#trending in video - May 8, 2020

Hello there and happy Friday! We made it!! Welcome to the weekend and another issue of #trending in video, the video blog from Best Made Videos® where we bring you all sorts of trending news in the world of video.

Today we are looking at an article from SearchEngineJournal.com which is all about…you guessed it…6 video marketing strategy tips for 2020. Their thesis is simple, “Brands are seeing success in using video content on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Read expert tips on improving your video marketing strategy,” so here we go!

They start with a proclamation, that video is winning for small and medium sized brands and businesses, especially right now during the COVID-19 pandemic. They quote a new study which took place over the past few months. “ A new study on small business marketer behavior reveals an increased focus on video marketing and as well as using videos to get found on search. According to the study, 64% responded that video is the most effective form of online marketing content. And almost half of the respondents agreed that they must create videos in order to grow their business.” This study was performed by promo.com who talked to over 500 small business owners and marketers from around the world.

Here’s some interesting statistics they found,

  • 70% of small businesses post videos to Instagram and Facebook Stories.

  • 62% of respondents create up to 5 videos per month.

  • 76% spend less than 20 minutes to create a video, with 49% who can create in less than 10 minutes (via Promo.com users).

  • 59% of respondents combine their own photos and videos with stock footage.

  • The majority (39%) of stock photos come from places like Unsplash or other free sources.

  • 41% of SMBs spend up to $500 per month to promote their videos.

  • 30% of respondents post one video per week with 26% who post one time per month.

So now that we know how important video is to drive consumer behavior, here’s a couple of tips they want you to keep in mind when developing your video content strategy.

The first tip they quote comes directly from Google, “create a regular release schedule for your videos when uploading to encourage viewers to watch sets of videos over single videos. You can even schedule a video to publish time.”

Promo.com interviewed a B2B business management specialist who said ““Our video content is the top producing content across all of our marketing. We invested in platforms like promo.com to help our content team to cut down on production time and not lose creative quality.”

The second key piece of advice they give is to play nice, meaning make videos and produce video content that is going to be helpful to people. Make “how-to” videos or review your past videos to make sure that everything is on point. Now might not be the time to share a video promoting a cruise or study abroad program for example. Also make sure to not go dark, continue to post new content and engage with your audience even with everything else going on.

You need to keep viewers watching the video thats you create. It’s important to focus on creating video content that is unique, entertaining, informative or compelling. Don’t make videos that are too long or too short. Try to make videos that are longer than 4:30, but shorter than 16 min. “According to Alexa, an Amazon.com company, YouTube.com is the #2 site in the United States, behind only Google.com.By comparison, Amazon.com is #3 and Facebook.com ranks #4. You can’t be in marketing without realizing the importance of video, yet it still overwhelms them. With 64% of respondents saying that video is their number one most effective resource followed only by 24% effectiveness for photos.”

Another important they talk about is being an effective editor of your brand and content. “Create a compelling opening to your videos and then use programming, branding, and packaging techniques to maintain and build interest throughout the video.”

And finally they touch on making brand videos that move the needle and resonate with your potential client or audience. “Matt Johnston, the CEO and Founder of Guide Social, runs a video marketing agency and offers up these seven tips before you press play on video production.

  • It’s not about you. It’s about your audience.

  • It can’t be selfish. It needs to be selfless.

  • It must have value for people who watch it.

  • Empathy will win.

  • Know your “North Star” – who you can help, why you can help, how you can help.

  • Aim for a connection between the humans in your brand and the humans in your potential audience/customer base.

  • Find the vulnerability in yourself and step forward with the courage to share it with the world.”

So there you have it! Some incredibly useful and fascinating tips that you should keep in mind when starting to develop your video content strategy not only now with everything that’s going on, but into the future as well as online video will become an even larger share of the the internet. Thanks again for reaching and check back next week for another #trending in video blog. Take care!