A Simple Guide to Video Marketing 

How to Get Started with Video Marketing

Article by Colette Nichol, Story Strategist, SEO Expert, and Solo Filmmaker

Video marketing refers to creating videos designed to help sell products and services.

Video Marketing might be advertising, or it might refer to creating educational videos for YouTube. There are many different types of video marketing, but all are equally useful and important.

As a video producer and solo filmmaker, I’ve been doing video marketing since 2013, and I’ve seen how the world of online video has changed massively. Just a few years ago, having video as part of your marketing strategy was optional, but today that’s not the case. 

If you’re in a competitive market or you want to grow your business, video should be a cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy.

Think of any big business that’s selling to consumers right now and is thriving. 

• Do they advertise on TV? 
• Do they have a YouTube channel? 
• Do they put out reels, or do TikTok or YouTube shorts? 
• Do they have product videos or explainer videos?

All of that is video marketing. 

From dry production tutorials to flashy product launch teasers, video marketing can be used to nurture and educate people at every single phase of the customer journey. 

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Table of Contents

1. The Importance of Video Marketing
2. Why Is Video Marketing So Effective?
3. What Should a Marketing Video Include?
4. Video Marketing Improves SEO Results
5. Video Marketing Boosts Conversions and Sales
6. Video Marketing Is Great for Educating and Building Trust
7. How to Create a Video Marketing Strategy
8. Creating Videos to Onboard, Welcome, or Educate New Customers
9. Top Tips for Creating Great Marketing Videos
10. Make Videos
11. Video Marketing in 2023…Still Relevant?

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The Importance of Video Marketing

If you have a business with a reasonable budget for marketing, then video marketing will be a crucial part of your promotional and marketing mix.

Video marketing is often misused, but when done right, it can be a significant way to increase sales or add to the customer experience.

Many People Want to See a Video Before Buying Online

Especially with big-ticket items, adding a video helps close the sale. If you don’t have a video on a product page, you might lose a sale to the company that does have a video. One of the best things video does is increase people’s trust in a company and the product or service.

Your videos don’t have to be complex or fancy, but they do have to be clear, engaging, and honest.

Why Is Video Marketing So Effective?

Show, Don’t Tell

Video marketing is effective because, rather than telling you something, a video actually shows you. 

Do you remember your English teacher in high school telling you to show, not tell? Maybe your teacher wasn’t as much of a stickler as mine. But my English teacher was obsessed with the mantra,

“Show, don’t tell!”

Mr. Schneider was always encouraging his students to write in a way that would let the reader see the ideas rather than being told what to think. 

When you create a video, you’re usually trying to do the same thing. You’re creating something that is image-based; you’re focused on creating moving images that tell a story. When you do this correctly, your viewer feels like they’re seeing the truth and don’t feel like they’re being told something or dictated what to think. 

This is what makes video marketing so powerful.

It allows the audience or the viewer to come to their own conclusions, which, if your video is done correctly, is the conclusion that your product or service is the best for them. Naturally, your videos should be honest and authentic, and you should only show what’s real, not what you wish were real. Fake it ’til you make it, it shouldn’t be applied to video marketing! 

Filtering Out Customers Who Aren’t the Right Fit

If you’re trying to filter out the wrong customer, this can also be done with video marketing.

A good video will allow people to see if your product or service is not suitable for them. If you’ve ever had a bunch of genuinely pain-in-the-butt clients or customers, you know that filtering out people who are the wrong fit is just as crucial as attracting your ideal clients. 

Moving Images Plus Audio = Powerful Content

The other thing that makes video marketing so effective is the combination of moving images with sound and music. Music can be an incredible tool to create an emotional connection.

At the same time, audio or dialogue allows you to provide additional information.

So when you combine moving images with added information in dialogue and music, you create a powerful communication tool that allows viewers to connect emotionally with your business.

What Should a Marketing Video Include?

Every marketing video should contain one main idea and a hook.

The hook is the thing that grabs the audience and gets your audience to continue watching the video. The main idea is the most important thing you want your audience to remember after watching the video.

One of the biggest problems I see with marketing videos is that they contain too many ideas.

If you’re creating a marketing video for your small business, the most important thing is to decide on the desired outcome. What do you want people to do after they watch the video? You need to be clear about the one main message, how you’re going to hook the viewer, and what you want them to do.

Including a call to action in a marketing video is usually essential. Although that depends on what type of video you’re creating.

Video Marketing Improves SEO Results

Having videos on a significant SEO-optimized page will improve that page’s ability to move up onto the first page of Google and potentially into the first place position.

When I create a video marketing strategy to improve SEO, I focus on creating videos for the most important pages on a website and then using those videos to keep visitors on that webpage for longer and turn them into customers.

Video is one of the most powerful (but underused)l tools in an SEO’s traffic-boosting arsenal. 

If you want to get to the first page of Google and get the number one position, video will often be an essential part of your strategy.

Video Marketing Boosts Conversions and Sales

If your videos are created correctly and focus on a single message, they will boost conversions and sales.

Video is one of the most powerful sales tools. You can’t have your top salesperson speak to every person who visits your website. Online video is the next best thing.

With a video, you can show your product from every angle imaginable and in a context that connects to the viewer.

Or, if you’re selling services, you can have your in-house experts speak directly to the customer and explain the value and the benefits of what you do and what it’s like to work with you.

Video Marketing Is Great for Educating and Building Trust

Video marketing is great for educating and building trust because you can make an emotional connection with the viewer.

It’s easy for the viewer to tell if somebody is being authentic and if somebody is trustworthy, which is why videos are good for building trust. 

But it’s also a double-edged sword. You can’t hide anything in a video, so if somebody isn’t good on video, you don’t want them to be the star of all your product or service videos.

You want it to be somebody in your company who has a friendly, comfortable presence.

can communicate the value of what you do when your videos are done right. Your ideal client and customer will feel connected to your products and services and be more interested in becoming a customer.

How to Create a Video Marketing Strategy

To create a video marketing strategy, you have to “start with the end in mind.”

You have to know exactly what you’re trying to achieve in terms of revenue and impact. And you also need to know which products and services you’re most interested in selling.

From there, you need to be very clear about your audience and plan a video or series for all of your most profitable products or services. You might also look at some of your more high-priced products or services and choose to make a multi-video series that helps the potential client understand the value and what they get. 

You need to think about every part of the customer journey, starting from when they’re doing basic research, getting to know their options, all the way through to when they’re making their buying decision.

Creating Videos to Onboard, Welcome, or Educate New Customers

It is also a great idea to make a few videos that help customers after they buy.

An onboarding video series will make customers feel like they’ve made a great decision. You can also use this welcome series to help with any of the problems that might come up after your client makes that purchase.

For example, let’s say that you sell beautiful handmade Italian leather car seat covers that cost $5000 per cover.

You could make a short video explaining to people and showing them exactly how they must take care of their new seat covers and how to install them. This adds value to the customer experience and makes them appreciate their new purchase even more.

Or perhaps you’re a financial advisor, and you help a particular type of client.

Maybe you work with online entrepreneurs who often have many questions about whether they should be diversifying into bitcoin or buying real estate properties instead of investing in the market. 

You could create a series of educational videos that answer new clients’ common questions.

This makes their onboarding experience more welcoming and solidifies their decision to work with you. It also trains your new clients to be better clients (i.e. easier to work with) while giving them vital education! Win-win.

Top Tips for Creating Great Marketing Videos

Video marketing is important but doesn’t have to be insanely complex.

You can work with a video producer or production company, or you can do the video production in-house if you or your team is clear on the outcome. You can also bring in a consultant and get them to train your team to create videos in-house.

These are a few important tips to follow when creating video marketing assets designed to grow your business revenue:

• Always start with the end in mind.
• Have one call to action per video.
• Make sure each video is only trying to communicate one main idea.
• Don’t rely on one video to make the sale; have multiple videos.
• Ensure that your video’s background connects to the product or service you’re selling.
• Create various types of videos, not just one type of video. For example, creating educational videos, product or service videos, and testimonial videos will be more effective than just creating one sales video.
• Always know what you want your audience to feel when you make a video.
• Try to tell a story with your videos with a beginning, middle, and end.
• Think about what you want your video’s hook to be, and make sure that hook is within the first 10 seconds of your video if not sooner.
• If your audience has a short attention span, put the hook in the first second of the video.
• Don’t waste time with a logo or sting at the video’s opening.

Make Videos

It’s no simple task to make videos, especially marketing videos.

The most important things to remember are that you need a clear message, engaging visuals, and good audio. 

Many people get hung up on the camera gear they need to make good video content, and while that’s important, everything starts with the story. Focus on storytelling, and then dig into what filmmaking tools to use.

Video Marketing in 2023…Still Relevant?

Using video marketing as part of your overarching marketing strategy is critical.

When people are on a website and trying to decide whether or not to buy a product or contact a service provider, they look for a video. For a high-priced product, you expect there to be a video.

Having a video that effectively communicates every product and service that you offer will absolutely help you to make more sales, as long as your videos are clear, engaging, and correctly target your ideal audience. 

More Articles and Guides about Video Production

💡 19 Video SEO Tips for Beginners

💡 The Best Lens for Video Hands Down!

💡 How to Make Cinematic Videos

Summary of Key Points

• Every marketing video should contain one main idea and a hook to grab the audience’s attention.
• A call to action is usually vital in a marketing video.
• Video marketing is essential for businesses that want to increase sales and conversions or drive more traffic to their website.
• Video marketing increases trust in a company and its products or services.
• Video marketing is effective because it shows rather than tells the audience something.
• Video marketing combines moving images with the human voice and music, making it a powerful communication tool that allows viewers to connect emotionally with a business.
• Having videos on an SEO-optimized page can improve the page’s ability to move up to the first page of Google.
• Video marketing can boost conversions and sales if the videos focus on a single message.

SEO & Video Production Vancouver + Worldwide

Hi, I’m Colette Nichol! I’m a video producer, story strategist, and SEO expert based out of Vancouver.

Whether you’re based in Vancouver or the middle of the Arctic circle, I can help you get found online. As an SEO consultant and video producer, I typically work with clients who are experts in their field and want to reach a larger national or international audience and increase business revenue. If you’re open to combining high-end evergreen videos with traditional on-page SEO and a content strategy, you can expect to see massive results. I’d love to hear about your business goals to see if working together might be a fit.

Get in touch HERE to schedule a 15-minute introductory call.