If you’re just getting started in digital marketing, the terms can seem overwhelming. Content marketing, social media marketing, video marketing – what the heck are they? Well, the first two are the topic for another post, but video marketing is easy to explain. To put it simply, video marketing is using video to promote your product, brand, or service online, through video channels, advertisements, and social media sites. A really common saying is that “content is king” in marketing. But what type of content? Well, for the past several years video has been reigning supreme. Why is that?
Half a decade ago, video marketing consisted of putting a video on YouTube and sharing the link around your social accounts. But with tech advances, we now have a ton of different options for sharing video with our audiences. Basically, if there’s a method you use to communicate with your customers, you can almost certainly share video on it. And with all these different ways to share video (and all the benefits that come with incorporating video into your marketing campaigns) its no wonder that video will remain on the throne for the foreseeable future. So what are some of these new methods? Check ‘em out:
Probably the most hated of all video marketing, in-banner advertisements are videos placed in banner or side-panel ads that play automatically when a visitor arrives on a page. The most annoying of these ads also auto-plays audio. Argh! If it makes you feel better, marketers hate it too. In-banner advertisements create a poor user experience and don’t even provide ROI. So basically, don’t feel like you have to use it, and don’t feel bad for muting that obnoxious ad.
You know how sometimes when you go to YouTube to watch a video you have to sit through 5 seconds of advertisement before you can click to skip the ad? That’s pre-roll video! On the one hand, it encourages people to skip commercials. After all, you only have to wait five seconds in order to move past the ad. On the other hand, that five-second limitation has encouraged brands to embrace their creativity to get customers to keep watching. And something that encourages creativity can’t be all bad, right?
You know how after your turn in Words with Friends the gameboard disappears and an advertisement plays? That’s in-app video. Yeah, it can be annoying, but its apparently pretty effective, and advertisers and developers are working hard to make the UX better. For example, playing video that corresponds to where you are at a point in the game, or offering you the option of watching a video to unlock content. Marketers are also working harder to target their ads, so hopefully you, a grown man, will stop seeing ads for Barbie’s Big Adventure. Unless you like that video! In which case, watch on!
Vine and Instagram have been infiltrated by marketers – hoist the colors! Ok, not really, because the limitations of short form marketing have resulted in some frankly amazing content. By keeping your ad at 6 or 15 seconds (depending on whether you use Vine or Instagram) you have to find a way to make your ad memorable and compelling in a really short period of time. But whether the brand is making a DIY video, showing their products in action, or reporting the news, those short videos are fun and ultra-shareable.
Meerkat and Periscope are live streaming video apps that both premiered in the last year, and marketers have jumped all over it. Mobile broadcasting is interactive; viewers can post comments and questions and the content creator will see those live and can react to them, adapting their content to what the viewers want to see. Mobile broadcasting is great for things like event walk-throughs, home or office tours, and sneak peeks of upcoming products. Finally, mobile broadcasting can help you form a real connection with your audience; after all, there’s nobody better to share your passion, story, or values than you.
So those are just a few examples of ways in which video marketing has kind of taken over in the past few years. Now you’re probably thinking that video marketing is everywhere, sure, but why the heck should you use it? Come back later this week, and I’ll tell you.