Experts projected that by 2021 80% of all internet traffic will come from video marketing. Today, video marketing has earned its place as a prominent tool for digital marketing. The tool has continued to prove its effectiveness across a wide range of industries, providing businesses with results and more returns than most.
Developing rich video content for your brand is an excellent way to access relevant markets and engage both your audience and new audiences. When handled intelligently, the video offers an exceedingly effective tool for marketing. Otherwise, they can do more harm than good when handled poorly and less professionally.
While there is a wealth of untapped opportunities in the video marketing industry, many brands are missing out. This misfortune is typically caused by a variety of factors, most of which can be addressed right away.
To help you refine your video marketing strategy, here is a list of 10 don’ts, as well as the easy guidelines that will help you keep away from them for good:
DON’T Make A Video Without A Plan
First of all, it is called “video marketing” for a reason. There is the ‘video,’ and there is ‘market.’ You must carefully study and define your target market before producing any video content. This means you need to develop a broad marketing plan along with an efficient distribution strategy.
The most successful videos are usually a part of a broader branding/marketing strategy. Also, you must be clear about three things:
- Why you are making the video
- Who you are making the video for (audience)
- What specific action(s) you want your audience to take after seeing the video
After you have carefully defined the above three parameters, the next step is to reevaluate your marketing plan and distribution strategy. Here, you will consider:
- Where (or what platforms) you intend to publish (or share) the video, and,
- What tools you will incorporate to monitor the success of your video
DON’T Brand your Video Marketing Business Unprofessionally
A video may be excellent, but your company might be using a crappy branding strategy that sells your work short. Don’t get carried away with doing the video that you forget to give quality branding to your business. Keep it simple; simplicity is the new plush.
For example, there’s this website (name withheld) where I used to get the latest music videos and mp3s as soon as they dropped. The quality of the video and audio files was excellent. However, there was a little problem. At the beginning of each video, you had to watch an unexciting, poor quality, 1min+ promotional advert of the website before proceeding to see your video (even offline). It didn’t stop there; for mp3 downloads, they cropped part of the audio file from the promotional video and appended it at the end of each song. I hated it, and so did my friends who later introduced me to an app I could use to chop off the excesses. The problem with that was it affected the quality of the edited file.
Subsequently, I stumbled upon another site, I told my friends, and we never visited the other site.
DON’T Make Your Videos Too Long
Unfortunately, the internet is too exciting for anyone to spend all their time engrossed in one video. Added to that, people mostly have short attention spans.
The most successful marketing videos are short, sweet, and straight to the point. This takes us back to point 1, your plan: Here, you must have defined your video’s target length from the onset.
Having your video target length in mind, and the amazing material you have developed, adopt a “shorter is better” approach. It is now time to trim off the excesses. Try to keep your work around 30 – 90 seconds, however, 60 seconds (or less, if possible) is usually ideal.
Additionally, front-load your video bearing in mind that circumstances beyond your control, e.g., unstable internet connection, etc. may hinder most viewers from making it to the end. Include your website URL, company logo, value proposition, and call to action at the beginning of your video.
DON’T Try to Convey Too Many Messages
By trying to squeeze in several points in your video, you fail to actually get any across. It can be tempting to try to force so much information into your video, especially when it’s an important marketing piece. However, your audience can quickly have a difficult time trying to process all that information.
The key here is focus. Develop a clear, focused message. Build your enticement, engagement, and education/information around your focus. Keep your video on one target, and don’t forget to provide just one call to action.
If you have more than one message to convey, consider making separate videos.
DON’T Include Too Many Calls To Action
Killing all the birds with one stone is not the most brilliant strategy in video marketing. If your call to action is not simple and clear, viewers may be unsure of the right thing to do. The question, “okay, what’s next?” should never come into your viewer’s mind.
Remove every ambiguity and try to be very clear. Create your video as if you are doing it for a new audience that is not familiar with your service.
DON’T Fail To Employ Necessary SEO Practices
You stand a greater chance of losing a large part of the audience and the market if you do not employ essential SEO practices. Search Engine Optimization will help you increase the amount of traffic your website will be getting by improving your search rankings.
Optimization is important. Be sure to:
- Title your video properly
- Integrate keywords related to your content
- Properly fill out your video description
- Add keyword tags with industry and brand name
- Employ professional services like Online Writers Rating to help with SEO.
DON’T Expect Immediate Results
As a rule of norm, Never Expect Instant Results, no matter the circumstance, if it comes, great, but if it doesn’t, don’t strangle yourself. The truth is, if you are careful with the other nine “don’ts,” then you are very likely to see fast results.
Overnight video marketing success rarely happens, and when they do, it is usually a product of strategizing, SEO, implementation, and yes, some luck. Also, they are usually very short-lived. Focusing on creating quality content is usually the best bet.
DON’T Misplace your Selling Points
The majority of your viewers will miss your key selling points if you place them at the end of your video. Always remember that most viewers may not make it to the end of your video. Ensure that your main business and call to action are communicated within the first 10 – 20 seconds of your material.
A strategy that works is to place your most compelling/interesting points at the beginning and then follow-up with supporting details. Hook the viewer with your selling points right from the start; capitalize on the first 10 – 20 seconds.
DON’T Fail To Address your Target Audience
Never create a video with a message that does not address a specific target audience. Even though your product/service could benefit larger markets/audiences, it is more effective to focus on one. To avoid mistakes in this area:
- Research your target market
- Determine your market’s demographic profile
- Capitalize on the pain points of the industry whose market you are targeting, and find the emotional approach to best draw them in
DON’T Partner With The Wrong Video Partners
Select a partner that has the needed resources, knowledge, and industry experience to deliver premium quality. Ensure that you do not publish a video that sends out a wrong representation of your brand.
If you must partner, seek out partners who are not only familiar with the business but excel in it as well. Before you partner, ask yourself:
- Do I have the needed resources and expertise?
- What am I lacking?
- What has professional Video Production companies the expertise and experience in my industry to deliver an excellent product that best suits my specific needs?
Final Words
Video marketing is a very effective digital marketing strategy with endless possibilities. Most businesses, marketers, and entrepreneurs use video marketing to make their best sales. If you are making one or more of the mistakes highlighted in this article, it is important to adjust to utilizing your opportunities more effectively.
