Information for this blog post was obtained from Sprout Social, HubSpot, and Content Marketing Institute.
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As someone who works in the sports media & entertainment industry, I can confidently say that video marketing is a vastly powerful tool with a multitude of benefits. It is also something I am deeply passionate about. My name is Marko Minic and I am a Graduate Assistant for FHSU Athletics, specializing in Marketing, Media, and External Operations. One of the challenges I faced when starting my position was getting students to attend more FHSU sports games. As a part of my role, I am assigned to brainstorm ideas on how to get students to attend athletic events and support the Tigers on gamedays, which is far more complicated than it sounds.
Early on, I found myself struggling to come up with creative ideas. I was overwhelmed and didn't know where to start. But every unsuccessful attempt motivated me to improve, and I saw a new opportunity with each failure. After doing some research and brainstorming, I realized that incorporating video and other marketing strategies was the winning recipe. Video marketing is a powerful tool, and students love watching them. In that effort, I started using videos to generate more awareness for the games and marketed them as fun and entertaining in nature, encouraging students to attend games and watch the Tigers in action.
This picture of me was taken at the beginning of the 2022 Fall semester when I started my position with the Athletics department. I got equipped with the proper tools and dived into my media, marketing, and video specialist role. It was then that I started my Video Marketing journey with FHSU Athletics.
What is Video Marketing?
Video marketing uses entertaining, informational, or educational videos to promote a business's product or service, increase engagement on social channels and other digital platforms, and reach new audiences. Research shows that adults are projected to spend 80 minutes per day watching digital videos in 2023. This means that a good chunk of your target audience will be looking to watch some type of video, and you need to be on those channels to reach them. With that in mind, it is essential to determine what channels your potential customers spend most of their time at and what type of video content they seek.
What Video Marketing Strategy to Consider?
When it comes to what type of strategy to choose for your video content marketing, there are a few things to take into consideration. First, what kind of content does your audience want to see? Here are some common types of videos:
Informational and educational
Entertaining and creative
Advertising and commercial
Brand films and short videos that show your values and mission.
Each of these video types has its benefits. Depending on your business goals and objectives, you should strategically choose which best suits your marketing efforts. Informational videos can be how-to videos and tutorials explaining your product and service in depth. For example, a demo video showcasing your products' best features. Webinars or live streams can also be a good option for educational videos. On the other hand, short videos are great for gaining brand awareness and showing your brand personality. They help communicate your message in a fun and playful way that supports your mission, vision, and values. Determining what type of videos your audience is looking for and how to effectively reach them can help you boost your marketing efforts tremendously. Here's an example of an entertaining video:
This a buzzer-beater shot that I captured of Tiger Hoops Guard Kaleb Hammeke to win Thursday's basketball game against Lincoln. The video was filmed and edited by me and is supposed to serve as an entertaining video that is fun to watch and promotes social sharing.
Why Use Video Marketing?
Times have changed, and so have the channels people want to interact with and mediums to get their information from. We transitioned from a white paper era into a tech era. Everyone in today's technologically advanced society wants to watch more and read less - more visuals, less text. This is the new video marketing trend; fewer and fewer people want to read long, overwhelming paragraphs and prefer watching short, concise, and creative videos. After the pandemic in 2020, online media and video consumption in the U.S. has increased by 215%. If used correctly, videos can be a powerful tool to enhance your social media and digital marketing efforts and improve your overall business objectives.
Benefits of Video Marketing for Business
When it comes to video marketing for business, there are a lot of benefits and advantages to consider. Video Marketing encourages social shares, improves your SEO rankings, and boosts conversions and sales. Good marketing videos and visual content gives value to your customers in every stage of the buyer's journey. With every video, a good social media marketer will attract, convert, and delight their target audience and buyer personas.
Equally, setting the right expectations and video marketing goals from the start is essential. For example, a video marketing goal could be to create brand awareness. But with the right combination of script and creativity, a video marketing strategy can do more than just put your brand's perception in the customer's mind. It can also guide them through the decision stage of their buyer’s journey, help them have a positive experience in their adaption stage, and serve as loyal brand advocates.
In that regard, there are five stages of a marketing funnel. Videos can seamlessly fall into each one if a proper social media video marketing strategy is developed.
Awareness - Reach new customers
Consideration - Generate demand
Decision - Drive conversion
Adoption - educate customers
Advocacy - Inspire evangelism
It is essential to align your video marketing strategy with your overall business goals. That depends on knowing your customers and being able to tell which stage of the buyer's journey they fall into, which helps you provide them with the right type of content they will be attracted to and delighted to see. Setting the right goals and identifying the funnel stage can help create effective calls-to-action in your video content and do wonders for your business.
The example of my entertaining video mentioned earlier can be used in the awareness stage of the marketing funnel, as it can help create more buzz and reach new audiences (FHSU students & faculty and Tiger supporters in the community).
Image Courtesy of Media from Wix
How Effective is Video Marketing?
Video is a great way to increase social media engagement and gain website traffic. You can develop the ultimate social media and video marketing strategy by strategically using different social media channels, each for its strengths and benefits. YouTube and TikTok are the most popular video platforms where your business can get the most eyeballs and potential customers. However, other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have been growing and shifting their attention more toward video. LinkedIn is anticipated to have the most significant increase on its platform by 68% in video marketing, with Twitter and Pinterest also having more engagement when implementing video. A good video marketing strategy is crucial for any social media platform and overall business success. Check out Caitlin’s post about Content Platforms and Tools for more information on video marketing effectiveness.
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Choosing any of these platforms for your video marketing strategy would be a great first step towards a larger goal. Video is just a tool to aid you in your approach to the customer journey and help them find your business. With the right combination of your video marketing strategy, social media efforts, and other digital content, you can gain more traffic for your business and increase your conversions and revenue.
Top Platforms That Consumers and Brands Anticipate to Use the Most in 2023
Facebook - Consumers (71%), Marketers (65%)
YouTube - Consumers (51%), Marketers (35%)
Instagram - Consumers (49%), Marketers (59%)
TikTok - Consumers (38%), Marketers (39%)
Snapchat - Consumers (19%), Marketers (9%)
In conclusion, video marketing is a dominant and powerful tool that can provide numerous benefits and advantages if used correctly. Video is the new trend; no one wants to read long, wordy paragraphs anymore. Everyone wants to watch more and read less. As marketers, setting the right video marketing strategy to maximize your business goals is crucial to help you reach and convert as many new faces as possible. We mentioned using different types of videos to entertain, inform, or educate your audience and provide a positive experience they will enjoy and share. We also discussed how videos could boost your SEO efforts and ultimately help you increase your conversions and sales. However, it is vital to identify your marketing funnel and see where your video falls according to your buyer's journey. We mentioned several different stages in the marketing funnel and saw an example of a video being in the awareness stage to reach and expand your audience. Finally, we discussed how video applies to each social media platform and how to strategically use it to maximize your social media video marketing strategy.
Resources
Collins , A., & Conley, M. (2022, September 15). The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing
Forte, J. (2021, March 1). 5 types of video to add to your social media marketing. Content Marketing Institute. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/articles/best-videos-success-social-media/
Kenan, J. (2022, November 8). 7 steps to a successful social media video marketing strategy. Sprout Social. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/video-marketing-strategy/
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