Is video content always the answer?

If you’re on the fence about the effectiveness of online video, or just starting to dip your toe in the water, then it’s important to ensure you’re starting off right. Rather than creating videos whenever the desire/need arises, it’s important to ensure that you have an overarching strategy that each video ties into. Read on to find out how you can get the maximum value out of online video (and when it might not be the best thing for your business).

If you’re a business that’s looking to start creating online video, or want to ramp up your video production, then it’s important to make sure that you’re doing it in the right way, rather than going into it without a plan. Diode Digital estimates that video is 600% more effective than direct mail/print marketing, which is a sign that the future is well and truly here. But are you ready?

In order to ensure you’re seeing return on the time and investment you’re putting into either creating or expanding your video strategy, we’ve put together some questions to ask yourself when you’re planning out your video strategy. These questions will help guide you when it comes to optimizing the way you’re using videos, as well as some of the technologies that can enhance the messages that you’re sharing with your audience.

Do you know what your audience is interested in?

Before you start creating video content, it’s important to know what your audience is really interested in, rather than trying to guess. Depending on what content you’ve produced in the past, a great way to inspire your first few pieces of video content is by turning your most successful blogs/articles into videos, which is also a way of repurposing your existing content.

If you are looking at your analytics, see what pieces of content have the longest average read time, as well as which have the most unique views. This way, you’re working out which pieces of content people are engaging with most, as well as what’s keeping their attention for longest. Paying attention to your analytics will also serve you well when you start creating video content, as your analytics can help drive the videos you make in the future.

Alternatively, if you don’t have any previous pieces of content, you can create videos that answer frequently asked questions. This way, you’re not only creating content that will be beneficial to your audience, but you’re also alleviating the workload of your team by creating an evergreen resource that they can send to customers/prospects when those questions arise. It’s a win-win for everyone involved!

Do you have consistent topics and budget ready to create video?

It’s a bad feeling when you’ve created a piece of great content, only to take a long time before following it up. A great video strategy requires consistency, and it’s important to work out how often you want to be producing video content. Whether it’s weekly, fortnightly, monthly or another timeframe per video, you’ll want to ensure you’re showing your audience that they can expect your videos on a regular schedule, rather than releasing them without much order or sense.

It’s also important to consider budget as part of consistency, as that will also determine how often you’re releasing videos. If you’re hiring external resources for your video content, a great way to save both time and money is to create a batch of videos, and release them on a schedule. That way, you’re not trying to book video shoots and editors multiple times a month, but instead, you’re able to visualize how your content release plan will go – which feeds onto our next point!

Do you have a campaign idea to link your videos together?

Want to ensure that your videos are connecting with your audience? Rather than posting one-off videos, create a sequence that builds on each other, allowing your audience to get a deeper insight into your business and what you offer. For example, if you’re looking to show off a new feature of your product, you can create a series of videos that follow the below sequence:

1. Introducing the feature

2. Showcasing the ins and outs of the feature

3. Showing the feature in real-world settings

4. Testimonials/customer feedback related to the improvements the feature has made on their lives

Each video is able to exist on its own, but together they create a compelling narrative that will win over even the most stubborn of consumers. It’s also a great way to ensure that each video you’re creating has a shelf life beyond first release, as someone can go back and rewatch the earlier videos in the sequence to get more of an idea into the feature, and how it fits into your business’ offerings.

Are you up-to-date with the latest video technologies?

As video becomes more popular, more technological advancements are becoming available to businesses, allowing them to elevate their brand and messaging. For example, interactive video is a great way to ensure you’re turning passive viewers into active users, engaging them through interactions placed at key moments in the video.

Elements like call-to-actions that link to external pages, sign-up forms, polls and quizzes are all ways to ensure that you’re getting people invested in your video’s narrative, rather than spending time wondering what they’re actually interested in. These interactions are a source of direct customer feedback, allowing you to continue to hone your video and business strategies going forward.

Interactive videos are also a great way of including multiple products/features in the one video, so you’re not presenting the same content to your audience over and over again. You can create a branching (choose-your-own-adventure) video that allows your audience to select the option/s that are most appealing to them, meaning they’re driving the direction of their engagement with your content.

Want detailed insights into how your videos are performing, so you can make a business case to either maintain or increase investment? Rather than relying on vanity metrics like likes, comments, shares and views that traditional video captures, interactive video analytics capture interaction rates, view time and completion rates, as well as capturing customer information if they choose to enter it. It’s a great way to see who your audience is, as well as what they want to see from your video content!