Visual storytelling is one of the most powerful marketing tactics businesses can use today. A captivating image, an enlightening infographic or an emotionally moving video can deliver your message effectively, in ways that words can’t. Through the right visuals, you can attract the interest of potential clients, educate your target audience, drive people to take the desired action, create connections with your community, and more.
Among the different types of visual formats intended for marketing, video is deemed the top performer in terms of ROI. Various studies prove that it’s the most reliable in terms of securing traffic, boosting conversions and strengthening customer loyalty. Just consider a few of the statistics that reveal the value of video marketing:
- Online video content enjoys an average of 50 billion views each month.
- Internet users spend 100% more time on pages with videos on them.
- Landing pages featuring videos report 80% more conversion rates.
- Adding videos to emails increases clickthrough rates by 200% to 300%.
- Almost 50% of buyers search for product videos before visiting a store.
With the impressive performance of videos in disseminating important information, it’s important to recognize that this positive outcome is only possible if you follow best practices for video marketing. No matter what type of video you are making, the pre-production phase is highly critical, and more so when you are producing a video for business and marketing. Before You Shoot That Video…
Step 1 – Establish Your Objectives.
Before the production process commences, it’s important to identify the core objectives or goals for the project. Why are you making the video? What is the message you wish to impart? What are your target outcomes? The answers to all these questions will form your objectives.
Step 2 – Identify Your Target Audience.
As with any marketing material, your video doesn’t need to cater to as many people as possible. What you want is for the video to reach, and be useful to, the right people. Everything about your video – from the message to the concept to the format to delivery and promotion – will largely depend on your target viewer.
It’s important to ask: Who are you targeting? In some industries, trendy, viral-type videos will shine the spotlight on your brand and attract buyers. In other niches, a more informative and formal approach brings higher ROI. It’s important to get to know your audience well – their behaviors, preferences and pain points, so you can craft the right video for them.
Step 3 – Develop Your Storyline.
The ability to fully engage your target audience requires a good storyline. The CEO or owner of a company delivering a lengthy monologue about the company’s history, products and services? That used to be a widespread format, but it’s definitely not the only one approach.
The key is to think of a more creative storyline that delivers information in the most appealing and comprehensive manner. For instance, even if the aim of the video is to impart information, you may also want to consider injecting an entertaining element to the narrative, if that would make it more appealing to your audience.
Step 4 – Animation? Short Movie? Demo? Or a Full-Length Film?
To establish what kind of video format to use. If you want animation, you will need to hire video and animation services. Look through their portfolio to get to know their capabilities and ask for their recommendations to see if they can provide creative solutions to your requirements.
If your video requires the integration of music, you might need special audio services for scoring and even composition. If you intend to use an already popular tune (for instant familiarity), you will need to obtain permission from the original artists. If you will be going through the short film route, determine if you will be holding auditions to hire the right actors. These various aspects can all be handled by a capable video production agency.
Step 5 – Think About the Length of the Video.
This is a very important consideration, not only in terms of cost but also in audience attention span. For online videos, several studies recommend keeping the running time below 2 minutes. If you go longer, you may want to stretch it to 12 minutes.
When it comes to demo videos, viewers usually have a longer tolerance because they can only enjoy the full value of the information if they are provided all the necessary steps. But overall, the rule of thumb for online marketing videos is “short and sweet does the trick,” while ensuring its full message will not be compromised.
It’s a Wrap!
Making an effective business video begins before shooting day. Be clear about your goals, get to know your target viewer, tell the right story and pinpoint the most useful format that suits your needs. You may also want to conduct split or A/B tests to determine which among your options can yield the desired results for the project.