Want to start incorporating video in your content marketing strategy? You’re in the right place.
The pressure to adopt video marketing is immense for businesses of all sizes now. A smart marketer knows that it is not just about creating videos, but it is about creating :
When you are responsible for the content strategy of a business, it can be a little daunting. There are definitely a lot of channels and avenues to choose from to make it overwhelming for anyone. The task of drawing up a content strategy becomes infinitely more challenging when you have to explore something new. This brings in the additional pressure of budgets, resource allocation, building a knowledge base, and so on.
Often the guides we see tell us what to do, but fail to show us how to get it off the ground. Everyone means well, but such guides can cause more confusion than solving any.
So let’s see how you can prepare your content strategy in a way that it accommodates video and makes it shine.
The first obvious question that may come to anyone’s mind is – why do I need to update my content strategy to make it video-ready? Can we not just start creating videos on our focused keywords and topics? Well, you can and that would be a good place to start but to scale this, you need a strategy. If you build first and plan later as many do, you may come to find that many videos no longer suit the strategy.
But what if you cannot work with video from day one?
That is where a video-ready content strategy comes into play.
A video-ready content strategy means that your strategy accounts for the fact there will be video content creation and distribution adoption in the future and you have to account for it. You will look for places to make that happen and create content that will fit into your overall marketing strategy. So that when the time comes, you can cohesively integrate videos into your content marketing strategy.
Video is a different beast and video-heavy marketing channels are driven by very unique algorithms. So accounting for video in your strategy from the beginning makes it easy for you to tame those metrics and get ahead in the game.
So let’s check how you can do that.
A step-by-step framework can make most processes quite easy. To draft a killer video content strategy, here is what you need to know and do.
Video is probably the most versatile content format but to truly make the best use of it, it is important to define goals for your video content. These goals must be in alignment with your overall content strategy goals such as :
But for video content, the goals look like this:
When you know the goals, you can work on creating videos that work towards those. These goals tell you what kind of parameters to monitor once you post content. But before that they also tell what kinds of videos to create for the respective KPIs.
For example, if you want to increase the watch time, you need more informative videos that educate your consumers about popular topics in your niche. These videos show your expertise in a particular area and also establish your brand as a trustworthy name in the industry.
The next time they are looking for answers, they will visit your channel! That means consistent traffic. So here, watch time is equivalent to brand trust and authority. And you know what kind of content works for that.
Similar to this example, you can choose whether to create funny videos or relatable content, animated videos, or talking head videos all based on the goals of your content strategy.
Everyone consumes video differently. Some love long-form content, some can not look at videos that go beyond a minute in length. For some, the length does not matter as much as the aesthetics of it. In addition to this, the kind of videos a consumer watches depends on the stage of buyer’s journey the consumer is in. as you can see, a lot of parameters influence what a consumer prefers when it comes to video content.
To simplify this understanding your customer demographics is a critical step.
Then comes the segmenting of your audience. Analyze the audience you aim to target and create content for them based on attributes like :
The more specific you can get the better.
Then, work on understanding their role in the purchasing process. Not everyone is a direct buyer, some hold the power of influencing others in their families.
Millennials and Gen Z for example are responsible for consuming content and diligently influencing the consumers and decision-makers of their households.
The tone of voice in your video also differs based on the audience group you are talking to. You need to communicate the message in a language they understand best.
Keeping all these points in mind you should also know that you do not have to create separate videos for all audience groups all the time. Sometimes, when you have a great video idea, you can customize the presentation to personalize it to suit each audience group.
You can also trim the video down, add transitions, audio tracks or even simple animations to make the content more enjoyable and engaging for the particular audience group.
All this will be possible only when you know your target audience inside out before working on your content strategy.
Based on your goals and the audience you wish to target currently, pick your channels of distribution. YouTube is a great platform for video sharing but it’s not the only one. Moreover, even within YouTube, you have segments like Shorts and regular Feed videos. So, diversifying your approach is an important part of your content strategy.
In addition to YouTube, you have TikTok for short-form videos and Facebook and Instagram for both short and long-form videos. Remember that the format, engagement, and algorithm are all different across all these platforms. So, one video that works well on YouTube Shorts might not necessarily see the same reach or engagement on TikTok or vice versa.
Identifying what works best for your brand is a crucial step. There are different trends that rule these platforms – will you be able to keep up with them? Decide accordingly. In the end, it is all about choosing the right platforms where a majority of your audiences are present.
Video started out as a popular content format just a few years ago but now it has become an indispensable asset on social media. Brands can no more put off creating a video-led content strategy. With the above tips in mind, work on a strong video content plan for your business and stay ahead of the competition. If creating videos and editing them to suit your brand all seems overwhelming, you always have the option to outsource the work to a video subscription service.
