How to kickstart a video marketing campaign

Over 500 million hours of YouTube videos are viewed on a daily basis. By 2019, it’s projected that about 80% of internet traffic will all be video-based. With this staggering data, it’s not surprising that more and more marketers realize the power of digital video marketing.

Fortunately, kickstarting a video marketing campaign today is doable even for startups or small businesses with a limited budget. Here is a guideline for creating scalable and memorable videos for a successful marketing campaign.

 

Define and understand the purpose of the video marketing campaign.

Any marketing strategy will be a challenge to implement if its sole objective is to “sell more product or service.” While that is one of the ultimate goals of practically every marketing campaign, excessive self-promotion defeats the purpose of having a marketing strategy.

The goal of your video campaign should be along the lines of educating, entertaining and inspiring the brand’s target market. This is the type of content that goes viral, and that leaves a lasting impression on the viewers.

Think about it: who wouldn’t want to share the “good vibes” of a video that is memorable, feel good, inspiring, funny or sentimental?

The marketing videos will be distributed to different websites and social media platforms. As such, it won’t be a stretch for online users to discover the brand behind the clips they’ve enjoyed watching.

 

Brainstorm about the topic and format that will best suit the campaign.

Once the goals and objectives are defined, the next step is to determine the topic and the format of the video.

There are different types and styles of videos available so it’s critical that the marketing team choose the one that can deliver the content best. For instance, products with abstract concepts will benefit more with animations rather than product demo videos. On the other hand, campaigns that aim to trigger a specific emotion often need actors and voiceovers in the video.

Also, not every marketing campaign revolves around products and services. Some projects are developed to increase brand awareness. For such a goal, video formats like vlogs and webinars are the most applicable.

The same strategy is needed in choosing the main subject of the campaign. The topic needs to have a structure – not necessarily a script – for it to be succinct and relevant. Keep in mind that viewers, on average, only watch the first ten seconds of the video to determine if they’d want to continue watching it or not. Implementing a structure on the subject will ensure that the message is straight to the point.

Research and experiments go a long way in determining the best topic and format for a specific video marketing campaign. Also, don’t hesitate to check out the videos of the competition and influencers in the industry. Evaluate what features of their campaign work and what needs improvement. Then, use the assessment as part of the brand’s content strategy.

 

Decide who will create and produce the actual video content.

Creating a video marketing campaign is different from creating text- or image-based content. Often, video production requires more than one person handling each phase of the output.

If the brand has a limited budget, the in-house marketing team may handle the production of the videos. Unless there’s a professional filmmaker on the team, the video outputs will be considered amateur. That being said, videos made by the “amateurs” don’t have to be low quality. There are tons of user-friendly resources and tools that the team can use to make the end product look professional.

Another option is hiring a video agency that professionally handles video productions. This is a more expensive choice given that the company will hire a third-party agency to create and shoot the videos. The upside is that the company gets what it paid for. Also, professional-made videos catch the attention of viewers fast. If the company has a healthy marketing budget, hiring a video agency is not a bad idea at all.

When deciding who the best people are for the job, keep these variables in mind:

• Target audience
• Budget
• Time availability
• Tools, resources, and equipment
• Workforce
• Level of creativity

By reviewing each variable, it’ll be easy to decide which option (in-house versus third-party) will be best for the campaign.