Most, if not all, successful businesses use video marketing as a tool for their sales team to market their product or service. The video creation and video production landscape can be daunting for a small business so we've created these resources to give you some tips and tricks related to video marketing that will prepare you to make a video that will get you new customers.
How do businesses make marketing videos?
You've got two major options: make it yourself or hire a proper video production company to create your videos.
Doing it yourself has its pros and cons. Obviously the cost savings is a big factor if you are a very small business or a startup. But the downside is missing out on the expertise of an agency that specializes in business videos. And if you don't have someone on your staff with the experience to create videos, your end product might do a disservice to your brand.
Going with a pro for your video marketing is the way to go for most marketing teams. More on the video creation details in a minute.
How do I make a professional video for my business? How do you create video content for a small business in 2022?
If you're making videos for yourself, do yourself a favor and do your homework on the aspects of video production so you can do the best job creating free content for your brand.
If you are physically shooting video, a good-quality camera is a no-brainer. But inexperienced video makers often miss a few important tips:
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Good Sound is vital for the overall quality of your marketing videos. Generally speaking, your audience will be forgiving of sub-par video quality but bad audio will scare off customers almost immediately. Buy a good microphone and learn how to create a good sound environment (no echo, office noise, traffic noise, disruptions). I cover some of that in this blog post / and video about How to Create Software Tutorial Videos.
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Good Script is essential and working out your video ideas ahead of time will help you get started on the right foot. Work out an attention-grabbing intro, a tight feature outline, and a proper call to action to really grab a potential customer.
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Good Editing is as important as the previous steps. Whatever video editing platform you use, use it to tell your story in a tight, compelling way. People on YouTube, Facebook, and on other online social media platforms have a lot of content to watch so keep your content tight and short (under 2 minutes) for maximum engagement.
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Good Call to Action tells your viewers what to do. You'd be surprised how many in-house-produced videos end without compelling your audience to go to your website, click a subscribe button, etc. You're leaving potential customers in the dark if you don't tell them what to do at the end.
With some education and trial and error, you can save time and get started creating free content for your sales efforts today.
What should a marketing video include?
In addition to the previous video content tips, when creating a marketing strategy, write a tight script that does all the right things: grab the attention of your audience, possibly present the problem that your product or service solves, present 2-3 tight examples of solutions to that problem over multiple quick scenes, and then end with your call to action.
How do businesses use video? / What is the purpose of a business video?
Businesses use video for marketing, education / software training, A/B testing brand marketing strategy, PPC and social media ads, entertaining an audience and generating engagement, get viewers to visit your web page, and create general brand awareness of products and services and company culture.
Do I need a video for my business?
Yes! That's why you're here! :) Small business companies need content for video marketing success.
What makes a good business video?
Good marketing videos will entertain, inform, engage, and compel customers to learn more about your company and keep existing customers engaging with your company.
Why is video good for small business? What can Videos Do for my business?
A large corporate video production is designed to reach new customers but more often is designed to create brand awareness.
A small business video is designed to quickly engage potential customers, introduce your brand, and grow your audience.
How do you make a short business video?
Edit. Edit. Edit. You've got about 10-15 seconds to grab your audience on social media and then no more than a minute or two to engage them before they click away. Social Media customers have short attention spans so do yourself a favor and create tight business videos like an animated explainer video.
Sometimes marketing folks like to throw everything but the kitchen sink into a video because they're proud of their brand, but this will definitely scare away an audience.
What is the best app to create marketing videos?
If you have a software product, we like to recommend using Telestream Screenflow for creating screen captures and video content.
As for creating good graphics for your videos, you can easily purchase stock graphics templates from sites like Envato Elements, and stock footage and music from sites like Filmpac.
And as for editing, we use the Adobe Creative Cloud suite, which includes the video editing application Premiere Pro. It is cross-platform. If you're a Mac person, Final Cut Pro is a great choice, as well, especially if if you're new to video editing. Here's a good article comparing Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro.
There are free alternatives for editing video on Mac and Windows
How do I make a business YouTube video?
YouTube is the defacto social media platform for hosting videos. Small businesses can benefit from hosting their marketing content here since there is a good opportunity to get exposure for your brand and promote your company or services. Best of all, it's free!
Some tips for creating videos for YouTube:
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Use the aforementioned tips for creating tight, informative content. Again, you've only got about 10-15 seconds to grab the attention of your audience that are watching.
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Create a good thumbnail. A compelling thumbnail that features your USP or solution to problem will get clicks.
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Keep your viewers watching until the end. This tells YouTube that your content is good and will recommend your video in its algorithm.
Learn more about how to create a YouTube video in this great post.
How do I make a business Instagram video?
Follow the tips mentioned above for YouTube. One of the main differences between Instagram and other social media platforms is the shorter format and often vertical aspect ratio (like TikTok). So plan your filming, edit, and delivery accordingly.
What Kind of Budget Should I Spend on a Marketing video?
We've created thousands of videos in our 15+ years as a video production and animation company. A common question we get asked is how much does a video cost?
The cost of video production services depends on a few factors: type of video, scope of video, and, most importantly, your budget. Another way to talk about budget is time involved + people involved.
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Type of Video. The most affordable type of video that we create for customers are screencast-style demo videos for software and SaaS. Next would be 2D and 3D animations for both software and product videos. The size of the team involved in both of these types of videos is small so the budget can be tighter. Finally, live action or lifestyle marketing videos with actors tend to cost the most due to the amount of people involved (think actors, crew, post-production team) and the longer time it takes to organize, write, produce, and deliver the video.
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Scope of Video. This is common sense but the scope of the video comes into play, especially for small businesses vs. corporate clients. Do you have the marketing budget of a Fortune 500 company and require a celebrity spokesperson? Or are you a startup company that is trying to establish your brand and woo customers. The overall scope of the video project should reflect a story appropriate to your budget.
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Your Budget. You probably have some ideas on what you need to or could spend on a marketing video. Lead with that when you are talking to a video production agency and they can design a professional video appropriate for your budget.
So that was my free guide to creating videos for your business. Be sure to contact HiLo Media today for a free consult on how we can create professional videos for your sales or marketing team.