Video is now the major form of media in western civilization. It’s hard to argue with it considering we see videos in one way or another everyday. But in 2021, there is almost a tsunami of different content available at customers’ disposal. It almost seems impossible to leave a lasting impact on a potential customer’s memory. But I’m here to tell you that if you invest wisely, explore different strategies and keep an open mind, you can reap the rewards of video marketing and increase sales.
The most important part of a successful campaign is to look at the target demographic for your business, then cross-reference that with the popular video types by age group. This will give a good indication as to what direction you should head in. Also looking at competitors for inspiration to see what styles work in your industry. We’re going to break down 5 major video marketing strategies worth looking into for 2021.
Explainer videos
Do you have a niche business? Do you provide a service that the average person wouldn’t know about? Or do you sell digital services or software? Al ot of service based businesses have found that explainer videos are integral to introducing their services to a casual audience. The average customer might not even be looking for your service, but if they see a video explaining your service, then already you have placed the seed in their mind.
Explainer videos can be done through shooting someone explaining, or through motion graphics. The real life approach may be for b2c based services, as having a personal touch of someone talking to the camera may engage viewers more. Motion graphics are very versatile, and can be used for either b2b or b2c. Motion graphics are good at helping audiences visualise a service or product, as you can use illustrations to show hard to explain concepts. We know a huge amount about motion graphics and have example videos you can see here.
Drone Fly Through
The “flavour of the month” video type, Drone fly throughs are a great way of giving people a glimpse into how your company works, and what your business looks like. Drone fly through videos are perfect if you have a recently renovated office, a large facility or multiple stages of development. A video of a drone flying through a bowling alley in America went viral this year, earning praise from the biggest newspapers in the UK. The reason it performed so well is because bowling alleys have both front of house, and behind the scenes elements, which to a casual viewer, might peak their interest. That’s the key.
If you have a business that does something most people won’t know about, why not enlighten them? We recently created a fly-through of DCS, a refrigerator recycling plant in Earls Barton. We added call-out titles to engage and inform viewers what they were seeing. This was great for them as they often had questions asking what’s involved in recycling fridges? It also gave them the opportunity to show off their new storage unit – which can hold 10,000 units.
Drone fly throughs are a great way of giving your customers an interactive experience of seeing your business. Predominantly using FPV drones, it gives a lot of insight, with very few words. It’s perfect for those places with quirky offices and larger facilities with lots of moving parts. The idea is to make your business more approachable, and give your viewers information. Information goes a long way.
Web Series
Web series are a great way to give relatability to your brand. Over 2 billion users visit YouTube each month, it is a great place to gather natural organic impressions. Consider a web series, where your service is put to a test, or starting a big project and documenting every step. Now add in music, cinematics and transitions, then you have something you can market.
With YouTube and Vimeo being more popular than ever, interesting and engaging videos are the golden ticket into building your brand in the video space. During lockdown, we created a web series for our friends at Thornton Hundred Motorcycles, where they built different custom motorbikes, tested them out, and showed the processes. After our first video dropped, it reached 1 million views in the first month.
Now they’re channel has 100k subscribers and millions of views. It is definitely worth looking at the demographics of your target audience, and seeing what forms of content they enjoy. If you have a cooking business, look at doing a MasterChef type competition. Or maybe you build PC’s, maybe look at doing a “How it’s made” type show breaking down new PC parts. Video professionals will know how to make the videos engaging for online audiences.
Influencer Marketing
The one that carries the most risk is Influencer Marketing. This is solely down to the fact that influencers can be very expensive, and can’t always guarantee results. However, with good research, and a well thought out campaign, influencer marketing can be very beneficial to your business. You see many influencers receive products for free, with promotion as payment, but what if you haven’t got products to give out? Or what if you offer services? There is an alternate solution.
How about picking an influencer to be the face of a video marketing campaign? That way you can record multiple videos in one shoot. This would be enough to spread out social media content over 1-2 months, keeping the campaign relevant with new content. When the campaign is thought out well, with engaging content, you are likely to attract the influencers following to view your product or brand, out of loyalty to the influencer. If you can find a way to relate the campaign to the influencer in a clever way, then you’re going to have an audience ready to receive information directly. It is a high risk/high reward style of marketing ideal if you have a big budget to work with.
Viral marketing
Last but not least, viral marketing. This is a campaign that involves performing either a publicity stunt or a marketing ploy in the hopes of gathering widespread attention to generate buzz around your business. This strategy is one that requires the most planning, and potentially the most budget. But if you plan it smart, you will be able to make a large bang from a small buck.
One way to attract people would be using your brand or service in a video that goes viral on social media. With a good understanding of trending topics, you can squeeze your brand into a topical discussion, in keeping with the trend and its tone. One example is the Dollar Shave club viral advert. With a witty script filled with punchlines and visual gags, this advert went viral on YouTube, amassing 27 million views on the platform. Anyone who works in the marketing sector knows that is insane coverage. This propelled dollar shave club into the stratosphere, making them one of the fastest growing companies in 2012.
The aim is to insert your business into pop culture enough that people are talking about your company, but at the same time not forcing it to the point it becomes tasteless. TikTok is a good place to look at going viral, with their algorithm putting popular videos in front of millions. A good investment of time would be analysing TikTok, and seeing if your company can add unique, engaging content to their page. The key is always consistency, so to keep relevant, treat TikTok as its own social media page, with regular uploads and good interaction.
So hopefully this has been helpful information, if you have any questions about video marketing, you can touch it with us here. This is just a short summary of some of the different avenues you can go about marketing in 2021. We hope you enjoyed the read and keep us in mind for your upcoming projects.
