Video, either pre-recorded or live, is now an essential component for successful digital marketing strategies. The low cost of equipment and software has made video content highly affordable for businesses, with 81 per cent using it for marketing according to Hubspot. The easy-to-digest format makes it accessible for audiences and drives sales with Social Media Today reporting that 90 per cent of consumers say videos help them make a purchasing decision.

Many businesses ask how can they best leverage video and move their consumer through the decision-making process; from the consumer simply being the purchaser of a product or service to recognising the consumer’s power in becoming advocates for the brand.

Firstly, as a business person or marketer, you need to determine who you want to talk to, your message and why it is relevant to them. Ensuring relevancy will result in greater engagement evidenced by your audience commenting, asking questions, saving your video to watch later or sharing it with their own networks. Now let’s get started:

Go beyond the highlight reel and show what is real. Sharing your personality builds a connection with your audience. If you’re not ready to be an onscreen star, begin using your voice to showcase your latest design or talk about the key points of your latest blog.
Live video taps into our voyeuristic nature so take your audience on a journey. A look behind the scenes at how your product is manufactured or Q&A on the latest property market updates will inform your audience.
Using video to educate is particularly important if you are a service-based business or your product is complex. Providing knowledgeable advice builds trust and adds to your brand’s credibility, while a simple ‘how to’ video can break down barriers to purchasing for your customer.
Live video gives you the opportunity to conduct real-time market research which is essential if you are launching a product or diversifying your business. Sourcing feedback directly from your customer will inform business decisions and create a connection with your audience as they become part of the journey.
Video is the perfect format for broadcasting interviews with a guest speaker. Interviews and collaborations build trust and certainty, and offer opportunities for cross-promotion to expand your networks.
Many social media platforms favour video content. When repurposing video across platforms be mindful that some videos need to be portrait orientation and others landscape (TV screen) and timing is everything. Hubspot recommends the ideal video duration as 30 seconds for Instagram, 45 seconds for Twitter, one minute for Facebook, and two minutes for Youtube.

Remember, social media is just that, social. It is not called ‘sales media’ so use video to create shared experiences.

This article originally appeared in the Business Insight section of the Gold Coast Bulletin newspaper on 02/03/2019.

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