Video is an ideal format for conveying your business’s expertise, explaining the unique value of your product or service, and making an emotional connection with your target audience. A Social Ad Effectiveness study by Unruly, an ad tech company, found that video enjoyment increased purchase intent by 97 percent and brand recognition by 139 percent.

But simply streaming videos might not be enough to get the results you want. Putting the right touch on your videos will help make your video marketing efforts pay back.

Reap the full rewards of video marketing by following these five rules.

 

1. Know your audience

Like any marketing tactic, video is most successful when it is precisely targeted to the intended customer. Use any customer data you have at hand to identify the concerns, likes and dislikes of the viewers you want to reach. A narrow pitch for the targeted audience will play better than a video that strives for broad appeal. An example of a target could be busy mothers looking for a solution to the weeknight “what’s for dinner” quandary, or new homeowners looking for an affordable solution to yard maintenance. Be sure to factor in who is likely to make the purchase, too. In the case of men’s grooming accessories, for example, you might be targeting the women who make the purchase, even though the users are men.

 

2. Set an objective

Identifying the most important sales and marketing goal for your video will help you get the best outcome. For example, do you want to gather names for a newsletter that will nurture prospects until they are ready to buy? Prompt viewers to contact your company for a sales consultation? Or maybe you want to make a strong case for why your product is the best option so you can encourage viewers to click “buy now.” Prioritize your goals by considering what helps you close a sale — or, on the other hand, what stops people from buying from you. If your price tag gives customers pause, for instance, a video that explains your premium value may make sense. If your solution helps address a pressing problem for your target viewer, encourage action by focusing your video on the problem and your solution.

 

3. Make a clear call to action

Prompt viewers to take a step closer to buying while they are viewing your video by emphasizing your “call to action.” You might directly invite viewers to join your mailing list, call your sales team, download product information sheets or watch another video. The call to action often comes at the end of the video segment, but it’s smart to embed your call to action somewhere on the screen throughout the video’s runtime so you get the message to viewers who don’t watch to the end. For instance, a linked caption under the video could prompt viewers to “view a product demo video here” all the way through the video.

 

4. Tap emotion

A marketing video presents a unique opportunity to elicit an emotional response from viewers. Your story could arouse concern about falling behind the competition, hope for finding a solution that brings success, or desire to use something that is state-of-the-art. Consider what emotions motivate people to buy from you, and infuse your videos with the most compelling of those emotions. Do you help to lessen worry or bolster a customer’s sense of security? You may know the answer to this already, but if not, poll long-time customers or any staff members you have who interact regularly with customers. Don’t expect people to be able to articulate the answer to this off the bat. You may have to tease the information out by asking them about the situations in which they turn to your business.

 

5. Showcase your videos

Videos have never been easier or less expensive to create, but they still require focus and effort. Get the most from your video initiative by showcasing them. Capture viewers’ attention with an interesting image or catchy title, and lure them in with a provocative summary. Instead of just listing videos in an index on your website, showcase them with other content: Pair them with new product or sale announcements, embed them in your blog and spotlight them on your social media pages.

 

Videos offer a potentially powerful way to enhance your marketing efforts, but they have to be done right. Instead of launching into your video production straightaway, stop and think of how you can incorporate these five elements into your video marketing plans.

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