Over the last 8-9 years I’ve spent a considerable amount of time using videos in different ways.

But what I’ve learnt is that most of the time we were being far too focused in our approach without a proper strategy.

Yes, we got results but we could have been far more effective and profitable by not focusing on just a tiny part of the equation but considering the whole solution. Counterintuitive?…not really.

Here are the core elements I’ve learnt you need to consider.

1. Will video work for me?

Probably the hardest question for me to answer from afar without knowing more about your business.

As a generalisation – YES.

I would say that for most businesses video marketing would work – but it’s the type of videos you produce and how you use them, that makes all the difference.

Much will depend on your market and target audience.

2. Research is everything

The basis of all good campaigns starts with doing proper research. There are three core elements to this.

  1. Clearly understanding and identifying your target audience. Who exactly are they, what are their needs or pain points and where do they hang out?
  2. Are people actively searching for your product or service online? – if so, keyword research is absolutely critical. This will dictate the actual search terms and types of information people are looking for. Get this right and not only will you know which terms you need to set out to rank for but this will also help dictate your content strategy. Whether for further articles or video content.

Also, it will give you clear answers on which terms are better to go for in both YouTube and Google search results.

3. Doing your competitor analysis can really open up the doors to opportunity. Not only do you want to know what your competitors are doing and how but if they have big followings on social media, like Facebook or on YouTube, then this can be a huge opportunity to run ads to their audience!

Reverse engineering your competitors and in particular, their winning campaigns or successful strategies, can yield big results.

3. If video ranking is a good strategy….

If this is the case, you will want to reverse engineer the top 10 results in YouTube for your chosen keyword terms.

By doing this, you will know how well informed your competitors are when it comes to ranking videos.

Plus, you should have a pretty good idea of what it will take to rank your videos.

The YouTube algorithm looks at different measures to Google, where factors like age and authority of channel are more important. Viewer metrics like engagement, likes and comments etc. Creating engaging, informative videos is critical to maintaining your rankings. (Invest early and it will last a long time!)

While with Google it is more about the authority and quality of the backlinks pointing to your video. And elements like syndication, embeds, shares etc.

The first thing you want to do with Google though, is see if a video is already ranking on page 1 or at least within the first few pages of the search results for your search terms.

This demonstrates that Google is prepared to show video content for those chosen keyword terms and makes your job that much easier. Rather than some futile effort!

Once again, reverse engineer those already ranking and let that be your guide.

4. Will video advertising give you the biggest bang for your buck?

Video advertising can be incredibly cost effective but once again, you will want to have a clear purpose in place and will need to make a decision on which routes are best for you.

Basically, you have two choices (yes there are more but let’s keep it simple), either YouTube or Facebook advertising.

Can I not do both? Of course you can and with slightly different approaches both will work.

Within both YouTube and Facebook there are many variations but one of the simplest ways to consider each, is as follows…..

If people are actively searching on YouTube via keywords or type of content and are looking to consume video content, then YouTube video ads are a great way to go.

Also, a very powerful method often wide open is if you have direct competitors who’ve built up a very big subscriber base on YouTube and they are monetising their YouTube channel by allowing ads to run on their videos. Then this can be your golden ticket (Why not take it?).

With Facebook video advertising, it is more about identifying the interests and behaviours of your target audience and serving up your video ads that way.

For instance, if there are prominent players or ‘celebrities’ in your market, Facebook communities, pages or interests they follow, then you can base your targeting on this criteria. (There is nothing quite like the targeting power and ability of Facebook!)

I hope you now appreciate the reason for my heavy emphasis on research at the beginning of this piece. Do this properly and almost always, the optimum strategies should become obvious.

5. What types of video do I produce?

Great question…

There are basically 5 types of video you need/want to consider.

  1. I would consider in most cases the brand or promo video the most important. Do this properly and you can achieve so much with this video content.

Not only can this video be syndicated widely, create engagement and share your message or your businesses ‘why’ but also the content can often be reused and repurposed in different ways.

This needs to be a good quality, engaging video.

2. Your traffic videos. I call them this because they are the ones you will want to rank in YouTube and Google and syndicate widely. They are designed to answer a specific question or questions that the viewer has.

Remember, they will be finding these videos based on specific keywords which they are typing in as part of their search query.

Answer their questions and then show them a way you can help them. So provide them with information and then how to take the next step towards the solution you can provide or more information and guidance. Basically, leading them by the hand to the desired outcome.

3. List building video. This is a video designed to elicit a response and get people to take further action. One of the best ways of achieving this is via a training/educational format and then getting people to provide their name and email to get further video training or a downloadable pdf etc.

4. Which leads us nicely to content videos. These follow on from the above and can be used to build your trust and authority in the eyes of the viewer.

Most commonly used in public launches, these videos are very effective in moving people along your sales funnel. You are building rapport so people will want to do business with you.

By providing great quality content you are able to ‘nurture’ people and have them want to do business with you.

5. Finally the sales video. Does exactly what it says. Presents your offer in front of your prospect in a compelling way to get them to buy from you.

Did you notice I did not talk about sales or selling in the videos until the last point. That is important and the mistake I see most businesses make. They want to start selling from the get go.

That may be OK to people who already know, like and trust you but not before. Look at creating value and providing information first.

Finally…

I haven’t covered off specifically video ads or re-marketing/re-targeting ads because these can be very varied in nature. Also, these may be based on content you have already created or simply want to follow up or remind people about an event etc.

More often than not, video ads do not need to be overly complicated. In fact, most videos should not be. The promo video being the main exception as that will be doing more ‘work’ for you.

6. Do it once and use in many different ways.

We are huge proponents of re-purposing content and using in multiple different ways.

Simply one of the best strategies to use is to have your video content syndicated in as many different ways and to as many different places as possible.

We’ve developed a lot of different methods and strategies to have our video content syndicated as widely as possible.

There are two reasons for doing this –

  • The opportunity to be seen by as many of our chosen audience as possible.
  • It’s an important ranking and engagement factor for our new video content.

We have written guides on this topic but in essence, you want to have your video content distributed as widely as possible in an as ‘hands off’ a manner as possible.

A great way to start this off is by uploading your video to your optimised YouTube channel – then share this link widely via social media.

Then, take that same video and embed in a blog post on your website.

Once again, share and syndicate this blog post across your social media sites (and others!!) as widely as possible.

One of the ways I recommend to do this on autopilot, is to use a free software tool called IFTTT (If This Then That).

Once setup, it will allow you to syndicate your content across a wide network of your own branded web properties.

It’s a bit fiddly to set up correctly, so if you want to know more about this, then please get in touch. Or better still, you can have us help you with your entire video marketing strategy – for free.

7. We’re in this to make money – so need to make offers.

The offers you make to people and at what point in time are really important. After all, that’s what the name of the game is. But doing it the right way makes all the difference.

Making the right offer at the right time increases its effectiveness and your conversions dramatically.

Not all people are going to say ‘yes’, in fact the majority will not on the first few passes, so have a way to continue to build that trust, provide additional value so you can make more offers.

8. Which is why you need a gameplan…this is how it all hangs together and how the sequences and follow up campaigns work.

Also, how and when you use re-targeting to remind your contacts of your offer and about your business. (If you’re not using re-targeting ads, you should be!)

Making it all hang together does not have to be overly complicated but is incredibly important and provides powerful data and insight in to your audience. And how you can help them achieve their end objective.

I like to mix tactical methods with strategic approaches but it was this holistic approach that was so often missing in our early campaigns. We thought just ranking videos would do, or running video ads to ‘get our brand out there’. We got the rankings we set out to achieve or brand exposure but often didn’t get the results we wanted. We weren’t running well thought out campaigns with a clear gameplan.

It’s really about putting the entire strategy together. From producing the right videos for the right purpose to the follow up sequences and offers you make.

Much will depend on your business and audience but most of the elements will be the same.

So here’s some great news….

I’ve set aside some time in my diary to personally review your current video sales and marketing processes and design a fully customised video marketing strategy campaign for you …FREE.

If you do not currently have a video marketing strategy but meet our other criteria….that’s fine.

This is a genuinely free offer, and there are no strings attached.

In fact, it’s even better than you realise.

Not only do we analyse and design the campaign for you, we also create a detailed blueprint of exactly how it works and give you that as well …so you can deploy it immediately.

If that sounds interesting to you …

Here’s What To Do Next.

I’ve posted a short description of how this works, and my hidden motivation here.

Go here to read it.

Assuming you’re OK with my “hidden motives”, you’ll want to proceed to the next step.

That’s simply a short video that tells you more and shows you what a typical blueprint and campaign diagram might look like, and walks you through exactly what will happen during our session together. Yes, we get together online!

This Is NOT What You Might Be Thinking.

If you’re sceptical and are wondering if this is some kind of “bait and switch”, that’s understandable.

The good news is, it’s NOT.

In fact – it’s quite the opposite.

As you’ll see here, I’m willing to MAKE IT UP TO YOU in the event you feel this free service was a waste of your time.

No strings attached.

It’s all spelled out in black and white here.

The “Catch” You’ve Been Looking For.

There are two.

First, we’re unable to extend this offer to just anybody.

There are some qualifications you’ll need to meet – the “biggest” being that you’re a real business, not a beginner, and not selling anything illegitimate or that I do not agree with (Sorry, can only work on campaigns where we can give our all 😉)

The second is this is very time sensitive …for a reason.

We’re a small specialist company (by design) and can only offer a handful of these free blueprinting sessions each month.

They’re all granted on a first come, first served basis.

So if you found this article helpful, and would like to see exactly how these types of strategies could improve your video marketing on a consistent basis, go here.

We’ve set aside some time to design a fully customised video marketing strategy blueprint campaign for you …using the exact methods I described in this article and much more. We’ll go in to more depth, especially the research and identifying opportunities stage.

…And we’ll do it for free.

If that sounds like something that could help you, go here before all availability is taken.