How to develop a video marketing campaign on a startup budget

From social feeds to news articles, videos are everywhere online. They share information, promote products or services, and boost brand awareness. Contrary to what others believe, video marketing campaigns aren’t always expensive.

Here are tips on how to create an effective video marketing campaign on a startup budget.

 

Determine the Video Marketing Goals and Viewers

Right here is the core of a video marketing campaign regardless of its size. Videos are used to convey a brand message. The biggest hurdle is to make the video stand out from its competition. As such, the marketer needs to define the goals and viewers of the campaign. Having these elements outlined minimizes the chance of the startup spending additional resources.

The end goal of most marketing campaigns is to sell a product or service. But marketers can’t make the videos as an outright sales pitch. This won’t come across well with the viewers. Instead, lay out the primary goal of the video. If it’s to:

– Generate leads or sales. The marketer can put the video on the site’s landing page to prompt page conversion rates
– Educate viewers. The marketer can show the audience how to use the product or service through a demo video.
– Entertain. The marketer can use the video to attract in engagement and social media exposure.
– Inspire. The marketer can add a CTA to motivate the audience to take decisive actions.

If the video marketing campaign doesn’t have one of the goals above, it’s likely to fail. Determining the campaign goal is equally important as determining the target market. Use these fundamental questions to figure that out:

– Who is the brand’s desired audience?
– What channels do they often visit?
– What are their needs, wants, and desires?
– What causes them to engage and share online content?
– What makes them buy a product or get a service?
– What sort of content will resonate well with them?
– What makes them excited and worried?

The answers will pinpoint the target market that cares about the video content. It pays to be quite specific, again, to avoid wasting resources like time, effort and cash.

 

Plan the video content based on the campaign goals and viewers.

Plan the video content based on the campaign goals and viewers. It’s easy to develop video content when campaign goals and viewers are in place. A good brainstorming tactic is to write everything that springs to mind on paper. Afterwards, whittle down the choices through a process of elimination. Make sure that the planned topic(s) line up with the goals and viewers from the list.

Marketers should also check out the competition or other booming video marketing startups. Consider their process and find inspiration in what they do. Also, think about the value and relevance of the content. How much worth will it give to the audience? How relevant is it to the brand, its goals, and target market?

 

Choose who’ll create the marketing videos.

Establishing the steps above prevents the premature use of marketing funds. Working with an outlined direction helps to make far better use of the spending budget. The first financial decision in a video marketing campaign on a startup budget is video production. Who will create the videos for the campaign? Most startups choose opt for self-produced videos.

For this option, the video production will be in-house. It’s easy enough to produce marketing videos using top-quality smartphone cameras. Also, there are tons of video editing software available for free. Picking out this option is very cost-effective.

The biggest challenge of DIY videos is the difficulty to create high-quality videos. For this choice, the startup can save tons of money but may sacrifice the quality of the video. If this isn’t something the brand can compromise, then don’t push it. Instead, spend the budget on a professional video production company.

The budget plays a role in the success of a video marketing campaign. But it’s not as imperative as the goals, target market, and content of the campaign. Follow the steps above, and any startup will be on its way to having powerful marketing campaigns even on a budget.