As per predictionsCisco, videos can make up 82% of all online trafficthe end of 2022. Let’s face it- videos have arrived hugely because reading is no longer preferredpeople when consuming internet content.
Netflix has become the 24/7 movie theatre available, while YouTube is the morning news channel for Gen Z and Millenials! Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram Stories are shaping our vision of the world, trends, and events.
Video is also taking center stage as a marketing technique for businesses. More and more startups are using video marketing to reach, educate and nurture prospective buyers.
You might not know that 90% of the buyers say videos help them in making buying decisions, while 62% of the individuals agree that they were more interested in a product after watching its video.
So, if you are a strong startup with the desire to spread the word about your organization, you cannot afford to miss out on video marketing. Here are some ideas that can help you out:
1. Try Live Video Streaming
Live videos can be great tools for startups and help build communities, interact with followers and fans, and encourage audience engagement. Scheduling a live video stream can be a good way for a startup to build excitement around a new partnership or product announcement coming up.
Even live videos of interviews with company founders where they can narrate their story, and their journey of building the organization can be a powerful way of creating interest among the viewers.
You can also use Facebook live for conducting webinars and product demonstrations. These will be ephemeral and short content that the users will enjoy watching. But make sure, when you are live on Facebook, focus more on revealing the human side of your business story. That’s because customers trust people more than companies or brands.
Besides, it is easy to make live videos. And thanks to Facebook, users can actively watch these videos from a webcam or phone. So, you need not worry about the startup costs increasing because of expensive equipment.
2. Create How-To Series on YouTube
You know your product very well, right? You know the reason behind launching it, the major problems or the pain points your product will solve, and how it will help customers in their regular lives and work.
But what about the potential buyers? Do they know all these things about your product? No, and this is where how-to videos come in. Creating a how-to series on YouTube is the perfect way to show your expertise on a subject and build trust among the audience. You achieve a lot without being too promotional.
3. Engage, Entertain and Educate With Your Videos
Do not get into brand advertisement as soon as you start video marketing. Do not correlate a brand video to a brand advertisement. These days, it is unnecessary for promotional videos to be brand advertisements.
Nowadays, videos that entertain, engage, and educate prospects are promotional videos. Therefore, create such infotainment video content regularly with the use of a video editor of your preference.
If you deal in education, you must create how-to type and informative videos, and if you are serving the clothing industry, DIY videos should be your forte.
The eCommerce company called Vat 19 can be a good example here. The YouTube channel of this company has more than 2 million subscribers, and over 10% of the overall traffic on its site comes from YouTube. That’s only because the company does not deter from regularly posting engaging, entertaining, and informative content.
4. Work with the Influencers
As a startup, you can reach out to popular influencers to promote your product and appeal to new audiences. This will be a powerful tool for you, especially when it comes to boosting the visibility of your products and services exponentially.
But, as with anything else, you must use influencer marketing wisely. That’s because influencers get lots of pitches regularly, and the majority of them go unnoticed. A subtle way of using the services of an influencer is making a short startup video with them. Business shows and industry conferences can work perfectly here.
The advantages of coordinating with the influencers are you get to connect with the individual in real life, and you can easily tag them in your posts and request them to share your video with their followers. The influencers will be more than happy to do this because it offers them more engagement and exposure.
5. Go for User-Generated Content
Customers these days are more interested in getting peers’ views than direct sales marketingcompanies. Hence, UGC or user-generated content can be a good way of building engagement and trust among the prospects.
Analyze the top 100 videos on Facebook and YouTube only to find that 30% of the videos on YouTube and 50% of the videos on Facebook are user-generated content. Thorough research of these and other video platforms will help you identify content that relates to your brand.
You need not do much. Just analyze and find out the story and theme in the videos that can strike the perfect chord with the target audience of your startup. That’s it! You have done enough to catch the attention of the prospects using UGC.
One good example of user-generated content for business marketing is Monsoon, a fashion retailer. They have asked all the customers to share their pictures wearing the brand’s products on their site and also on social media with the #MyMonsoon, through which, the revenue is increased3% while the CTR increased14%.
6. Add Videos to Emails
Including the term “video” in the subject of your email will be a simple but effective way of leveraging the power of videos in startup email marketing. It will instantly boost the open rate of your email.
Inserting an image that appears like a video or including a GIF with an email are effective ways to entice users.
Final Thoughts
With online videos continuing with their stupendous rise, startups should have the right video marketing strategy to ride this wave. Since there is this easy availability of online video marketing platforms, it has become convenient for startups to build their brand identity without hassle. So, if you are a startup, this is the right time to try your hands at video marketing.