Attracting prospects. Compelling customer loyalty. Closing clients.
And that’s the short answer about why video marketing is quickly becoming the norm for businesses.
Your company is nothing more than the people who make it work from the C-suite to team members on the assembly lines and in the offices. A compelling video marketing strategy brings your brand to life because it captures and presents people as they are. It’s more than a photo. It’s more than words. It’s everything with feeling bundled together like a gift with a bow.
Video marketing is a shot of adrenaline to any integrated digital marketing campaign.
Check out these numbers:
- Video content is shared 1,200% more than text and image posts
- In 2022, people are spending 19 hours per week watching videos, up from 10.5 hours per week in 2018.
- 64% of users are more likely to purchase a product online after watching a video.
As an added bonus, video marketing is a great way to boost your search engine optimization (SEO). For example, Google grants higher search results for companies based on several factors, including website traffic, backlinks from other websites, user experience (i.e. time duration) and conversions. Guess which factor videos help with? All the above!
Let’s take a look at how you can bring your brand to life with a strong video marketing strategy:
9 Best Business Video Ideas
1. Product Videos
Product videos educate prospects in a compelling way that quickly builds trust and interest. These videos skillfully highlight the products features and benefits in the best possible light, which makes it more receptive to target audiences.
Research tells us that 92% of purchasers are influenced by visual elements and 64% are likely to make a purchase after watching a product video.
When Amerlux, an award-winning design-and-manufacture lighting company, wanted to announce the launch of a hi-tech, electrical receptacle for its Avista light engine that will turn humble light posts into the bold underpinnings of a smart city, we created a video to tell the story.
Amerlux’s 7-pin option, used in conjunction with its Avista pedestrian light engine, can transform any lamp post into a wireless communication device that can connect to larger municipal networks. Reminiscent of when phones became “smarter” with apps, Amerlux is designing products that leverage existing circuit boards in LEDs to become compatible with a variety of sensors that drastically change the utility of lighting.
We used creativity and some humor to capture the essence of the product in a short video.
The award-winning LED lighting manufacturer practically stole the show at LightFair 2019 when it introduced Aerus, which provides unparalleled comfort and aesthetics in several ways. BUILDINGS.com quickly called its nearly glare-free illumination the event’s top trend.
As a result, we created another product video that reinforced the benefits of tunable lighting and Aerus, to the hospitality industry.
2. Testimonial Videos
Testimonial videos help indoctrinate your client and customers into your sales force. It’s a powerful tactic. Who better to sell your products and services than people who have already benefitted from them after they made the purchase. Unfortunately, your customer base doesn’t know that part of their responsibilities includes helping you sell the company’s offerings to others. And that is where your marketing comes into play, connecting your happy customers with the role of top pitch person.
In business, there are certain things you can’t say aloud: My company has the best customer service. We deliver on time. Have it your way!
Those types of comments are very self-serving, and, over the course of business, every experience might stand up to those claims. During a time of jaded skeptics and mistrust, don’t take on that challenge yourself. Instead, allow your customers to do the talking. Part of building a strong, trustworthy brand means helping your audiences. So, let them tell the tale. Your company isn’t good unless your customers say its good. Leverage testimonial videos.
3. Brand Videos (CMA)
At CMA, we like to work hard and play hard. And one of the ways we like to show off our culture is in our annual holiday card. Over the decades, it has become an anticipated mailer that our clients, family and friends look forward to receiving.
In recent years, we made the decision to breathe some new life into the print product and turned it into a video marketing opportunity so the world could see it. This created an opportunity for us to publish on our website and social media channels to increase the overall results.
And for our 35th anniversary, we made the holiday a little bit newsy. Take a look.
Either way, when you do what you love—and we have in-house experts in every marketing discipline from creative, web, digital marketing, copy, content and PR—it doesn’t feel like work.
Let your customers get a glimpse behind the scenes, Show off your corporate personality and people. Do your first brand video today.
4. Explainer Videos
Most people don’t like to be sold on anything. But they like to be educated about new things. That’s why explainer videos are especially important in the marketing mix. These videos speak to your prospects at the very beginning of their buyer’s journey, allowing your company to influence them along the way to purchase.
According to a 2020 report, good things happen when your prospects spend time with an explainer video. After they watch (96%) an explainer video, they buy (84%) the product or service that was explained on the video. The majority (74%) said they were convinced to buy or download an app or software.
The report also spells out how explainer videos are the preferred mode of learning about your offerings.
- Short Videos (66%)
- Text Based Article/Website (18%)
- Infographic (4%)
- Ebook (3%)
- Webinar (3%)
- Sales Call/Demo (2%)
At CMA, we have experience delivering explainer videos in various industries. Let’s look at IM Supply, which provides electrical and lighting maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) solutions for multi-site industrial customers across North America. The company asked us to give it a bold, new look-at-me digital platform that showcased its breadth and credibility across the industry that improved lead generation and its thought leadership.
Our integrated web and content team developed a cohesive, multifaceted brand awareness campaign that included key messaging for its targeted audiences and a new website that included FAQs, SEO best practices, new imagery and updated, easier-to-use content.
But the crown jewel that caught the attention of many prospects was the explainer video that featured the client’s streamlined process and benefits. Thanks to the video, the new website experienced a 387.7% increase in users and a 440.2% increase in pageviews compared to the same time a year ago.
5. Social Videos
Video marketing makes every other marketing tactic pop, especially your social media accounts. Social media marketing is all about the content you are pushing through the channel. So the better it is, the better your social game will be.
When it comes to building social media followers, engagement and referral traffic, it would be best to provide something that helps your target audiences. For example, tips are a great place to start.
At CMA, we are always interested in sharing marketing insights with our followers. Sometimes it’s eye-catching and sometimes it’s thought-provoking. Let’s face it, helping is the new selling.
So get started. Here’s a sample, short video on social media to pique your interest. And another. Here’s a longer video on social media channels where we highlighted clients who successfully shifted gears during the pandemic.
6. Animated Videos
Animated videos tend to be another version of explainer videos. But the animation itself creates a completely different experience. In short, animated videos are fun, which goes a long way to capturing someone’s attention and trust.
First, animated videos give your ideas full creative license to create any scenario or reality. Looking for characters who do something that is not physically possible? No problem. Want a pitch “person” who is actually out of this world? Check.
But here’s the best part about aminated videos: They ramp up the rest of your integrated digital marketing campaign. For example, put the animated video on your website. Feature it in social media posts repeatedly. Highlight it in your emails and newsletters. You should see an increase in results – pageviews, shares, time duration – everywhere you place it.
When Jersey HVAC Pros asked us to make them stand out in the marketplace, we created several marketing deliverables, including an animated video. Jersey HVAC is an alliance of the highest-quality commercial HVAC service contractors in New Jersey. Each member has earned the network’s 5-Star Seal of Approval for expertise, accountability, reliability, return on investment and trust. However, they needed us to help them build more brand awareness that would lead to more sales.
So, we created a one-minute video that portrayed Jersey HVAC Pros as superheroes who make their clients look like heroes for hiring them to do the job right the first time. The video also positioned the organization’s competitors as the villains.
7. News Event Videos
Sometimes, live video that put the spotlight on a news event can create change.
Since the beginning of time, from cave drawings to 400 cable news channels, people have been glued to the news. Although news cycles tend to be fleeting, they can leave a mark.
When the New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) asked for our help to jumpstart membership, we developed a news-desk operation to generate for more news coverage and brand awareness.
Several years ago, the N.J. Board of Nursing, which grants and renews licenses to practice nursing in the state, had a problem. Due to political inaction by the former Governor of New Jersey, several key positions at the board remained open, so the executive director resigned abruptly because she was unable to perform her job due to all the unfilled vacancies.
A live video was taken to capture the resignation, and a series of events unfolded. Then-NJSNA President Benjamin Evans wrote an opinion-editorial, “State Undercutting Nursing Board, Patient Watchdog,” that was published by several media outlets, including print and TV.
Press conferences were scheduled and NJSNA participated, documenting its activity on social media and press releases. Then, a N.J. Senate Oversight Committee hearing was scheduled to address the issues NJSNA brought to light.
Five days prior to the Senate hearing, the Governor filled the vacancies. NJSNA quickly published the news and a statement that CMA crafted on its social channels. The following week, NJSNA personnel attended the hearing and provided testimony under oath. A portion of the proceedings were shared on Facebook.
The live video of the press conference about the executive director’s resignation, which took place five days after NJSNA’s op-ed was released to the media, had a reach of 6,304 with 2,381 video views as it played a memorable role in the outcome.
8. Live Stream Videos
Live stream videos capture the immediacy of a situation, which makes them unforgettable and valuable. The early days of the pandemic underscored that fact.
When the American Pediatric Surgical Nurses Association needed to quickly share critical COVID-19 developments to its membership during a nationwide state of emergency. CMA identified the Facebook Live feature as the ideal way to reach their largest audience on a national scope and promoted the event on APSNA’s social media channels.
APSNA’s one-day virtual event helped deepen engagement with members by providing a forum for them to connect in a genuine way—sharing regional updates about the pandemic and getting answers to questions in real-time. The numbers speak for themselves, regarding a reach of 4,000, 232 clicks, 87 reactions, 20 live comments.
9. Corporate Videos
Corporate videos are one of the best ways to show off your culture, your people and your facilities.
When Amerlux wanted to truly share their story with the world, we created a corporate video that set them apart from the rest in the marketplace.
We developed a succinct brand story and then crafted a video that brought it to life: Amerlux creates bold lighting solutions that add warmth and brilliance to the world. The design-and-manufacture company builds long-term relationships with architects, facility managers and lighting designers by taking every complex problem personally. Its award-winning portfolio includes innovative interior and exterior lighting products that deliver striking aesthetics and rich performance through advanced engineering.
Take a look at our award-winning corporate video for yourself.
When it comes to video marketing, there are many successful approaches to capture the thing that make your organization special and unique.
If you’re ready to tell your story with video marketing, contact us today! Rely on our experience.