Video marketing content is everywhere.
You see it online — in social media posts, as a comment in the form of a gif, as profile pictures, as live streams. You see it offline — in your favorite store, on the street, on the subway. Many brands are using video… but very few are using it the smartest way.
Since it does so well by itself – outperforming other types of media – It makes sense that most people turn to video as an easy solution. The problem, though, is that they handle it as a “set it and forget it” type of deal.
That’s definitely a way to do it, but not necessarily the smartest one. If you want your video marketing efforts to reach their full potential, you need to put some thought behind it!
The Potential of Video Marketing
It’s estimated that, in 2022, videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer Internet traffic. A whopping 15 times higher than it was just two years ago, in 2017. What’s more, mobile video consumption rises by 100% every year. Stats like these give marketers and business owners valuable insight: as visual creatures, people’s consumption habits have adapted to prioritize video – Especially when it comes to mobile environments.
This tells us two things. One, we should be designing content marketing strategies that have video content at their core. And two, we need to think of which kinds of video will support this video-ready strategy.
When it comes to marketing, short, engaging, eye-catching branded videos are the way to go.
The thing is that there are many types of videos to choose from! How can you know the ones that can serve your marketing objectives the most? Well, let’s take a look, shall we?
Types of Video That Will Power-Up Your Brand
Explainer Videos
Animated explainer videos are the lovechild between informational and entertaining content… but with a twist.
These videos go into the value proposition of a product or brand in a very narrative way, by breaking it into relatable situations for the audience and answering three simple questions: What, How, and Why.
They are simple yet very effective, and their superpower lies on being able to describe even complex concepts (what a business does, how their product or service works…) in a way that’s simple yet engaging for their audience.
How can you make an explainer video that actually blows your audience’s mind?
First, keep it short. A marketing video that can hold its audience’s attention for more than 3 minutes is basically non-existent. Probably won’t even be a video, it’s most likely a unicorn.
So keep your explainers short and sweet. Use a language that feels familiar to your audience — when explaining a difficult concept, it’s better to do it simply, without adding too many technical words to it.
How-To Videos
These videos are among the best ways to nurture your social platforms, make your audience trust your brand, and position your company as an authority in your niche. How-To videos provide immediate value to your customers, so they act as wonderful inbound marketing pieces.
How-to’s let you describe to your audience how to accomplish specific tasks, to take care of an issue, or solve a need they are experiencing – While subtly promoting your brand or products.
Say that you’re the brand manager of a new company that sells robot dogs. It’s a new and exciting product that your audience might not be familiar with, so you decide to release a set of how-to videos explaining how to feed your new robot dog, how to choose the robot dog breed that fits the customer’s personality, and how to clean your robot dog properly.
Your audience will be happy that you’re answering their questions and teaching them how to approach the product properly… and your robot dogs will soon be the best selling product on Amazon! Take that, Alexa.
But… how do you do a how-to video?
Remember that these videos should follow a step-by-step structure in order to help people learn and take them as a reliable guide. So, start at the beginning of the topic you are covering, speaking directly to your target audience, and end with a visible result (A happy robot dog playing catch in the park!).
Also, keep it simple and fun!
How-to videos run the risk of feeling boring and stale, really quickly. So consider using animated videos, as their graphics and dynamism can make even the dullest topic visually interesting and appealing.
Testimonial Videos
Testimonials have been around since the beginning of advertising. And while the base premise remains unchanged, they’ve evolved and became video testimonials — doubling down on their appeal and marketing power.
You see, customers usually make decisions based on emotions. They decide if they trust a product or not in a very intuitive way, and their choices are very easily influenced by the reviews, comments, and ratings of their peers.
Marketers that use testimonial videos are, in essence, taking that influence and using it in their favor. When they record happy customers talking about how much they love a brand, a product or a service, they are creating a narrative that’s relatable to customers on the verge of deciding whether to buy or not.
How to make Testimonial Videos even more powerful
Following a structure goes a long way. You need to catch your audience’s attention from the get-go, so testimonials should start by telling the story of one customer, beginning with the problem that they had in the past and how they were able to solve it by using your product.
But do not even think to make scripted testimonial videos!
For a testimonial to work, it needs to be authentic — find real, happy customers, and just let them tell their story. After that, you’ll be able to adjust the order or length of the story by using the magic of post-production… but don’t alter the meaning.
Keep it real, and you’ll humanize your brand and make it more trustworthy for your prospects.
Product Videos
With product videos, your target audience gets to test drive the thing they want to buy in their heads before buying it. Let’s face it — even though we all love the comfort that comes with purchasing a product with just one click and then delivered directly to our doors, sometimes it can be tricky to trust a product you’ve never seen working in real life.
And this is why showing a product’s features in action is what product videos do best. People need to see the thing they’re planning to buy in a real-life scenario, so they’ll appreciate these videos, almost as if they were reviewed by a trusted person.
Live-action or animated?
Depending on your situation, live-action videos might suit some product’s better, while for others, animation is definitely the best way to go. It’s really something to be judged on a case by case basis. Having said that, most of the time, you’ll want at least a mixture of motion graphic animation with real-life pictures or footage. This way, the results can get the best of both worlds.
Company Story Videos
There’s much more to your brand than just products. There are actual teams behind any company, people, working on it and sustaining its everyday activities. And customers love getting to know them.
Why? Because it allows them to form closer relationships with them. Feel a little bit closer to the brand’s core values and identify with them.
Company story videos show the stories, faces, and work environments of the people that are behind a brand. Customers love to connect with the human side of brands; starting that relationship with an awesome company story video is often a great marketing move.
These videos should feel purposeful, showing the goals of a company and how they inspire the whole company to be better every day. That way, company stories generate a stronger connection with your target audience because people trust people.
Try to show as much of your team as possible, mashing-up different stories and including several points of view; from the new intern all the way to the CEO.
How to make these videos even more powerful
Just as with Testimonials, company story videos need to be authentic, real. Forget scripts and let everyone tell their own story — how they’ve grown in your company, why is their job meaningful and important, how strong are the company’s values…
Also, don’t try to force it! If your company is known for being traditional, serious, and reliable, exploit that path instead of trying to become a fun, easy-going, young-ish company just for the cameras.
Commercial Videos
A commercial video is just another name for the video ad we all know and love (or… not). We’re all familiar with video ads, and even though some people may find it overused, it can’t be denied that they remain effective.
Commercials try to make a sell in a much more direct way than other types of videos, and they’re great to create awareness for a product, whether it is online, on TV, on a mobile game, or wherever you may encounter them.
However, the best commercial videos are not only there to just sell — they’re also meant to tell a story. Stories are necessary to make your audience identify with your brand, which will generate traffic to a website, increase the number of leads that your product receives, and overall raise views and awareness.
How can you make a commercial video that’s direct about selling, but also that engages your audience?
Make it short. Yes, we know that this is a piece of recurrent advice, but in this case, we mean really short. Commercial videos shouldn’t last more than 30 to 40 seconds, which are used to promote one thing — one product, one new service… but only one at a time.
Bonus tip? Standalone commercials are outdated. The most memorable commercials (online and offline) are part of a series, and this will also help you showcase different features of your product or different products!
Educational Videos
With educational videos, you’re educating your audience (of course!) in a way that’s even more direct, informative and “selfless” than you were doing with how-to videos. When an audience has specific questions related to their pain points, and they find a brand that’s willing to give them the answer to their inquiries, they’ll trust it almost instantly.
By providing the right answers to the questions that they’re asking, you’ll be seen as a referent in the field, a trustworthy brand… and reliable brands can only sell good products. Moreover, a brand that knows their customer’s needs will make products designed to fix these needs.
So, go ahead and find out what your audience needs to know, and be there for them with your smart answers. Address issues that are important for them while trying to be as helpful and as specific as possible.
A couple of tips?
Try to make it as fun as possible! Educational content may get stale quickly if you’re not putting enough effort into making it lighthearted and funny. Also, try to be coherent (if you’re making more than one educational video, follow a similar structure for all of them).
So… Are You Ready to Reach Video Excellence?
There you go! Video content is here to stay, and the more thought you put into it, the more benefits you can get out of them!
You can think of it as an investment; great investments need to be planned strategically. Our advice? Choose three different types of videos and include them in strategic places in your buyer’s journey, and look for an awesome video animation company that can help you make them come to life!
Including video in your funnels will help your audience move quicker to the purchase phase, and will also help in keeping your leads warm and interested in the product or service that you sell.
One video has the potential to be powerful, of course… but different videos placed strategically cannot be stopped!
About the Author
Victor Blasco is an audiovisual designer, video marketing expert, and founder/CEO of the explainer video company Yum Yum Videos. Besides running the business, he’s a lifelong student of Chinese philosophy and a passionate geek for all things sci-fi.
