Are Your Marketing Videos Effective?
It’s not enough to make a marketing video. You have to make an effective marketing video. Your video has to connect with your customer and persuade them to make contact. But how do we know if our videos are effective?
Ascend2 carried out a piece of research in late 2015 where they broke down marketing videos into different categories and then examined which were most effective. They did this by comparing research results to the marketers stated aims for their videos. It’s interesting to note that most video marketers measured how effective they were in terms of increasing brand recognition, not it terms of lead generation. Lead generation was only the second most important aim of most marketers.
That may colour your assessment of the information the survey provides if your main aim is lead generation. However, the results are still useful and may give us some insight into how we can best choose the stories we tell to reach our customers.
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Let’s take a look at the eight most effective video types.
The Most Effective Video Types
8. Event Videos
Of all of the video types identified by Ascend2 the least effective were event videos. I am not surprised by this. As a video marketer I would only use event videos for a very specific audience or as a part of a larger overview. If your business is a location like a hotel looking to boost your wedding bookings or a place of worship trying to attract more believers then a video of an event may be effective for you. There are,however, almost certainly better ways of spending your video marketing budget.
7. Vlogs
There are a growing number of businesses that invest in vloggers to increase brand recognition. Disney has spent a lot of time working with vloggers, usually families who produce “box opening ” videos in order to generate awareness and excitement about their Infinity video games. The investment works for them because they are trying to reach a very specific audience.
6. Webinar
This one came as a surprise to me. I shouldn’t admit that but I never thought webinars would even make the top one hundred most effective marketing videos. The key with all of the video types we’ll look at today is your audience. There are obviously companies out there for whom webinars really grab the attention of their customers. I recently saw a webinar from an online casino where an experienced poker player discussed the intricacies of the online game with novice players. The webinar didn’t cost anything but the Casino’s name was prominent throughout.
5. Project reviews & Case Studies
This type of video is often used for a technical audience. Project managers value the ability to asses a previous implementation of whatever it is they will be dealing with so that they can avoid the pitfalls and problems others encountered.
4. Thought Leader Interviews
Thought leaders are people who have expertise in a subject and who have a following. This is the equivalent of watching an economist on the news explain just why brexit was such a bad idea. Again the type of audience you are seeking will determine whether this will work for you. This will be most effective when your audience already follows and trusts the thought leader you have engaged. I think of this as a celebrity endorsement with added gravitas.
3. Demonstrations
I’ve talked before about the power of product demonstrations and it’s no surprise that they are up at number three on our list. When a product or service has great value for the customer a video can show them that value. Demo videos are now a mainstay of the video game industry, showing in game graphics and gameplay and exciting gamers for the release of the product. I remember the Nintendo Wii needed demo videos to explain to gamers how it worked. In making gamers excited it also showed casual users just how great an experience it would be. As a result it was the best selling console of its generation by almost twenty million units.
2. Explainers & Tutorials.
How many times have you searched YouTube for a video that teaches you how to do something? Everyone does it. You may not have noticed but over the last ten years video tutorials have created a revolution in learning. Don’t just take my word for it.
This is a power that some businesses can use to generate huge brand recognition and loyalty. It’s simply a matter of trading some of your expertise in order to gain recognition as an expert and to gain the trust of your viewers.
1.Testimonials
Testimonial videos, as I’ve said many times before, allow your viewers to see someone who has used your business and hear what they have to say. They are the best way by far to build trust with viewers. You can read my blog about their power here.
I hope that’s been useful for you. There are video types among the top eight that I don’t usually consider and it is a sobering experience to have my experience and assumptions tested by actual research. The useful thing about this research is, however, that there are more ways of getting your message across effectively than we often consider.
I’m off to set up a webinar on the best way to fry pork chops because that is a matter of great interest and concern to me. Thanks for reading and as always, good luck.
