A Beginner’s Guide to Video Marketing

• Learning how to create a successful marketing video starts with understanding your audience.
• A video marketing strategy that works considers the stages of the buyer journey your customers move through. 
• A professional video marketing team can guide you from planning to production for the highest ROI.

What are some brands you constantly think about? Are they the ones you always see popping up on Instagram or those once-in-a-blue-moon ads you decide not to skip on YouTube? Most likely.

It’s no coincidence that they’re on your mind if you see them all the time. Video has a way of slipping past our defenses, and when it’s done well, it sticks. Remember the Dollar Shave Club era? If you had your eyes on a screen in the past decade, you probably do. The company revolutionized video marketing with funny, casual, and eventually viral ads that were pretty much everywhere you looked.

The beauty of video marketing is that it’s one of the most flexible styles of marketing a business can use to connect with its audience and explain the value of its product or service.

And to help explain how it can be put to use for your brand, we’ve made this beginner-friendly video marketing guide with tips, tricks, and other considerations.

Shifts in Content Trends

The way we consume content is different from how it was a decade ago. Even the content we don’t voluntarily consume, such as banner ads or videos that pop up on static landing pages we visit, has more value than ever.

Social media has trained us to skim content, and with one billion hours of content consumed daily on YouTube alone, brands have adjusted their approach to marketing.

The smart ones know that while people will still go to read a blog or browse information on a website when they need answers, they watch videos when they want context. Any video marketing guide worth its weight needs to account for that reality.

Video Is King

The effectiveness of video is measurable. Tubular Insights found that users spend five times longer watching videos on Facebook than looking at static images.

So if the idea is to hold someone’s attention longer, video is the ultimate tool. It’s hard to beat.

This idea pushed marketers to start thinking about creating content that feels native to the platform rather than pushing aggressive or interruptive ads. After all, no one likes being bombarded.

One of the best video marketing tips we heard recently is “Don’t shout. Show.”

Understanding Online Video Marketing

If someone asked us to give them a standard video marketing guide, we’d tell them to start with three basic things.

1. Know Your Target Audience

Every great campaign starts with audience data, typically separated into different categories by:

• Age
• Gender
• Income
• Education
• Interests
• Values
• Location
• Purchasing habits
• Brand loyalty

In our patient story videos for Endologix, for example, defining the audience was a critical first step. Since the videos were intended for both internal teams and digital distribution, the audience included healthcare professionals evaluating treatment outcomes and prospective patients seeking proof.

2. Consumers Want to Be Entertained – Always!

There’s far too much low-effort content on the internet these days. If you want to stand out, you need to guide your video marketing so that it earns people’s attention. 

That doesn’t mean you need to make a spectacle or draft up the most clever, comedic script for every video you make. It just means you have to be clear about your intention upfront.

This approach was one we took for the documentary-style piece we created for Adlens. There was no spectacle. No punchline. Just real customers in real environments speaking about an unmet need in corrective vision that they finally found through Adlens.

By allowing people to speak for themselves and providing an emotional connection that the audience could relate to, this video earned tons of attention without overselling.

3. Make Your Videos Mobile-Friendly

More than 92% of global internet users access content on mobile devices.

Vertical and square formats often perform better on phones. If you’re learning how to create a marketing video, plan for mobile from the start instead of trying to retrofit later.

How to Create a Video Marketing Strategy

The ultimate goal of this video marketing guide is to show you how to create content from intent. That means being aware of the stages of the buyer journey, so you can invest in videos based on where your customers are.

An explainer or testimonial is better for a consumer at the “consideration” stage, while a product demo might be better for those who are gearing up to make a decision. 

If there’s anything we’ve learned after 18+ years of experience in this industry, it’s that it’s better to create multiple videos that serve different purposes instead of trying to stuff too much into a single piece of content. That’s another way the right video marketing team can help.

Get Started the Right Way

If you’re in need of professional video marketing, let 336 Productions be your guide.

Brands big and small, we work with them all. Our team has a breadth of experience using proven video marketing tips to move the needle, whether for Fortune 500 companies or mom-and-pop shops.

Contact us now to start branding your content with professional videos.