Every couple of years, there’s a renewed collective call to action for marketing to use more video. The catalyst is usually some smart marketer notices video is getting better play on a particular channel. Typically, these calls to action include statistics pointing out how video gets better engagement.
This has happened with Twitter and Facebook and now it’s occurring on LinkedIn. The stream is increasingly filled with single-shot-talking-head videos as brands begin to experiment – LinkedIn Selfie videos as the B2B Growth Show podcast put it.
While I applaud the marketing experimentation and courage, as more and more people do this it has evolved from a novelty to noise. Other critics have seized on this too and implore brands to instead only produce high-quality videos.
Yet this advice isn’t without pitfalls either. I’ve seen so many brands spend upwards of $10,000 – and tons of time – for a single professionally produced video that winds up with 57 views on YouTube.
The cost-benefit just isn’t there. It’s also the type of spending that attracts the scrutiny of marketing budgets that begins to broadly interfere with marketing productivity
3 Essential Considerations for Video Marketing
Does that mean both approaches are out of the question? Of course not. I’m not saying videos shouldn’t be used, I’m just recommending that brands and marketers be more thoughtful about how they use video.
1) Use talking head or selfie video sparingly
It’s much easier to produce a video today, but just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. Use selfie or talking head videos sparingly. Reserve these only for those topics you are most impassioned about and have something really interesting to say. Doing too many risks being overexposed and cause people to tune you out.
However, if you or your brand has a strong perspective on an industry trend, then have at it. Keep the video succinct, no more than or two minutes, and give it a snappy headline. Chances are you will enjoy those higher engagement rates and visibility.
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2) High-quality video needs a plan and budget
High-quality video can be a good investment. B2B marketing shops with complex products can find that a good corporate explainer video is valuable. Yet these videos don’t have the virality marketers often imagine. These videos don’t “go viral” just because they’ve been created. Many things that go viral, took a while and active promotion to get there.
You’ve got to have a plan for how this video will be used in multiple ways across your website, blog, email, landing page, social and other channels. In addition, you probably should include some budget for promotion, over and above the cost of production. Otherwise, you spend a lot of money on a beautiful video that few outside your organization will watch.
3) Choose video when you’ve tested it and it works
If you decide to use video in your marketing, do so with a deliberate thought process. Use it because you’ve tested it for your organization, plan to repurpose it across a variety of platforms and channels, and most importantly, because it delivers results for you.
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A while back I saw a pretty good piece to the effect marketing rushes past strategy to get to execution. I suspect elements of that argument are at play here with video.
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