Let’s talk about video strategy.
Easy peasy, right? Make a video, post it on social media – job done?
Hmmm… Kind of.
Whether you’re making your own video or hiring a videographer, putting some thought and strategy behind your video marketing before you begin, will help you to achieve WAY better results.
I always like to ask my clients a few questions before we start so that I know why we’re making the video and that there is a plan for what is going to happen to the video once it’s been made. If you’re going to spend money, or precious time creating a video, you don’t want to simply create a video for the sake of creating a video.
Here is my simplified video strategy.
1. Identify what your video goals are.
Just because everyone is saying you should create videos for your business, that doesn’t mean your video efforts are automatically going to be successful.
The very first thing you should do is ask yourself, why do you want to make a video?
Is it to create awareness of your brand? Is it to sell a particular product? Is it to engage and stay connected with your existing customers? Write down your why and what your goal is, and then make sure you refer to it when planning the video.
If you’re crystal clear on why you’re making a video in the first place, it makes it SO much easier to accomplish your desired end result.
2. Who are your customers and who are you making your video for?
It’s really important to know who your target audience is. That way you know who you are talking to and what they might want to know about.
Different age groups and demographics are interested in different things. For example, Generation X is busy, they are juggling mortgages and making the most of being at the peak of their careers. Generation Y, known as Millennials, for them the internet is like breathing, it’s such an all-encompassing part of their life (oh, and they also love the opportunity to share a selfie). Generation Z is more interested in the environment and social change.
They are all so distinctively different and have such varied interests and priorities. If you know who your target audience is then you can make sure you’re speaking their language.
3. Once you work out who you’re talking to, know what platforms they are watching their videos on.
You’ve heard everyone talking about Tik Tok lately, but, did you know that 41% of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24? If these aren’t your customers then you don’t need to worry yourself about being on there – yet.
79% of 18 to 49 year olds are on Facebook and 72% of 13 – 17 year olds, 67% of 18 – 29 year olds and 47% of 30 – 49 year olds are on Instagram. If you don’t have time to be on every social media platform, and most small businesses don’t, take the time to research where your demographic is watching their videos and focus on that.
Statistics source: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/
4. Once you work out what platform is best for you, guess what? Different types of videos suit different platforms.
You can make one video, upload it to YouTube and then link to it from your other platforms. But, algorithms that are used by LinkedIn and Facebook are now prioritizing the video content that has been uploaded directly to their platform. It is extra work, but if you really want to maximise your video production efforts on all of your platforms, you should be optimising your videos for each platform and then uploading individual videos.
One of the most obvious examples of this is the aspect ratio of your video. For instance, if your filming something for Instagram Stories you want to film in a Portrait aspect ratio, whereas for YouTube, it’s the traditional Landscape format.
Also, with the way that we scroll through our feed on Facebook and Instagram, a square video will occupy more space in the feed and therefore stand out more. Apparently major Hollywood studios are now promoting film trailers on Facebook in a 1:1 (square) format because it makes that much of a difference.
So make sure when you’re planning the video strategy that you keep in mind where you’ll be posting your videos and the ideal formats they should be.
5. Once you post your video, optimise it for engagement.
Make sure you include a clear call to action at the end of your video either as part of your video or in your caption. This is where it all comes full circle and relates back to your initial video goals.
You could make your CTA a part of your video with the speaker offering some instructions as to what to do next, or write it in the caption of your video. Just make sure that you are clear about the action that you want your viewer to take after watching your video.