The face of digital marketing is evolving. In the wake of COVID-19, businesses are changing the very framework they use to operate on a day-to-day basis. They’re adapting to a shift in consumer behavior that’s come about as a direct result of the pandemic.
The average citizen is spending more time on the internet than ever before. According to Ofcom, lockdown conditions have seen adults in the UK making twice as many video calls as they normally would.
More importantly, how people use the internet is changing – and it’s taking digital marketing along with it.
Video is fast becoming the future of marketing. The top video marketing trends of 2020 suggest that in the coming year, video is going to become an even more popular marketing method than it currently is.
So how can a business effectively use video marketing to bring in new leads?
Source: Pexels
Content is critical
The first step to generating new leads is to have a bulletproof content strategy. It might sound obvious, but it’s true – great content keeps prospective customers coming back.
Any video content that’s put out by a company represents the brand. Ergo said content needs to be of the highest possible quality – that way, customers will have a better impression of the business behind it.
This year, as many as 64% of marketers are actively trying to improve their content strategy. Studies suggest this is very necessary; over half of consumers surveyed said they found most branded content they were exposed to irrelevant.
If most of a brand’s content is irrelevant, customers won’t be drawn to that brand.
Source: a 2018 study on online consumer behaviour
The solution to this problem lies in video marketing. A well-made branded video will persuade as many as 64% of the customers that see it to make a purchase.
So, to put it another way, the content itself has to be great – and it has to be presented flawlessly. Every video must feel like it belongs, and together, all the pieces of content should send one unified message.
A cohesive message
Once the content itself has been polished to a high standard, the next thing to consider is the overall message: what’s being communicated to potential leads?
It isn’t just about what the message is either; how that message is communicated is equally important. If the message itself is clear, but the way it’s conveyed varies hugely across content, the result is that customers are left confused.
Inconsistency creates this confusion, and confusion stops customers from trusting a brand. In order to prevent confusion, the goal is to craft a singular, strong, unified message.
This gives meaning to effective team collaboration. To that end, it’s extremely important that the entire team involved in the creation of the brand’s overall message is well connected. The team’s internal unity should be visible in the content they produce. This is the meaning of team collaboration.
Each piece of branded content, especially videos, should send the same message.
Authenticity
When the overall message – or the brand image – is cohesive, the brand comes across as authentic and genuine.
Authenticity is a crucial component of a brand for 86% of consumers. That’s the vast majority, which means the value of authenticity can’t be underestimated.
One of the most effective ways to ensure your brand will present a cohesive message and come across as authentic is to have crystal-clear brand guidelines. Those guidelines have to be followed closely in all content produced by the brand.
A study has shown that while many brands have these kinds of guidelines, remarkably few actually follow them.
Graphic based on the study cited above
It’s a good idea to set reminders of the brand guidelines in the team’s group calendar app. This will help to create more cohesion and, as a direct result, more authenticity.
Careful targeting
Now you’ve got great content that presents a unified message and communicates the brand’s identity effectively. The content and the brand feel authentic. So what’s next?
The answer is ‘targeting and tailoring’.
In other words, it’s important to make sure the videos that are being put out are accessible to their target audience. This can mean a variety of things, from adding closed captions to including video descriptions so those watching without sound can still absorb the content.
Accessibility is just one part of tailoring content. Others range from making sure the videos appeal to their target demographic to selecting the right format for the video’s purpose. For example, it’s important to consider whether Facebook Live or pre-recorded videos are better suited to specific pieces of content.
Source: Unsplash
Each comes with advantages. Facebook Live is more interactive and adaptable, while pre-recorded videos can be embedded into a brand’s website and help with consistency. Live videos let brand representatives reach out directly to customers, while videos made in advance can also be used in ads (especially on social media websites) to build brand recognition.
It’s a good idea to use a mix of both across your platforms. This helps to make sure each video is carefully tailored to market direct to possible leads with maximum efficiency.
Personal touch
With all these tips, you’ll be able to produce great video marketing content that appeals to leads and draws them in. The next step is to make sure those leads trust the brand, so they can quickly become repeat customers.
The trick is to add a personal touch.
Companies have to make sure their customers feel like their needs are being met. Conversational commerce, or direct communication between a company and its customers, is an excellent way to do this.
Great customer service also directly increases brand loyalty:
Source: digital research
This clearly shows that increased customer loyalty is one of the major benefits of remote support services. Providing customers with the support they need will make them trust the brand and turn them from one-off customers into brand loyalists.
It also adds a significant human touch. This helps the brand come across as less robotic and more relatable (and thereby more trustworthy).
… And robotic touch
Tactics like visual storytelling help a brand appeal to customers by showing off their human side. But that doesn’t mean robotics can’t also help to draw in leads.
By using robotic process automation (RPA), companies can delegate repetitive mechanical tasks to robotic programs. This frees up time and resources for human employees to work on bringing an increased personal touch to any content created.
Or, to put it another way, letting robots take care of the menial tasks means that employees can focus on how to follow the other tips we’ve covered. Authenticity is best left to humans, after all.
The future
The demand for video content is increasing steadily, especially on social media platforms. This highlights how important it is for content to be carefully tailored to the platform it’s going to live on.
It also shows that video content is going to play an even bigger role in digital marketing moving forward.
Almost all of the marketers surveyed in a study said they’re planning to keep using video marketing in the coming years, with most of them also pledging to invest money into video content creation.
Source: the statistics referenced above
It’s no surprise, then, that video marketing is most customers’ preferred way to learn about a product or company.
Catering to this preference in customers will increase sales and marketing effectiveness.
The key to video marketing is to create content that’s strong enough to help leads make the transition into becoming loyal fans of the company.
Getting started
It can seem daunting, even overwhelming, to try and absorb all these points. In today’s online climate, where up to 19% of social media users will unfollow a brand for its poor hashtag usage, it’s intimidating to start creating digital content. Pre-recorded videos, in particular, need to attain a high level of polish.
However, nothing is as important as starting.
Having access to top productivity apps certainly helps. Any brand that uses these apps to its advantage will have a better chance of creating amazing video marketing content.
Of course, it’s best to be productive in groups. To that end, it’s incredibly helpful to start any new video project with a web conference call between all members of the team to set up the kinds of brand guidelines we covered earlier.
For a truly great video marketing strategy, all of the steps in this article should be taken into consideration. This will make any new video content feel authentic, cohesive, and persuasive, which is immensely helpful for drawing in new leads.
