6 Video Marketing Best Practices You Should Know

In today’s digital works, video marketing has become essential for businesses looking to expand their reach and audience engagement.

Videos have become popular for sharing information, promoting products, and showcasing services. And with the rise of video marketing platforms and social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, having an online presence has become a vital requirement.

However, creating and sharing videos is not enough; it requires a well-planned strategy that includes video marketing best practices to ensure that assets are effective and successful. In this article, we’ll discuss ten video marketing best practices that you should know.

1. Know Your Audience

First on our list of video marketing best practices is to understand your target audiences. What are their demographics? What are their interests, and what motivates them to take action? Once you have this information, you can create videos that resonate with them and are more likely to be watched and shared.

One way to know your audience is by creating buyer personas. A buyer persona is a detailed description of your ideal customer, including demographic info, interests, pain points, and buying habits. Buyer personas can help you better understand your target audience and tailor your video content to their needs and preferences. Conduct market research, analyze customer data, and interview current customers to make your buyer personas realistic.

2. Keep it Short and Sweet

Research has shown that the average attention span of humans is decreasing, with one study suggesting it’s now just eight seconds. With so many distractions available, it’s important to grab your audience’s attention quickly and keep them engaged throughout your video. Shorter videos are more likely to attract and interest your audience.

Keeping your videos short and to the point is crucial while still providing value and relevant information. Ideally, your video should be under two minutes long, with the most important information shared within the first 15 seconds.

With limited time available, it’s essential to have a clear message in mind. What do you want your audience to take away from the video? Keeping your message concise and straightforward will help you create a shorter video that still delivers your key points effectively.

3. Focus on Storytelling

People love stories, which help create a connection between the viewer and the brand. That said, you need to use storytelling techniques to share your message. In addition, you have to ensure that it’s relevant, compelling, and memorable.

Storytelling allows you to connect with your audience on an emotional level, making your brand more relatable and memorable. Try to tell a story that resonates with your audience’s experiences, values, and aspirations. This way, you can build a deeper relationship with them and inspire them to take action.

One way to catch your audience’s attention is by starting with a hook. Begin the story with an angle piquing their interest – a dramatic opening scene, a surprising fact, or a provocative question.

4. Optimize for Mobile

Did you know that Mobile devices account for over half of all video views? That said, it’s crucial to optimize your videos for mobile. That means ensuring your videos are compatible with different devices and screen sizes and creating vertical and square videos that work well on mobile platforms.

Aside from format and size requirements, you must also design videos to be easily shareable on social media. For instance, you need to remember that many mobile users watch videos with the sound off. That means it’s best to include captions or subtitles to convey your message. In addition, captions and subtitles also make your videos more accessible to viewers with hearing impairments.

5. Incorporate Calls to Action

Just like marketing emails or landing pages, your videos must also include a clear call to action (CTA) is also part of video marketing best practices. The desired action could be visiting your website, purchasing, or subscribing to your channel. Make sure that your call to action is clear and easy to follow.

To make your CTA effective, you must place it strategically. For instance, you could put it in a prominent location within the video so that viewers cannot miss it. You can also use pop-ups, overlays, or captions to highlight the CTA. Timing is another crucial element in CTAs. Ideally, you should place the CTA towards the end of the video when the viewer is more likely to take action.

Providing a benefit for the viewer will increase their chances of clicking on the CTA. For example, if you’re selling a product, offer a discount code to entice them to buy. It should also be easy for the viewer to follow through if it’s too complicated or requires too many steps.

6. Measure and Analyze

Part of video marketing best practices is understanding what is working and what isn’t. Use analytics tools to track metrics such as views, engagement, and conversions, and use this data to optimize your video marketing strategy.

Before creating any video content, set clear goals for what you want to achieve with your video marketing campaign. Is it to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Defining your goals will help you measure the success of your videos. It will also set your key performance indicators (KPIs), which are quantifiable measures of performance over time for a specific objective. 

When measuring and analyzing the performance of your campaigns, determine the metrics that matter most to your goals. For example, if you aim to increase brand awareness, you might track metrics such as views, impressions, and reach. If you want to generate leads, you might focus on engagement metrics like click-through and conversion rates.

Many tools are available to help you track and analyze the performance of your video marketing. YouTube, for example, has an analytics dashboard that provides data on views, engagement, and demographics. Google Analytics can track how video content contributes to your website’s traffic and conversions.

The Bottomline

Along with the video marketing best marketing practices above, always remember that consistency is key. Create a schedule for releasing videos and stick to it. Doing so will help build anticipation among your audience and ensure that your brand remains top of mind.