Thanks to the internet, companies have a plethora of ways to reach new audiences and advertise their products. However, it can be overwhelming to understand which outlets are the best for your brand. Between social media, pay-per-click services and now video marketing, you may not know where to begin. No matter what type of business you run, video marketing is one of the most effective ways to help people remember your brand and garner new customers. Humans are visually stimulated beings and watching an entertaining or informative video can often stand out more clearly in our mind than reading the information on a website. Learn more about how to invest in affordable camera equipment and start filming your videos today.

What Is Video Marketing?

Video marketing is relatively straightforward—it’s the act of using videos to market your business. However, this can be done in a number of ways. Of course, you can always utilize the standard promotional video that advertises your business and emphasizes your brand. But, there are a handful of other great types of video marketing that you can try out for yourself. Product demos are one common type. These are videos in which a product that you sell is explained and the host demonstrates all the features and advantages. This is a great way to highlight some of your top-selling products and prove their quality. Customer reviews are another great way to gain the trust of your potential customers. These videos talk to real people about their experiences with your company and products.

Why Should You Use Video Marketing?

Research shows that videos are one of the best ways to get your customers engaged with your brand. In fact, HubSpot’s “Digital Consumer Trends Report” found that 54 percent of people want to see video content from brands—the top preferred method over email, social media and blogs. If this is the type of content that your customers want to see, why not give it to them? Video marketing can provide invaluable information and lead people back to your company website to hopefully convert them into customers.

Video Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

1.Creating a Video That Is Too Long

Videos that are too long are not going to get many plays. And, typically, video marketers insert a CTA, known as a call-to-action, at the end of the video. But if your video is too long, none of your potential customers are going to make it to that end CTA, rendering the video useless. The general rule of thumb is that marketing videos should be two minutes or shorter. This is enough time for you to get your point across without boring your viewer or taking up too much of their time. Be sure to plan your video accordingly. Too much content and the video will run overtime, which could impact the video’s effect as well.

2. Not Emphasizing Your Brand

You might produce the coolest video in the world, but if you forget to plug your brand, you’re not going to see any results from it. You want to make it clear that your company is associated with the video without going overboard and sounding too sales-y. There is a very fine balance between the two. Try to mention your brand name a handful of times throughout the video and incorporate your logo or brand colors to further remind people of the company. However, you want to avoid over-the-top sales pitches. Think late-night infomercials and do everything you can to refrain from creating videos like that.

3. Avoiding Social Media Sharing

Social media is your best friend when it comes to sharing content. These platforms are the best places for new people to discover your brand because of the ability to target specific audiences. Your brand will also be displayed to users who follow or engage with similar companies, helping grow your brand awareness. Because of these opportunities for exposure, social media sharing is vital to the success of your video marketing campaign. Create a content calendar to determine when you want to post your videos to your social accounts and try to spread them out. This will make the content more unique and engaging rather than posting a whole bunch of videos at the same time.

4. Leaving an End CTA Out

Your CTA, or call-to-action, is the part of the video where you’re guiding people towards an action that you want them to take. This could be as simple as visiting your website. For every video that you make, you should have a clear goal in mind and indicate that through your CTA. If you’re running a contest and you want to use a video to promote it, your CTA would be encouraging people to sign up or participate in the giveaway. If you have a product demo video for an item that you want to sell more of, you can make the end CTA a call to visit the product page or make a purchase. Whatever the purpose of the video is, it should be clear to the viewer what action you want them to take at the end of the video.

5. Forgetting to Check Video Analytics

Analytics are your greatest tool when it comes to adjusting and creating marketing strategies. This data is unbelievably useful because it can tell you how people are engaging with your content. If you’re receiving a lot of engagement from your videos, it means that your strategy was successful and you should try to replicate it with future videos. However, if your videos are not performing as well as you expected, you can review what methods may not have been effective and try something new in the future.

Create a Successful Video Marketing Campaign

To get started with your video marketing campaigns, all you need to do is purchase affordable camera equipment and start filming. Of course, be sure to spend some time planning out a script and selecting which type of video you’d like to test out first. But, once you’ve created the content, get it up on the internet and start sharing it. Each time you release a new video, don’t forget to check your analytics to judge how well your strategy is working so you can re-adjust or replicate from there.