With so much coming at consumers these days, video marketing stands tall as one of the best ways to spark engagement and build connections with an audience.
But despite its proven effectiveness and eye-popping ROI, brands that rely on marketing videos to get the word out continue to face some significant challenges. Ongoing changes across video technology, the video creation process, and social media channels can test even the savviest of video marketers, challenging not only what they know but their ability to deliver results.
Not only that, but industry trends and consumer interests can shift at a moment’s notice, making it hard to churn out video content that’s consistently fresh, compelling, and competitive.
Identifying the unique challenges of video marketing is the first step to overcoming these obstacles and optimizing your video content approach. Below, I take a brief look at the main obstacles facing your video marketing strategy and what you can do to overcome them.
But before I do that, it’s important to understand:
In a nutshell, video marketing offers a fantastic opportunity to engage consumers and break down complex ideas into easy-to-understand nuggets. Online video is a powerful and highly interactive medium consumers rely on to learn about your products and brand. It’s also one of the most sought-after methods for communicating values, improving brand awareness, and compelling your audience to take the next step.
Some of the biggest advantages of video marketing include:
Brand videos make a powerfully visible and emotional impact that’s often not possible through other forms of content. They provide the opportunity to shape your story and messaging that, when done right, can really hook a target audience and supercharge online engagement.
Many people watch online videos because they provide a fast and easy way to absorb information while learning something new. Video content makes it easier to share important brand and product info, including the solutions your products provide and what makes you the go-to in your market.
Posting videos on your YouTube channel or elsewhere can be great for creating backlinks and driving consumer internet traffic to your website. The more visitors your site or webpage receives via online video consumption, the more relevant and authoritative they look to Google. Ideally, these translate into ranking signals that elevate your site’s position in search results.
These days, consumers expect product videos, explainer videos, and even video ads to be a part of the brand experience. In fact, nearly 3 of every 4 prospects prefer and seek out interactive video content over traditional text marketing, as video is where many consumers get most of their information. Digital marketing campaigns without video marketing efforts are missing a powerful opportunity to deliver a rewarding customer experience.
There are a number of obstacles that typically create havoc for a small business video strategy. Some of the biggest include:
Lacking time continues to be one of the biggest hurdles video marketers and small business owners face when creating video content. And that makes sense, given the myriad responsibilities and roles demanding an SMB pro’s time and energy every day.
Everything from ideating and writing scripts to casting and video editing is needed to generate quality online video content that gets your point across. But the day-to-day of running a business or even just managing other aspects of marketing (video ads, SEO, social media posts, etc.) can take much-needed time away from that pre-production process. Often, this can result in a rushed effort, poorer-quality videos, or video projects that get dropped from the marketing lineup altogether.
How to fix this: While finding time to create videos can be a challenge, bumping video marketing up on your digital marketing priorities list helps ensure it doesn’t fall by the wayside. Preparing a consistent video strategy also provides a helpful framework to fall back on when time gets tight, taking a bit of the time crunch out of the equation.
Developing a proper video budget can be challenging, especially for those unfamiliar with video marketing or what’s needed to create high-quality video content. Even following someone else’s successful video budget blueprint can present obstacles for the aspiring video marketer, with so many potential unknowns as to what will work for your unique brand and situation.
But having an adequate budget is key to getting video creation right. From scriptwriting to editing and promotion, the right budget accounts for everything that makes video development possible, so overcoming budget-related issues is essential.
How to fix this: If budget-building problems are stalling your production process, it helps to break that process down into five distinct aspects and allocate your video spend among them. Here’s what an average video marketing budget might look like:
Of course, budgets vary widely depending on the type (explainer videos, how-to videos, etc.) and your brand’s unique approach and needs. But establishing an aspect-based budgeting framework beforehand can greatly simplify the process, eliminating any confusion and ambiguity preventing project progress.
Having a consistent, coherent video strategy across your digital and social channels provides a crucial roadmap for reaching consumers and striking a chord with your audience. But developing that strategy can be daunting for marketers and SMBs new to social media video generation, creating a roadblock that brings your entire effort to a halt.
How to fix this: Building an effective video strategy requires a similar framework to other digital marketing efforts. This includes identifying your audience, aligning your message with the right stakeholders, developing budgets and timelines, selecting the best social media and blogging channels, refining your message, and tracking your ROI regularly.
A few other factors to keep in mind when hammering out your own video marketing strategy include how you’ll promote new videos online, the approach you’ll take to grab attention quickly, and what steps you’ll take to keep video footage brief but informative.
Internet users are bombarded by new information daily. Developing new, original video ideas that break through the noise and grab their attention can become a major problem and hold up your efforts, leaving you scrambling just to keep pace.
How to fix this: If you’re struggling to come up with fresh ideas and spark brand engagement, consider the following:
Product or service videos
Highlighting a new product or service offering can be an effective way to break out of the brainstorming funk and get your video approach back on track. Even a brief explainer video on what an existing product does or how it works can get things moving in the right direction.
Value-oriented content
Want to spark strategy momentum and create a meaningful connection with viewers? Key video marketing statistics show that consumers engage with videos that showcase brand values, especially those that align with their own.
Trend-based content
Uploaded videos centered on news and culturally-relevant topics can help generate traction and engagement for your business. Of course, if you do choose this route, it’s important to tread carefully and not pursue a connection that’s off-brand or will reflect negatively on your business down the line.
Customer testimonial videos
Customer testimonials are a great way to bust out of the video marketing rut and shine a positive light on your business. Branded video content featuring happy customers also helps combat any negative feedback tarnishing your image.
Difficulties with different aspects of video creation (producing, filming, editing, etc.) don’t just prevent you from developing awesome videos. They also tend to discourage marketers and marketing teams from giving their all and unlocking your strategy’s full potential. Technical issues like poor equipment or lack of video editing skills can really hamper your content strategy efforts, unraveling the process before you’ve even started.
Proper video planning is important and even recommended. But when the process isn’t mastered or set to operate smoothly, your video marketers’ plan will likely stall and leave your small business video efforts in the lurch.
How to fix this: There are multiple ways to iron out process issues and take control of video creation. To start, it’s helpful to invest in your own equipment. Doing so makes equipment access easy while allowing your video creators to familiarize themselves with what’s involved.
It also helps to invest in a solid video editing platform. Cyberlink PowerDirector, Adobe Premiere, and Apple iMovie can be good beginner’s options, depending on your equipment and budget.
Additionally, designating a specific room or space for filming provides a central location from which to organize video production and avoid staging issues.
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