Video is not new but is quickly gaining importance in the online marketing industry. Video has been able to provide businesses in many industries returns that they would otherwise be unable to attain through traditional marketing methods. It is an excellent investment for almost any business who wants to increase conversion and stand out from the competition while winning the hearts and minds of their customers.
Many businesses struggle to find a way to make their video marketing efforts reliably convert. It is important to understand that digital video marketing requires planning and proper execution to realize gains. Just posting a video does not guarantee results. Even if it appears to be what the competition is doing.
Here are a few tips to increase conversions and ensure that you see the returns when using video.
Answer Questions from Your Audience
The best way to make a connection with your audience through digital video is to talk about the things that they truly care about. What kind of questions is your audience asking? That is always a good starting point for figuring out what content you need to cover in your videos and how that content might be received by your intended audience.
Consistent Calls to Action
When you are calling your viewers to action, it is important that you make consistent calls to action throughout the entirety of the video. Don’t ask them to subscribe at the beginning and make a purchase at the end. Every video should have a consistent and straight-forward goal in mind for your audience.
You want your audience to have the next step be very clear. Asking them to do more than one thing will take the focus off of the more important of the two calls to action.
The call to action doesn’t always have to be buy now. Invite your audience to watch another video, download more information or share. There are several other possible calls to action depending on which stage of the buying cycle your video is focused on in this blog article: Tips for a Successful Video Marketing Strategy
Keep Things Short
Did you know that 59% of viewers will watch a video to completion if it is less than one minute long? This is a very important statistic for those that are trying to improve conversion rates through video. Although we might not always be able to get our videos down to less than one minute, the quicker that you can get the point across the better, and the more likely your viewers are to stick around through the end of the video.
Remember, a large portion of your viewers have no interest in sticking around until the end so it is important to have the call to action sprinkled throughout the video and not just at the end.
Be Genuine
Audiences love it when they feel like they are interacting with a real person, and not someone that was paid to read a script. Try to be as genuine as you can when you are making your videos and let your true personality shine. This will help you to establish a more personal connection with your audience. Building trust takes time, but getting in front of the camera and speaking directly to your audience can speed up that process.
You can achieve this through using key opinion leaders. Give them talking points but because they are authorities on the subject, they will speak like they do every day. This will translate as genuine to your audience.
If you are doing a video series, consider using a common spokesperson or host that the audience can recognize and connect with. This personality will build trust over time and will become a recognized authority for your brand message.
Put Your Audience First
When making digital videos for your audience it is important that you remember that these videos are not for you – they are for your audience. Focus on them. Focus on their wants, needs and questions and you will have a much more successful showing overall.
Avoid pushing your agenda or message. Resist being a marketer and put yourself in the shoes of your audience for the information that they will find helpful and interesting. This will yield better results for you.
Use Your Videos in Multiple Places
You have audiences in many locations including on your website, on social media, newsletter subscribers and new sales prospects. These are all perfect audiences for your videos. Don’t limit the video to just a single location or usage. Even if you have to alter or shorten the message slightly, get the most out of your video by using it in as many places where your audience is as possible.
Plan for this in the beginning so that you can capture the needed messages for each of these audiences.
Use Technology to Allow for Conversion
Many marketers don’t realize the capabilities of video players and therefore don’t allow for conversions to occur. You are not limited to just a single clickthrough link at the end of a video. You can provide helpful (clickable) tips throughout the video, email forms, download links, comment boxes and more. Some of these options are available using annotations in a YouTube video player but others require a player made for marketers like Wistia or Vidyard.
Measure Video Conversions
It seems obvious but it’s surprising how many marketers are not tracking anything beyond video views and clickthroughs. This is likely not enough to prove the value or return of your video investment. Conversions often don’t happen right away so it’s important to understand the impact of video on this decision process.
Make sure that your video audience is tied into your other marketing analytics so that you know the value of the audience that watched a video versus those that did not.
Just knowing that the audience that watched a video converts at a higher rate is usually enough to show value in video marketing. Then you can expand and understand more about which messages have the highest impact and conversion.
Here are some essential video metrics that you should also consider.
If you would like to learn more about how you can improve your digital video marketing efforts, do not hesitate to contact us today. We’ll walk you through the process of establishing a high quality digital video presence and help you design videos that convert at a high rate for your business.
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