At Jute Creative, we are big fans of video—watching it, making it, and bringing its value to our clients. It’s a fresh and authentic medium with incredible results (to name just one: 90% of customers say videos help them make buying decisions), and it’s a persuasive way to communicate your message.
Despite video’s rapid rise and the starring role it now plays in online marketing and storytelling, many marketers haven’t yet tapped its potential. If that sounds like you, read on. Because believe it or not, video is accessible to marketers working with budgets of all sizes.
If you’re a visual learner or you want the quick version, check out our 2-minute animated video and then come back here for the details.
In this post, we’re going to serve up data that explain video’s stunning ascent as a marketing strategy, break down the tactics that make a video truly effective (hint: it’s not about spending a fortune), and tell you how to tailor a video marketing strategy that lines up with your specific needs and meets your business challenges head on.
We hope you’ll consider Jute Creative a trusted partner when it comes time to put your video marketing strategy in place, but we also want you to have the tools and know-how to start shooting and posting your own videos right away. That’s right: you can absolutely make your own videos in-house—and in many cases, it could be your best option. For more on this, stay tuned for our next blog post, “Jumping into Video: Things to Try When You DIY.” But first, keep reading below!
Why Video Works
Regardless of whether you DIY or hire it out, video is influential and irresistible—a winning combination for almost any marketer. Consider:
- Putting video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%.
- Every day, people watch 100 million hours of video on Facebook, 1 billion hours of video on YouTube, and 10 billion videos on Snapchat.
- Simply putting “video” in an email subject line has been shown to increase open rates by 19%.
- Add video to your email marketing and you could raise your click-through rates by 200–300%.
Perhaps most importantly, video is still on the rise:
- Cisco predicts that by 2021, video will account for 82% of all internet traffic. That means video isn’t just a popular or effective communication format—it’s poised to become the dominant language we use to tell our stories and connect with people online.
- Video is pure content, and there’s a reason Seth Godin calls content marketing the “only marketing left”: it’s authentic, useful, and perfectly suited for the internet generation.
If you aren’t considering video as part of your marketing strategy, why not?
Things to Consider Before You Record
Video delivers great benefits, but it’s not a silver bullet or a magic button that provides instantaneous returns. Sometimes it’s not the right solution at all. Many companies have jumped into video, at considerable expense, before answering some of the key questions that could have helped them get the ROI they’d hoped for. For best results, be thoughtful and don't rush your strategy.
Start by asking yourself these questions:
- Who will be watching your videos? Your audience could range from employees to clients to prospects, so you’ll need to be clear about who your stakeholders are and what they’re expecting from you. And depending on where you work and what you’re trying to communicate, your video might have some important things happening behind the scenes, such as adherence to brand standards and legal/compliance considerations. All of this needs to be well thought out.
- Where and when will your viewers be watching? At their desk at work? On a tablet at home? On a smartphone on the bus? These factors will influence how you handle things like video length, audio, use of subtitles, etc. Figure out where and when your ideal viewers will be finding and watching your video—and then meet them where they are.
Pro tip: Subtitles go a long way toward helping your message stick, especially if you think your viewers will be scanning your video at work or anywhere they can’t crank up the volume. - What do your viewers need from you or your industry? What’s been preventing them from getting it?
- Why do you want these people to watch your videos? Getting viewers to take action, getting them to remember you, and giving them valuable insights are all valid reasons to put your videos in front of people. Before you start, be clear about your goals—they will guide your creative process.
- How do you want your viewers to feel? Maybe you want them to feel like insiders who are getting the scoop straight from you, in which case a DIY video might be just the thing. Or maybe your goal is to instill the kind of trust and confidence that a polished, professionally shot video can deliver for you.
The answers to these questions will give you the direction you need on just about every aspect of your video, from content to tone to length to platform.
Make Your Own, or Hire a Pro?
If you’re feeling called to dive into video after reading this post—and we hope you are!—the next step is to determine whether to do it yourself or hire a professional. Both approaches are totally valid and depend entirely on your goals. Your video could answer a customer’s question, or it could be aimed more broadly at building brand awareness. It could be instructional or educational in nature, or just fun to watch—which is its own kind of value.
If you’re looking to share a quick blast of timely content with your audience, your video could be shot on a smartphone, uploaded to YouTube within the hour, and shared instantly via social. But if you’re thinking of an evergreen piece that lives on your homepage—something with great script development, talent, lighting, audio, and editing—then you probably need a professional solution. Along this spectrum, there are many potential scenarios. We’d love to talk through the possibilities with you.
We’d also love to see you take matters into your own hands. If you think an in-house solution could work for your video needs don’t miss our next post, “Jumping into Video: Things to Try When You DIY.”