There are many forms in which content can exist in online marketing. Still, there is one tool, especially that is rapidly growing in popularity and dominating the realm of digital marketing! The tool is nothing other than video marketing.
Video Marketing, what is it?
Video marketing consists of creating content videos to be used in marketing strategies. These videos intend to promote products and services, drive sales, raise brand awareness, as well as help you engage with your audience.
The creative possibilities with video promotion are unlimited and incredibly impactful. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but video allows you to produce the content exactly how you want your audience to perceive an experience or product. Pretty powerful, right?
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The use of video marketing is already very prominent, present on all mainstream social media and digital platforms. There are thousands, if not millions, of videos watched at any given moment on the web. No wonder incorporating video into your online marketing strategy is more useful than ever before.
There are several different types of video content, but they all have one thing in common: they are aimed at communicating information. They are created with a specific target audience in mind, such as age, gender, and political opinions. While most of these videos are informative, you will also want to keep the entertainment aspect in mind, as boring videos will not catch the attention of your audience. Luckily, there are several ways to create entertaining videos that have a targeted audience.
Video Content and Affiliate Marketing
Video content and affiliate marketing go hand-in-hand. Video affiliate marketing is the process of creating videos and placing affiliate links in the description or in the video itself via annotations. The objective is to redirect traffic to an affiliate landing page or an email sign-up form, with the result of creating more revenue and brand awareness.
There are many forms of video marketing, and thus numerous opportunities for incorporating affiliate links. Here are four examples of how to promote affiliate links using different video styles:
- Product Review Videos: Videos reviewing and comparing products are a great way to promote what you are trying to sell. Many consumers will look for detailed, honest, and authentic reviews before purchasing a product or service.
- How-to Videos: These explanatory videos demonstrate how products work. They are informative and offer audiences the reassurance they need to buy a product.
- Best-of Videos: These forms of video will demonstrate the same product from various brands. They allow you to represent yourself as a non-bias industry expert so that your audience will value and trust your opinion.
- Live Video Streams: Live video events are the ultimate way to build a relationship and engage with your audience. This form of video is ideal for live Q&A sessions and interviews with influencers, which helps build brand awareness.
Why You Should Promote Through Video
By now, you should be catching on to just how impactful marketing with content creation in the form of the video is. Here are even more reasons why your business should use video marketing:
- Excellent ROI boosts conversions and sales – some video productions can be timely and costly, but you are guaranteed a high ROI. Video marketing increases sales, brand awareness, and lead generation. You can improve conversions by 80% just by including a video on your landing page.
- You don’t need to be a professional – it’s easier than you think. Producing a video may sound intimidating. Luckily, there are many video editing tools available online for free or at very affordable pricing. Nowadays, even smartphones can create decent quality videos. Facebook live videos, webinar recordings, and other video material will work well as long as the content itself is engaging!
- Consumers prefer watching videos – video is mobile friendly and engages even the laziest buyers and those with busy lifestyles. Modern consumers are less likely to read long product descriptions, dig deep into services, or contact a sales representative; they instead watch videos and see the product in action.
- Video builds trust – content marketing depends on trust and creating long-term relationships, which is the foundation of conversion and sales. Effective video marketing presents products in a conversational form, creating a sense of relatability. By providing your audience with useful information, they will be the ones flocking to you as a trusted industry authority.
- Google loves videos – the great thing about videos is that it allows you to increase the time spent by visitors on your site. More extended exposure signals search engines that your site has good content meriting higher ranking.
Also Read: Tips to Boost Conversion in Sales
Tips & Tricks for Affiliate Video Marketing
Here are a few smart tips and tricks to help get your video marketing to the next level even faster.
- Optimize your videos for SEO by creating engaging titles and descriptions. Find out what keywords have decent rankings, and make sure your headline is catchy.
- Give your video an eye-catching thumbnail image. A smiling human making direct eye contact is an excellent choice for a picture as it is a manifestation of happiness and one that will connect with your audience.
- Different platforms may require different video settings. Optimize your content for the specific platforms you plan on using, such as Instagram, Facebook, a live event, web, etc. with corresponding sound, format, language, and subtitle settings.
- Is the service you are promoting challenging to make a video about, or are you camera shy? Animated and slideshow style videos are popular solutions for services or products which may be more difficult to explain, and if you are not comfortable in front of a camera.
- Make use of supporting tools from your affiliates to gain creative content ideas for video marketing. Many vendors will provide affiliates with additional material to help with the sale and promotion of products, with different links, PDFs, ebooks, and articles.
- Existing buyers are the most profitable source of income. Offering another product of value at a much lower price is an excellent way of getting one foot in the door. Once these consumers are comfortable spending money with you, closing a more significant sale is easier.
- Lastly, and most importantly, video is about trial and error. Testing in video marketing is the only way to discover what kinds of videos and on which platforms this type of marketing will work best for you.
Ask People for Help
There is no shame in reaching out to your personal and professional circles for help. Asking people you know to help share your video may seem like an obvious tactic, but you will be surprised by the results! Reaching out to friends, colleagues, former colleagues, industry connections, family, and contacts connected to your target market is a great place to start. Also, if you’d like to learn more about affiliate marketing and how you can be successful with it, you should check out online academy – make money with affiliate marketing for beginners.
Don’t be shy to ask your viewers to share as well! Make sure your video is easy to share. It should be so enticing that viewers that are watching your material for the first time like it enough to share. The more shares and likes your video gets, the more views and engagement you will receive. In turn, the increase in views and commitment will lead to more revenue.
Another strategy to consider is ‘guest posting.’ Reach out to other blogs and authoritative sites in your niche so they can post your videos on their platforms, linking back to yours; this is another excellent way to expand your video’s reach.
Combine Video and Email
The combination of video and email is perfect. Your email marketing campaigns will be more useful than ever by incorporating video.
Emails that include video receive a higher click-through rate, reduce the number of unsubscribers, and boost engagement. Incorporating video in an email campaign is very simple and leads to better attribution.
Think about all the advertising emails you receive! How many of them include an engaging video? Not the majority. Adding a video to your email will make you stand out from your competition while getting your message across. The best part is, video and email complement each other and also work the other way around. You can increase your email list by simply asking your viewers to subscribe.
Share in Online Communities
Online communities are great spaces for you to share your videos whenever it is relevant and is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss.
Online communities exist for all types of groups, denominations, interests, and niches. You can find them on social media platforms, websites, and forums. When you start, you should analyze the content that is shared among the communities; you’ll be able to find multiple instances where your video will fit in perfectly.
Actively participate and engage in these communities before sharing a video so that you have an established presence. By targeting these spaces where your niche audience hangs out, posting your video will inevitably drive relevant traffic to your webpage.
Collaborations
It is possible to create a successful video on your own. That said, collaborating with others in the industry will always be of great benefit.
There are countless opportunities for collaborations with different youtube channels, businesses, and influencers. Partnerships will organically expand your reach and increase your exposure, gaining you access to a new potential audience! Picking the right partners will help build your authority around the subject or niche you’ve set your sights on.
Ideal video collaboration is with a partner who has a similar audience that shares the same interests as yours. Both parties will gain from a partnership, and so there will be double the promotion. Collaborators do not need to create the same type of content as you, as long as they compliment what you create. Choose a partner who’s content you and your audience enjoy so that they will inevitably want to transition to your video.
Avoid only collaborating with partners who have the same presence and number of followers as you. Often, smaller youtube channels with an engaged audience can yield higher results compared to a collaboration with partners who have millions of followers.
Use Twitter and Instagram
Social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram are the ideal space for sharing and promoting videos, so make sure to utilize them to their full potential. These platforms offer a variety of smart and unique tools to optimize your video content and encourage social shares.
On Twitter, for instance, video content plays automatically, which catches viewers’ attention right away. You can film a video directly through the app, you can upload existing content, and you can use tools like Periscope for live videos. It also allows you to “pin” your video at the top of your feed so it will not get lost amongst all your other tweets. You can check out @TwitterBusiness for useful tips on the best ways to use their platform for video marketing.
With Instagram, you can post videos of up to 60 seconds, and share on your Instagram Stories. Make use of hashtags relative to your business niche, and take advantage of the caption space to add a story or description. Consider the frequency and the times of day that you post your videos, as these factors play a significant role in reaching your audience.
Conclusion
At this point, you should be convinced that video is an essential element of digital marketing. Not only is it the most visual aspect of online marketing, but it is also one of the most versatile and profitable media forms available. There is a lot to learn, and there is an inevitable period of trial and error until you master video marketing. The good news is, with all the tools, platforms, and possibilities for collaborations, it is only a matter of time before you take your marketing many levels up!
