. They cost much less and shorter videos are both time and cost-effective. You can also plan to allocate funds more efficiently and prevent overspending.
Decide which aspects of video production you can handle in-house and where you might need professional help. DIY can save money, but certain tasks, like editing, may benefit from experts. Invest in essential equipment and software gradually. Prioritize what you need the most and upgrade as your budget allows. You can also use your office or existing locations whenever possible. Repurpose props and equipment to save on costs. If none of that works, here’s how you can optimize your budget for video production.
6. Hire A Video Production Company
Hiring a video production company can be a fantastic investment for a small company. Here are some benefits of hiring a video production company:
- Professional Quality: Experts make your videos look and sound top-notch, boosting your brand’s credibility.
- Efficiency: Pros work efficiently, saving you time and ensuring your video is ready when you need it.
- Engagement: High-quality videos grab attention and keep viewers engaged, increasing the chances of them becoming customers.
- Affordability: Many video production companies like ours offer budget-friendly packages tailored to small businesses.
- Customization: Professionals tailor videos to your specific needs, ensuring they align with your goals.
Feel free to reach out to us at IndieVisual.in for a free consultation for our video production services. We make the process quick, painless and more affordable than you think!
7. SEO Optimization of Videos
Small businesses can take steps to optimize their videos for search engines, and it doesn’t always require a professional video production company. Here are some tips for optimizing videos and distributing them on various platforms:
- Keyword Research: Choose appropriate keywords that relate to your video content. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to find suitable keywords.
- Optimize Titles and Descriptions: Craft clear, descriptive titles and descriptions for your videos. Include your target keywords naturally. Thus, your content is better understood by search engines.
- Transcriptions and Closed Captions: Include transcriptions or closed captions in your video. They not only make your content more accessible but also provide additional text for search engines to crawl.
- Video Sitemaps: Make a sitemap for videos and send it to Google. This makes your video content easier for search engines to find and index.
- Video Schema Markup: Implement schema markup for videos on your website. This provides search engines with structured data about your videos.
- Engagement Metrics: High user engagement, such as likes, comments, and shares, can indicate quality content to search engines. Encourage audience interaction.
8. Performance Analysis
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for video marketing are essential to measure the effectiveness of your video content. You can check view counts, Click-Through Rates (CTR)s, likes, comments, shares, bounce rates, watch time, and subscriber/follower growth. Regularly review your metrics, make adjustments to your video content and marketing strategy based on what you learn, and continue to refine your approach for better results.
A video marketing strategy should be dynamic. On top of that, it is not just a trend; it’s a valuable tool that can help your small business thrive in the digital landscape. By embracing the power of video, you can connect with your audience, build trust, and achieve your business goals. The benefits of video marketing for small businesses are many, include them in your strategy for maximum ROI.
