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We can’t say this enough: video content as part of a digital marketing strategy is the way of the future. According to The New York Times, “We’re entering a ‘post-text world.’ Multimedia will soon dominate every channel. In other words, using writing to communicate with your audience is going out of style, and quickly.” Because there are many types of video content out there, you might not know where to start. If you don’t know which style of video is best suited for your company’s goals, use this article as your helpful guide. Important Video Content Reminders For Your Digital Marketing Campaign Regardless of the type of video you’re creating, if the video content is not entertaining, informative or interesting, it will not be seen. Consult my previous article about creating captivating videos if you need help with your content creation. As I have discussed before, the first step in any content marketing process is to determine the purpose. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, awareness or education with a short video, you will most likely want to create one for distribution on social media. If you want to inform with a longer video, create it with YouTube in mind. Some of the video content ideas listed in this article will take more time to create than others. Consult your team, resources and timeline before you decide which style you want to invest in. 10 Video Content Types To Consider 1. Company Culture/Meet The Team Videos Your consumers want to get to know your brand and the people behind it. One of the best ways to show your audience your core values, culture, mission and team members is with behind-the-scenes video content. These videos give consumers an inside look at what sets your company apart from the rest, and why your brand deserves loyalty from them. According to Single Grain, “The culture behind a brand is the secret sauce that whets employee appetites and perks up bored, disenchanted consumers.” Additional culture videos include recording office games, employee interviews, birthday and holiday parties, and everything in between. The goal of culture videos is to show that your company is more than just a process. Real humans with personality work at your organization. A bonus of high-quality culture videos is that they can attract new, motivated candidates to your company. 2. Round-Up Videos Round-ups are the video form of listicles. Listicles are easily transformed into video content and are often more engaging to your audience than written text. According to uscreen, the best round up videos are:
3. Behind-The-Scenes Videos  Behind-the-scenes video content also helps your business and your brand seem more relatable and less like a corporation. Most audiences enjoy seeing how the content they love is made. According to uscreen, “If you have exclusive insight into a process, project or situation your customers would be interested in, consider making a behind-the-scenes (BTS) video. These are usually less polished than traditional videos and incorporate lots of raw footage. As a bonus, they work for both B2C and B2B brands.” Behind-the-scenes video content also helps your business and your brand seem more relatable and less like a corporation. The more friendly and approachable your business is, the stronger the relationship between you and your audience becomes. 4. Vlogs One of the most popular types of video content across the internet is a “vlog.” This type of short video often showcases one person going about their daily life. For business you can detail what you do on a daily basis at your company, or have team members take turns vlogging on the brand’s behalf. You can even take blogs you have already written and turn them into vlog content. According to Single Grain, “Vlogs are cheap to produce, personality-driven and quite possibly the best bang for your buck in terms of sheer engagement value. Vlogging is a great medium to share a daily journey because of how intimate it is and how easy it is to build a relationship with your audience.” 5. Interview Videos Interview video content often includes two people, where one person asks questions and one person answers them. The difference between an interview that is written versus one that is in video form is personality. Words are a powerful tool to get a message across, however video content is the best way to convey emotion. You can use interview content to introduce new team members, show off brand values and align yourselves with other interesting personalities in your field.  You can use interview content to introduce new team members, show off brand values and align yourselves with other interesting personalities in your field. According to Single Grain, “A good interview should follow a set of guidelines like a vlog but feel unscripted. As an interviewer, your job is to make your subject do the talking, not the other way around. A well-done interview video is like a Get Out of Jail Free card for your content calendar, and at the very least is a surefire way to spark some discussion on LinkedIn.” Interview content is relativity easy and cheap to produce and, if you invite other experts in your field into an interview, they may share this content on their own social media sites and introduce your content to a brand new audience. 6. Q&A Videos Q&A, or question and answer segments, are similar to interviews, but instead of you asking the questions, you let your audience ask you questions. This video content also utilizes social media. Ask your social media followers to send you questions, select the ones you want to answer, and then record the video. If you are well-versed with video content, you can also try live streaming a Q&A session. That being said, unless you are comfortable with public speaking and being put on the spot, we suggest sticking to pre-recorded videos; that way you can edit the video in post-production if you need to. Q&A videos also allow your audience to get direct access to your company and show that your business is transparent, giving your brand a boost in digital marketing. 7. Featured Product Videos  If you review a product that your company uses and trusts, your audience will start to see your brand as reliable and honest. There are a lot of product reviews in digital marketing, and in our day and age, very few consumers buy products without consulting another source like their friends or internet reviews. If you review a product that your company uses and trusts, your audience will start to see your brand as reliable and honest. According to Biteable, “78 percent of people said that their buying decisions have been influenced by brands’ social media posts. Video is a great way to highlight a product or demonstrate a specific feature. An informal social media post can seem more authentic than an ad and encourage people to click buy.” 8. Tips/How To Videos Information is more available now than ever. Your audience is looking for helpful tips and tricks that they can use to improve their daily life. Does your company have something you can help answer for them? You may want to offer your advice through a video. In fact, according to Biteable, “This type of content is actually one of the most searched for online.” This type of video content will also help improve your brand credibility and the trust your audience has for your brand. 9. Case Studies And Testimonial Videos Anyone interested in your goods or services wants to know exactly what they are getting, so show them! Testimonials are phenomenal for digital marketing, and an outstanding way to show consumers what your product or service is, and that you are proud of it.  Anyone interested in your goods or services wants to know exactly what they are getting, so show them!
As uscreen stated, “When it comes to conversion, you can’t beat case studies and testimonials. It’s all thanks to social proof, or the psychological phenomenon that causes people to want something when they see others using it.” Testimonials are also authentic video content. We highly recommend that you don’t use actors to represent your actual clients. This can make your brand seem fake and inauthentic. Stick with real clients to show your audience you value their business. 10. Announcement VideosIs there anything more exciting than a new announcement? Whether you are sharing a new product, opening a new location or hosting a new event, an announcement video helps you get you the message across to your audience and cultivates excitement. It is important to note that while your announcement doesn’t have to be funny, it does have to be engaging, so keep your video content short, simple and concise. The right content marketing strategies can bring in exponential results for your business. If you’re ready to build relationships, increase your authority, and educate customers with awesome content, incorporate a little marketing into your business model.
Of course, it’s not enough to just say that content marketing is a necessity. Why is it so important? How can you get the most value from your marketing efforts? These three simple tips will help you keep on top of your game and guarantee that your business doesn’t fall victim to the changing industry. 1. Focus on More Than Content Content alone will only get you so far. Filling your blog with a variety of material is what helps increase authority and welcome engagement from your readers. Content means a lot of different things, such as white papers, research, gated content, and guest posts. For example, take a look at white papers. If you include white papers on your blog or offer exclusive access to one for email subscribers, you may see a significant jump in views. Research shows that 61% of business owners share white papers with their colleagues. Additionally, in 2018, consumers trust blog posts and podcasts as their go-to methods for educational purposes. So, articles aren’t the only way to go anymore. Business owners recognize this shift in consumer attention as well. Helen Croydon, the founder of Thought Leadership PR, doesn’t think that creating content alone will lead to any business. She does, however, think content creation brings an increase in your authority and brand. “Anyone can churn out a blog for their website in order to alert Google their site is active. But very few people understand the principles of storytelling enough to make their content useful to those who come across it,” she said. In order to make your content useful, you should recruit writers who understand the material. As we just learned, consumers still prefer blog posts as one of their top methods for learning new skills. So, an unhelpful blog post could lead to a loss in sales and viewership. According to Croydon, blogs that don’t get to the heart of the issue or listicles are telltale signs that blog content has been churned out by a non-professional writer. Since she used to be a journalist, Croydon also believes that business owners need to create thought leadership rather than content. “The first is a product, that can be easily ignored. The latter is a strategy” she said. “Thought leadership articles aren’t promotional but informative and add genuine value to the reader. But they’re way more effective because the reader will remember you, and even better, trust you.” 2. Adapt With the Industry That said, content marketing has evolved. Oftentimes, business owners wonder whether content marketing is even worth it anymore. Some even argue that the entire practice is dead and shifting towards different strategies, like influencer marketing. But, content marketing isn’t dead, it’s merely changing. The old ways of doing content marketing may have been retired, but that doesn’t mean your business can ignore the practice. Rather than giving up on marketing altogether, reflect on your strategies and see if you can make improvements. If you discover roadblocks in your traffic or lead generation, ask yourself:
Even with talk of the industry’s death, Content Marketing Institute’s 2017 research revealed its importance for businesses. They discovered that 88% of B2B marketers consider content marketing an important component of their organization’s marketing strategy. With all of this in mind, some business owners prefer to shift their focus to other methods. Take Alexander Porter, the head of content marketing at Search it Local. Porter says that it’s still possible to achieve brand recognition and traffic, but it’s “increasingly time-consuming and challenging in content-saturated space.” Instead, he focusses on upgrading his content and thinks others should follow suit in 2020. “By that I mean, take your old content, find out what was having minor ranking success, and upgrade it. Look to add layers of value,” he said. “Since you published your content, what has changed in your industry? What experts can you speak to with inclusions of their commentary? What stats are now out of date? Consider contacting prominent micro-experts in a roundup and add their input.” Porter believes these two have a dual effect on improving your previous content and allowing you to rank for keywords you already target. “But it will also create valuable relationships with industry experts who may share your content,” he said. “By including their opinions and encouraging them to share your upgraded content, you’ll benefit from a hit in traffic. The positive user signals on-site all contribute to better SEO rankings.” 3. Remember Progress Takes Time With content marketing undergoing significant changes, it’s tough to keep up with the industry. Marketers with years of experience still spend good chunks of their time monitoring current trends. Regardless of which marketing strategy you decide to deploy, remember that progress takes time. Neil Patel’s research shows that businesses should expect to see results after 6-12 months. This isn’t to say that your marketing efforts will increase traffic by triple digits. But, solid tactics should bring in some traction after about six months. Aqsa Tabassam, the growth marketer for Brandnic agrees with this. “You can’t expect miraculous results within a few months or even a year,” she said. “Instead of boosting my traffic with paid ads, I found it more fruitful to focus on quality content marketing.” Tabassam added that her main focus was to retain consistent organic traffic with her content. So, in addition to content marketing, she also focusses on evergreen blog posts. With this strategy, the older some of her content gets, the better it does. In the end, she believes that content marketing is for patient and optimistic people. “It takes courage but pays off in the long run,” she said. “Apply smart content marketing strategies, be patient, keep going, and get ready to see results.” Final Thoughts Content marketing can do a great deal for your business. Keep in mind that it takes some patience, but the proper strategy should bring in results after 6-12 months. You’ll also want to ensure that your business keeps on top of the latest content marketing trends and doesn’t fall by the wayside when further evolution occurs.  If you want to attract high-paying clients, what insights can you give away for free and can you do it in story form? After all, humans are hardwired for stories.
“Marketing is storytelling, and great storytelling transcends languages and cultures.” That is advice from Ross Kimbarovsky on how to create content marketing unicorns. Following a 13-year career as a successful trial attorney, in 2007 Kimbarovsky founded crowdspring, an online marketplace for crowdsourced creative services, where he serves as CEO. In today’s vernacular unicorn is shorthand for something that is a rarity, and great content marketing is rare. Content marketing is creating and sharing online material that does not explicitly promote a product, service, or brand but is intended to stimulate interest. To stimulate more interest in your brand, here are tips from Kimbarovsky that will help you create your own client-attracting content marketing unicorns: The best content is concise and easy-to-read. “People don’t read marketing copy,” says Kimbarovsky. “They scan. You need to get to the point. Fast. The way you organize your content and the words you choose are important. Edit ruthlessly.” Kimbarovsky contends active voice is always better than passive voice. “Use active voice whenever possible. That’s because active voice is easier to read and more concise than passive voice.” He says to compare the following two examples: Both statements are correct. But the passive statement de-emphasizes the subject (the customer) in favor of the object (the product). When you’re writing marketing copy, your goal should be to connect with the customer, not with the product. “And, importantly, active voice is nearly always more concise than passive voice,” says Kimbarovsky. Connect your content to your audience. “Stories help shape beliefs and also help people remember the things you want them to remember,” says Kimbarovsky. “Stories are powerful because they can create a mythology around a brand. And it helps that people love to hear stories about themselves and about others.” Kimbarovsky advises when you create content, consider:
“For example, on the crowdspring blog, we offer numerous opportunities for people to get free guides on a variety of topics,” says Kimbarovsky. “When people search for how to start a business and read our article on that subject, we offer them a free brand identity guide (this is a call-out in the article). Our call-out clearly and quickly articulates why our readers should care about the guide and how it will help them.” Emotion trumps logic. “Companies like Apple have shown that people respond better to emotional appeals than intellectual ones,” says Kimbarovsky. “While Apple touts the features found in its products, their print and video marketing always focuses on emotion. People intend to make rational decisions, but often make emotional decisions instead. Anyone who’s bought something on impulse knows this well.” Don’t forget to ask for something. “No marketing copy is complete without a call to action. Or CTA,” says Kimbarovsky. “The CTA is the moment in your copy when you stop making your case and ask for what you want. That’s the marketing part of content marketing. A call to action should always be clear and concise. For example, when people are looking for custom logo design for their business, we bring them to a landing page on our site that explains that product offering. And our main call to action there is ‘Get started (no obligation).’” Pick the right social channels to share content. “Before you invest time developing and sharing content on a social network, consider whether your customers are likely to be using that network,” says Kimbarovsky. “Having 10,000 friends or followers is great, if most of them are customers or prospective customers. Sharing content with non-customers might make you feel good, but it will not help your business.” Here is the bottom line for Kimbarovsky: “Most marketers and companies fail with content marketing because they focus on content and ignore marketing. If your company wants to develop a relationship with people who read and engage with your content, then the marketing part of content marketing deserves as much of your focus as the content.” |
Marcus Guiliano
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March 2020
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