In this episode of Actionable Marketing In Minutes discuss leveraging video in your marketing campaign!

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Not able to listen? Why not read the episode transcript below:

Problem

Did you know that according to comScore, an average Internet user watches 186 videos each month? Crazy! And Cisco forecasts that by 2018, 69 percent of total Internet traffic will be video, much of this fueled by dramatic growth in video consumption via mobile devices. Obviously, video marketing is hot! Why not learn how to use it and cash in?

These days you don’t need fancy equipment. You can even use your smartphone and easy-to-use software. And, you can post on just about any social network and other digital marketing channel. By embedding a small video into an email, you can boost conversion rates by as much as 50%.

Videos are an ideal instrument for interviews, demonstrations, how-to guides, and many other types of content you want to share. And they are particularly useful if there is a degree of complexity in which showing vs telling will help or if there is an emotional element you want to convey.

One effective use of video is to tell your company’s story. Your video should be meaningful and concise – about 15 seconds to 2 minutes is enough time to tell your prospects who you are and how you can help. As with most other content marketing projects, your goal is to become a trusted and reliable contributor – not a company sales person. You’ll want to have meaningful and value-adding communication with your viewers.

Solution

Before we get to more specifics about how to use video effectively, I’d like to point out: Social media marketing is important for all businesses. Yes, it’s true… While this podcast will touch on one aspect of it, I encourage you to download our Social Media Marketing Best Practices Guide for more insights and tips on how to effectively execute social media marketing programs. This ebook gives general guidelines as well as best practices by platform. Click the link in the podcast description to download this actionable guide to social media marketing.

Ok, back to video marketing. Up until fairly recently, when we considered videos, we thought about YouTube. Well, move over YouTube… Facebook and Twitter are breaking new video ground with native video plans. And there is a shift between video streaming (ala Periscope) vs the more traditional video on demand. More on that in an upcoming podcast.

Here are Six Simple Steps to keep in mind when shooting your video. Stick with these and you’ll be a pro in no time.

1. Strategy: Know the purpose of your video, and use that to determine content, length, level of formality, where it will be promoted and if you should syndicate it to allow it to be promoted by others.

2. KISS: Keep it simple, sweetie.

3. Relax: Speak to someone off-camera that you’re comfortable with.

4. Prepare: Videos should generally be conversational, so even though you’ll prepare notes, don’t read them. Videos for social should be shorter, more informal and aimed an engagement whereas videos for your website may be longer and more formalized and polished.

5. Enable and encourage comments: Videos go with email and social media marketing. Tease your viewers to get them talking and sharing. Good videos go viral and are great for building brand awareness and to generate leads, drawing visitors to your website for longer content to educate, entertain and convert.

6. Incorporate a Call-To-Action: Don’t forget your all-important CTA. This, too, contributes to user interactivity, which is what you want.

Benefits

These days, learning video marketing techniques can’t help but boost brand recognition and grow your revenue:

* Even if you have a limited marketing budget, you can create and embed videos within many free or low-cost channel. Video is no longer a budget-buster.

* Videos persuade and motivate like no other marketing tool because they can carry a highly convincing message with just the proper amount of emotionality to pack a real punch.

* Creating videos is not only effective – it’s fun!

We hope you’ve found this information helpful. Please connect with us on Twitter @DirectiveGroup or on LinkedIn and be sure to share it with in your networks using hashtag #actionablemarketing. Join us next time for more actionable marketing in minutes.