The Shakr team have become quite well versed in the world of video marketing during the last years. But sometimes it’s good to bring in some fresh thoughts to spice things up. We reached out to a few authorities in the video marketing sphere for their best video marketing tips for small and medium businesses. Enjoy this collection of video marketing wisdom!
From Michael Litt, CEO, Vidyard
Video is a great way for SMBs to level the playing field against larger competitors. It can seem intimidating at first because people hear “video” and immediately thing they need expert producers, a big budget and a bunch of fancy equipment. The reality is that video is much more accessible than that. You don’t need anything fancier than an iPad to shoot videos. Keep them short and stick to your areas of expertise. Then simply create a YouTube channel for your content and use social media to share them with your audience. As you get more sophisticated, you can consider hosted video solutions and advanced analytics.
Here are a few pointers:
- Don’t be intimidated by the process. You don’t have to be an expert.
- Engage beyond the transaction.Use video to give your customers a sense of who you are and what you stand for.
- Add value. Provide content that means something to your customers.
- Look everywhere for content.There is no shortage of places to find great content to put in a video. Product explanations, company culture and customer testimonials all make good content.
- Be the go-to source with better content. People are looking for fast, easy consumption of content and if you’re the one providing it via video, you’ll be seen as the expert.
From David Scott, author of The New Rules of Lead Generation
The best strategy for video is to go the teaching route. Use your expertise to teach something. If you’re a baker, teach how to make simple cupcakes. If you’re a dry cleaner, educate on the topic of proper dress maintenance. The video doesn’t have to be professional either. In many cases, an iPad does a great job. Sometimes professional videos are eyed with suspicion. Also, to publish all you need is a YouTube account. Use your unique skill to add value, and by doing so, you’ll build brand and drive engagement.
From Julia Manns, media relations executive at The News Market
We encourage our clients to create as much content/ videos as possible to keep the conversation going, without compromising quality: it should be relevant and have a purpose: informing, entertaining or reaching out to target audience. Also, the message you are trying to convey needs to be clear! If you are just starting producing your own content, pay attention to what is working and what isn’t. See what your audience is interacting with and what is being ignored. At the end, it is a matter of trial an error.
Sean Gallahar, social media director at i7 Marketing
My best tip is to use videos is to prepare a list of topics you want to talk about, create a schedule based on those topics, and then write the script. Make your videos short (no more than 3 minutes) otherwise your viewers will start to lose attention and move on. Make sure to upload your video on each platform separately. If you are putting your video on Twitter and/or Instagram, you can include the link to the full video on YouTube, but in that case I would advise creating 15 and 30 seconds short clips of your full video to suit those platforms.
Mike Munter, Web Design, SEO, Internet Marketing and Reputation Management
Small businesses who want to be successful with video marketing should use each video as an opportunity to educate their current and future clients. Do these 4 things to be successful and generate new customers:
- Keep a list of FAQs. Each time your customer asks you a question, write it down. Keep a running list in your office. When you have time, answer them in videos which are 1-3 minutes long.
- Simple video setup. Put your HD camera on a tripod and set it up, so when you’re ready to record, you can. Put a system in place that makes it easy to upload those videos to Youtube.
- Optimize! Make your TITLE the question you are answering, include your keywords + location if there is room. Put a link to your website in the description. Hire a service to transcribe your videos to your blog.
- Keep doing it! Try to make a few videos each month. The more you make, the more leads you will generate!
Ameet Khabra: AdWords Girl, SEO & PPC Specialist
Two words: Video Remarketing. I truly believe that this method of advertising is extremely effective. Essentially, a SMB would create a remarketing list (or multiple) which would be applied to a single video marketing campaign. Now, when past visitors go on YouTube, they will encounter a video ad from the SMB.
Amanda Cohen, Marketing Manager for Homescout Realty
In order to achieve success it is important to have a purpose for your video, as well as include relative information and show your personality. What is the purpose of your video? Are you marketing a product? Are you trying to spread brand awareness? Are you announcing important company news? Before working on the video, it is important to know your end goal. Is this information useful for your audience? The video should not only serve your company or goal, but it should also offer value to your customers. How can you make the video mutually beneficial? Last but not least, it is important that you show professionalism, but also that you are personable and engaging. Who is going to be in this video and can they represent your brand in a formal, yet fun manner?
Conclusion
There is some very solid advice in there, which is YOUR best tip about video marketing for SMBs? Let us know in the comments or connect with us on Twitter.
