Television ads have historically been cost prohibitive for many small businesses, but today, the landscape of video marketing has changed drastically. Running video ads is easier than ever before – in fact, a November 2022 study by video production company Wyzowl found that a whopping 91% of businesses surveyed were using video as a marketing tool. It’s quickly becoming the medium of the internet with businesses running video ads on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
If your business hasn’t tried developing video content yet, it’s definitely worth considering. Gone are the days of having to spend thousands of dollars on professional video production. According to a study by Promo.com, 76% of respondents reported that they spend less than 20 minutes creating their videos. If you’re already making videos, there are several tools out there that could help you produce video content more efficiently and improve the reach and engagement of your videos.
The Importance of Having a Video Marketing Strategy for Your Small Business
Effective video marketing can complement your other online marketing efforts in multiple ways. Video marketing is especially effective because:
- Seeing other people evokes empathy
- Video can help you rank better on video-specific platforms as well as in search engine results
- Studies have shown that consumers prefer video to written content, likely because people can process images more quickly than written words
- Consumers are watching an average of 17 hours of video per week, mainly on their mobile devices
Choosing Which Type of Video Content to Create
The types of videos that will work best for your business will depend on the products or services you’re offering. Some common types of videos to consider include:
- Product demonstration videos – Videos featuring someone actually using your product.
- Explainer videos – Short videos (often animated) that are used to explain your products or services.
- Testimonial videos – Videos that highlight the positive experiences your customers have had with you.
- Standard advertisements or commercials – Traditional 15- or 30-second ads for a brand or product. While the format can vary, the specific length of the video allows it to be used across many platforms that deliver in-stream ads, like YouTube, Facebook, and Hulu.
Video Marketing Tools to Consider
Using the right tools will help you create video content efficiently and cost effectively. Some options to consider include:
- Stock Photos and Videos. Many businesses use stock photos and stock videos within their own videos. Some businesses use stock content to fill in self-filmed segments, and others create entire videos using just stock content. Some popular stock photo and video websites include Shutterstock, iStock and Adobe Stock. These sites allow for ad-hoc content purchases as well as subscription options. There are also free stock photo and video websites out there, including Unsplash and Pexels.
- Video Templates. Video templates can make video production easier and faster by providing you with a pre-defined video structure. Animoto and Lumen5 offer simple “starter” templates that are free to use.
- Video Editing Tools. Video editing is necessary but doesn’t have to be difficult. Veed.io and CapCut are two user-friendly video editing tools. CapCut is particularly well-suited for YouTube Shorts and TikTok videos.
Publishing Your Videos
Once your videos are created, you’ll need to get them out to your target audience. To ensure publishing is as successful as possible consider the following:
- Choose Appropriate Video Platforms. Know which platforms will be the best fit for your audience. Where do your customers spend their time online? If you’re trying to reach a young demographic, you might consider starting with Tik Tok or Instagram. If your business is a B2B company, you may want to focus on LinkedIn or YouTube. With a little online research you can easily determine the demographics of popular social media networks.
- Create a Posting Schedule. If your video marketing strategy involves posting your own content to social media, make it a point to publish videos on a regular basis by creating a schedule. You don’t have to feel pressure to post daily, but you want to remain active on the network to ensure maximum engagement and views. Small businesses should strive to post at least once a week.
- Promote. Once you’ve published a video on social media, you may consider amplifying its reach by putting some ad dollars behind it. Do some research on paid social ads for small businesses and experiment with spending a little on your videos to see whether the increased reach and engagement is worth it. You can spend as little or as much as your budget allows. If you have a traditional video ad format, you might consider using a self-service advertising platform to get your ad embedded in existing streaming content. Hulu and Vibe allow you to get started with a budget as low as $500, and Amazon has a minimum budget of $10,000 to place ads within its Prime Video content.
Video has always been a powerful advertising medium, and thankfully it’s now accessible to small businesses as well as giant companies. Incorporating video into your overall marketing strategy can help you expand awareness of your brand and drive more business and revenue.