A Small Business Guide to Video Marketing
Why it’s easier than ever to jump on this burgeoning trend and run with it as a small business owner. PLUS tips to get started straight away (without the overwhelm).
In 2021, let’s ditch the stigma that ‘all-out’ video production is the only way to do video marketing right for small businesses.
Because you don’t need to post content with the production value of a James Cameron blockbuster to reap the rewards of video for your brand. From maximising reach, clicks, and sales to audience loyalty and sustainable growth, video marketing success comes down to a simple three-step process that can be replicated in any business.
And at Grevillea Marketing, that process is pretty darn easy, relatable, and sustainable. Because we’re on a crusade to make the words ‘marketing’ and ‘enjoyment’ synonymous with one another. First step? Was content marketing. Second? Video.
To sum it all up in one bitesize little table of contents, we’ll be covering:
What is video marketing
The benefits of video marketing
Types of video marketing
Statistics on video marketing
And steps to create your own video marketing strategy
First stop? Making the words ‘video marketing’ less scary.
What is Video Marketing?
The definition of video marketing
Let’s dissect the two for a second.
Video - the kind with moving images.
Marketing - spreading the word about your business to the people who matter.
Together? The two can be used to promote your brand, build rapport, make announcements, lead change, educate and share stories. Couple that with the fact the visual impact of video enhances your message, you’ll be making your brand far more shareable and engaging. But what are the full benefits?
Why Video Marketing Matters for Small Business
On average, it takes 8-minutes to read 1000-words. And while we know that blogging will always be queen in the realm of organic traffic, engagement, and lead generation, video is content marketing king.
For the time-poor, social media-first audience, video is highly engaging, shareable, and connective. And for the equally busy, multi-passionate small business owner juggling all the hats? It’s a quick way to:
Improve brand awareness
Increase reach
Encourage engagement
Promote offers and offerings
Create sustainable, repurposable content
Overall, there are two big reasons video marketing matters:
Boosts organic traffic
Piquing your audience’s interest with video content means you could enjoy up to 41% more traffic than brands that don’t. Plus, search engines love video content, especially with Youtube being the world’s second-largest (behind Google, of course).
Increases reach
Videos are far more exciting, and therefore shareable than static content meaning your audience is more likely to share them. This helps spread the word about your biz to more people just like then.
Writing a 2000-word blog can be daunting and time-consuming (as much as it’s an integral part of your strategy), but a quick story, live stream, or behind-the-scenes video can take just 30 minutes. It’s far more realistic to fit into your schedule, and that gets a big ol’ tick from us.
Types of Video Marketing
Video marketing comes in many forms. Short. Long. Live.
And then there are all the formats you can use like:
Demos
Brand showcases
Event highlights
Interviews and expert features
Education piece
Explainers
Animation
Case studies or testimonials
Live videos
Personalised messages
So. Many. Options!
Examples of great video marketing:
Where do we find our inspiration?
No matter your product, service, or passion, there are some accounts absolutely killing it with their video creation! Some of the accounts we always take nuggets of inspiration from include:
Australia Zoo
Cute baby animals and Robert Irwin aside? These folks are doing majorly good things when it comes to bite-sized content that connects. Spanning personal, feel-good, and educational content, the Irwins combine a strong and consistent strategy with clear messaging and strong calls to action. Here’s one of our favourites.
Butterbing Cookies
Delicious and shareable? Only our favourite combination! These connoisseurs of dessert cookie creation know how to make short-form videos that leave you drooling on your phone screen. From their funny office-related content to uber-satisfying videos showing the cookie baking process, they’re almost as irresistible to watch as they are to eat!
Mecca
Mecca’s approach is a little left of centre when it comes to video marketing. But would we expect anything less? The team delivers makeup and beauty-related live streams and uploads the replays to their website. Informative and conversional, they’re stunning to watch, filled with great (free) beauty advice, and always sale-ready with mentioned products linked front and centre. Check out the Mecca Live page for their most recent streams!
5 Video Marketing Stats You Need to Know
Time-saving, engagement-driving benefits aside, the numbers prove the benefits of video for small business too. Here are five stats you need to know:
75% of videos are viewed on mobile - which means you can catch more people on the go.
Video marketing has a 74% higher ROI than static imagery or written content - and seeing it for ourselves, we’d have to agree.
54% of consumers want to see more videos from the brands they love - which means they’re going to crave your content!
Over 90% of brands say they can directly link more sales to producing more video content - the correlation with conversions is crystal clear!
Consumers will spend over 100 minutes per day watching videos - which means you’ve got a captive audience ready to hear about your brand!
So how do you take advantage of it?
STEPS TO CREATE POWERFUL, ACHIEVABLE VIDEO MARKETING STRATEGY
Strategise
You don’t need to have the fanciest equipment or the biggest production value to succeed with video. Like everything, results come down to strategy.
Ask yourself three questions:
What is your goal for your video? Is it to...
Drive traffic?
Tell your audience about a discount?
Launch a new offering?
Who is your audience?
What stage of the buyer journey are they at, and how will your video align?
Think awareness, interest, action, desire, and how your video will nurture them through to the next stage, and closer to conversion.
What is the appropriate content?
How will you capture their attention (within the first 3 seconds)?
What are industry and audience-relevant video trends you can jump on?
What content is your audience loving from similar brands?
Once you’ve sorted this, it’ll extend into whether your content is long or short form, what creative you’ll use to support it, and what metrics you’ll track.
2. Ideate
Woot-woot! Strategy secured, now it’s time to get those creative juices flowing!
Here’s a checklist:
Plan out key points and calls to action
Script your video (if doing a piece to camera) or plan out your shots
What elements will you use to enhance?
Products or props?
Gifs?
Music?
Text overlay?
Filters?
Plan for these to make your post-production process easy peasy!
So. You’ve now got the ultimate content combination planned. Let’s bring it to life!
3. Create
While you can definitely opt for a professional camera if you’ve got one on hand, your phone is your best video creation tool! Most smartphone cameras deliver high-quality shots with ease!
Once you’ve filmed your raw video, you can start adding in those enhancements with oh so many budget-friendly (or 100% free) video-creation tools, like:
Vimeo - to upload, host, and share videos
Storyboarder - for quick and easy storyboard creation
Celtx - for scriptwriting and storyboard templates
Adobe Premier Rush - for easy video editing
Biteable - for free video creation
Premium Beat - for background and feature music
Canva - for stunning thumbnails
And there you have it - three easy steps to video marketing success!
TL;DR? Here’s the 4-1-1 on video marketing for small businesses.
Video marketing is the word on the lips of every marketer and a proven effective strategy for every small business owner, no matter your budget, experience, or goals. The only way to make it work is to dive in, get behind the camera and get sharing!
Simply strategise, create and ideate and you’re well on your way to being your brand’s very own director, editor, producer, and main character...and your audience’s favourite business to watch.
What’s your take-away?
Start with a simple goal. To create just one piece of video content per week. It doesn’t need to be incredible! Just think sustainable, engaging, and strategic. A 5-part Instagram story, TikTok, or 5-minute live.
To kick things off, consider three things:
Your goal
Your audience
Your content direction
Some ideas to help you get started include...
Great client feedback on a recent project - make this a case study or interview
A cool new service or product - this could be a timelapse of the creation/working process
An idea or thought leadership piece on an industry trend - a live piece to camera
So many goals and ideas and so little time? Let’s develop a strategy together.