How to build a successful video marketing strategy?

Most marketers understand that posting videos regularly is important for the visibility of their brand and video ads tend to perform better than static display ads. But not everyone develops an intentional video marketing strategy, which can be truly detrimental. While video production is more accessible than ever, the planning, editing, and distribution of video marketing are increasingly challenging. Here is what you need to know about video content marketing strategies and how you can build one that will work for your brand.

What is a video content strategy in marketing?

Marketing requires planning. For companies to effectively promote brand recognition and create engagement around their content, they need to establish clear guidelines on which to base their actions. A good marketing strategy should aim to identify your objectives and to produce a comprehensive plan that takes your customers, your competitors, and the means at your disposal into account. The idea is to determine what type of content is likely to perform the best, as well as where and when to post it for optimal results.

More specifically, a video content strategy designed with marketing in mind will allow you to produce video content that will appeal to your audience and to come up with a posting schedule that will maximize audience exposure and engagement.

Video content is crucial to any ad strategy because it encourages social shares, helps to build trust, and is key for SEO growth (SEO video marketing).

What are the types of video marketing?

there are several approaches to choose from, depending on the segments you are trying to reach, how you want them to react to your content, and which channels you wish to work with. Product videos, testimonial videos, and company culture videos are the formats that draw on traditional video advertising the most, but you can make your content more compelling by sharing industry updates, user-generated content, tutorial videos, explainer videos, and other types of educational content, in which the viewer will find inherent value.

Consumer-centric content belongs on your owned social media accounts, on your YouTube channel, and on your website. By making educational or entertaining videos, you will attract an audience that will learn to recognize your worth as an industry authority. This video content marketing strategy works to building engagement, trust, and interest in your expertise.

Brand-centric content can take the form of powerful ads that will make a strong impact as part of your CTV and OTT campaigns, as well as any paid media strategy. Whether you opt for contextual or behavioral targeting, the right video marketing strategy will help you define your KPIs and analyze your ad performance until you achieve the ROI you are looking for.

How does video marketing work?

Your video marketing strategy should be at the root of every action you take, from choosing the format of your video content, to the topics you will cover, to your publishing schedule, and even the platform you manage your video ads from.

It all starts with a thorough definition of your target audience. In video marketing, nothing is done randomly. Instead, every video needs to be aimed at a specific set of characteristics that define your buyers’ personas. With this in mind, you can create a plan that aligns with your goals. Increasing engagements or brand awareness, selling more products or services, launching a product… Think about what you want your audience’s response to be when watching your video.

This information will help you select the ideal platform to publish your content which, in turn, should answer a number of practical questions. Consider size and sound limitations, budget, interactivity, shareability, timing, etc. Paid channels have become a staple in video marketing strategies and include a variety of placements to choose from.

Video display ads, if they are compelling enough to be noticed, can offer an interesting click-through rate.

Instream video ads play before, during, or after video content that viewers actively choose to watch. This means that if they are correctly targeted, they will likely be very effective.

Native ads are designed to match their environment, making them feel genuine. Because they align with what the user expects to find, their conversion rate is high.

Other approaches include influencer marketing, sponsored content, interstitial video ads, etc.

These video marketing strategies allow you to reach your audience under ideal conditions, so your video itself can work its magic.

What makes a video successful? How do you develop a video marketing strategy?

As flawless as a video marketing strategy may be, if the content is not up to par, then you are unlikely to get the return on investment that you were hoping for. A successful video is one that matches or exceeds your KPI goals.

The better you understand your target audience, its viewing habits, its interests, and its decision-making process, the better you can tailor your video content to fit its needs and wants. You should script, plan, shoot, edit, and upload your creatives based on what the data tells you rather than on what you believe. This is easier said than done, especially if you are only starting out with video content production or if you’re doing everything yourself.

Finally, every video you publish creates an opportunity to make the next one even better. A video marketing strategy should not be set in stone. It needs to evolve in light of your observations. Measure your performance and interpret your results to see what works and what doesn’t. Over time, you will be able to develop a powerful video content marketing strategy that will promise a successful campaign every time.

Best examples of video marketing strategies

Brands have shown that a powerful message is sometimes all it takes to ensure the success of a video content marketing strategy. With its 25,915 Days campaign, Reebok reminded us all that the finite amount of time we get to spend on this earth is precious, and that we should make the most of it and “honor our bodies” as we enjoy our lives. Enough to convince us that exercising is well worth the while.

With its Last Customer campaign, Coca-Cola also chose a thought-provoking stance, urging  viewers to reflect on the importance of gratitude and on how much difference a small act of kindness can make. By showing the human side of its company, this corporate giant emphasized how much it care about its workers.

More human still, and leaning on humor instead of sentimentality, Dollar Shave Club and its Our Blades are F***ing Great video campaign proved that you don’t need a huge budget to see your ad go viral. In fact, the low production value is part of what makes it impossible to look away.

Why you should start video marketing with Vibe

Having maximum control over how, where, and when your video ads are launched plays an undeniable part in the success of a video marketing strategy. Vibe.co's user-friendly self-serve CTV and OTT ad platform helps you boost the impact of your campaigns while getting the most out of your budget and video ad creatives.

Set up your campaigns in just a few easy steps, target your ideal audience, create stunning video ads, deliver your content on 400+ channels, and measure your performance to monitor your success.

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