In the age of viral video, breaking into video marketing for your business may seem like an impossibility. After all, you might think, YouTube has more than one billion users, and 100 million people worldwide admit to watching online video each day. How can a small or medium-sized business reach an audience in a world saturated with “viral videos”?
While there’s no one guarantee or formula that can be used to create viral content, which becomes popular when shared on social media, there are some tricks you can use to reach your demographics. Try these three tips when you create your video:
Introduce a call to action online.
Most marketers are familiar with the term “call to action,” especially when it comes to web design. These items usually include pop-ups that ask website visitors to sign up for email updates, and mobile websites now utilize click-to-call capabilities that let smartphone users contact a business with just a tap.
Video marketing can also use this strategy, especially where judging audience reach is concerned. Videos on YouTube alone garner roughly four billion views per day, so it makes sense for people posting to the site to tell viewers to subscribe to their channels and like or share their videos.
Foster interaction in the real world, too.
Sometimes a call to action in marketing and web video content can even convince viewers to do something in their daily lives rather than simply online. “Stop into our store,” you might say, or “Don’t forget about our big sale on Saturday.”
Some calls to action can even turn into a movement. Take, for instance, the recent controversy over the minimalist red holiday cups at Starbucks. An evangelist and internet personality created a viral video encouraging religious coffee lovers to tell their baristas that their name was “Merry Christmas,” thus forcing workers of the chain to write the message on its cups. In fact, despite the controversy, this was probably good for the coffee maker’s business since it got people to head into the stores rather than boycott them! Ultimately, find a way to get people into your store, whether it’s through a sale or to introduce a fun new product.
Tackle real-world issues.
The last tip for your business video marketing is to think about issues that affect everyone. After all, if you’re convincing customers to use your products and services, you’ll want to show them how their daily lives will be made easier or better with those items.
Just keep in mind, however, that not every issue needs to show up in advertising. Sure, companies that want to appear environmentally-friendly might encourage recycling efforts, and some businesses will appear patriotic when they mention veterans’ issues around national holidays. But this is one of those areas where it’s important to tread lightly.
Most people don’t like being bombarded with overtly political messages, so it might be best to keep things more relational. A roofing contractor, for example, might talk about how El Nino and other storms can cause significant damage in regional homes; a local grocery chain might encourage shoppers to bring reusable shopping bags with them to reduce waste.
There are a number of ways to plan your video production project, whether you’re interested in filming an advertisement or creating a piece of content to help your audience in some way. Make sure to use professional videographers, so you can make impactful videos that you’ll be proud to share.