Most organisations are aware that they need to be using video, a much smaller percentage of them actually take the time to understand why. Guest blogger Paul Sherwood from Seven Video Productions, explains the importance of video in enhancing your marketing efforts and how to ensure you maximise its effectiveness.
Why video?
We hear it more and more: “A video on your website will improve your Google rankings”; “Video is the future”; or even (and I have heard this before): “I need a video for my website, but I’m not sure why”.
All of which are true, may I add, but what does it really mean?
There are so many statistics out there that demonstrate how important video is, but what’s the point in them if you don’t understand how to get the most out of your videos and how they can improve your business.
Let’s take a step back here and get to the root of why customers tend to enquire about videos. Video, when used effectively, can:
- Increase engagement
- Allow you to reach more potential customers
- Get more visitors to your website and encourage them to stay for longer
- Explain, clearly and concisely, the benefits of your products and services
- Increase your ranking on search engines
- Increase your social media shares
Maximising the results
Although the benefits of video are clear, it’s also very important to understand that producing one video, putting it on YouTube and then not telling anyone about it, isn’t going to double your turnover overnight. Crazy, I know.
Just having a video these days isn’t enough. People need to know about it, they need to engage with it. The more people that see your video, the greater the impact you’ll get from it. Simple.
Like any decent marketing strategy, understanding who you are speaking to, what you are saying to them and what you want them to do as a result, is just as vital in video.
A carefully planned and well executed video campaign can have a mega impact on your business. Videos can go viral, they can catapult your business to new heights, providing they are done properly.
The ability to measure the success of a video, allows you to clearly identify what is working and what isn’t and also provides you with the opportunity to change the content and message depending on how your audience are engaging with it. Something that would be pretty tricky to do with printed newspaper ads!
Understanding what you’re wanting to achieve, makes the production process a whole lot easier and the final product is much more likely to achieve its intended objectives.
It’s therefore vital that you take the time to understand why you want a video and what your objectives are. If you struggle with that, then it’s worth speaking to somebody who can help you with this important planning stage.
In the right hands, video can be one of the most powerful marketing tools available to you, but in the wrong hands, sadly, it can become a serious waste of your time and money.
About the author:
Paul Sherwood is Business Development Director at Seven Video Productions who specialise in marketing, events and explainer videos. Seven are committed to making great videos for their customers.
V Formation regularly work with clients to help them develop and implement their marketing and video strategy, taking them through the thought process of why video is needed and what it needs to achieve. We regularly collaborate with specialists, such as Seven Video Productions, to implement the strategy and ensure our clients achieve their objectives. If you’d like to discuss how video can be used to maximise your marketing efforts, please get in touch.
