In the last few years, any industry we can think of has moved a good part of their advertising online. Most companies are keeping a good part of their marketing budget reserved for Google, Insta, Facebook and YouTube.
Digital marketing is a complex subject – and even agencies can only help so much, because no one outside of Google and Meta really understands their algorithms. What everyone is realizing, though, is that video marketing is working very well these days, and as time passes, its effectiveness is growing.
- People are watching much more video on their phones. YouTube, Instagram reels, Facebook are huge – and even LinkedIn is now trying to become more video-friendly.
- Videos grab attention, and are more likely to make customers remember a brand.
- Videos help draw organic traffic, when you add description and keywords.
- Videos appear to be more authentic and help build trust. It helps your potential customer make a decision and increase conversion and sales. For example – Flipkart shares customers review videos along with their products.
- People share videos that they like, which increases the target audience organically.
If you’re running a small business or a startup, here are some video marketing ideas that could help you:
1. Company profiles
Looking to raise funding? Introducing your startup to your LinkedIn followers? Presenting at a startup or SME conference? You need a corporate profile video! This is a video that quickly introduces your company, and talks about your vision, why you exist, the market need that you fill.
2. Explainer videos
Explainer videos can simplify complex subjects. They guide the audience through a procedure or registration, step-by-step.
For example- Indievisual.in (that’s us!) has explainer videos for the creators to sign up, understand the terms and conditions, and upload videos on the portal.
3. Testimonials
Testimonials increase customers’ trust and brand credibility. People want to see check for customer reviews, ratings, and how many people actually like the product.
Video testimonials are a great way to establish credibility with potential customers.
4. Making of your Product, or Behind-the-Scenes
If I like a company or its products, I want to know more about it, and about the people behind it. This is a great way to build loyalty with your best customers. They’ll feel like they’re also a part of your journey. Also, a behind-the-scenes is a great way to show the people who work in your company.
5. Employee Interview/ Meet the team
Continuing on the previous idea – bring your employees forward. Let them talk about the brand. If your team is genuinely happy working with the company and embraces your vision, it’ll reflect in the video. Everyone would rather buy from a place where the employees are treated well, and take pride in the products and services they build.
6. Educational/ How-to videos
Nykaa sells makeup products. They also share makeup tutorial videos and guides for these makeup products. This helps them attract a larger audience and driving sales.
If you’re providing actual value through your how-to videos on your Instagram account, then people will start following you and you’ll build an audience. They are much more likely to buy from you if they trust you as an authority on a topic.
7. Influencer marketing
Influencers on social media platforms have become an excellent discovery channel for viewers – they see their favourite accounts using a new product, and they feel like trying it out too.
However, the influencer economy is largely unstructured, so you do need to be careful. Firstly, find a well-respected and trusted influencer in your specific industry and niche. And secondly, be careful with the pricing – you really need to calculate the return on investment you’re trying to drive from this collaboration.
Since your business is young, try looking for people with a more niche but genuine following. It’s an unfortunate truth that a lot of influencers buy followers – go through their follower list and see if the people look genuine.
8. Unboxing/Packing Videos
I have personally never understood why unboxing videos are so popular – but thankfully, the world doesn’t revolve around my tastes alone! There are millions of people who love them. They love seeing a product being taken out from its original packaging, removed from the protective casing and being turned on for the first time.
It’s also a great way to talk about the accessories that come with the product, and what a customer’s first-use experience is going to be like.
9. Festive/Seasonal videos
If you’re a company selling decorative or DIY products, you know what your peak seasons are. Make festival-related videos, offering discounts and coupon codes, to drive urgency and impulse purchases.
So those were some ways you could use videos to drive business. Making videos is still complex, though. We’ve written about ways to simplify this process: How to make great YouTube videos quickly and effectively; and How to make budget-friendly videos for your social media channels. We highly recommend checking out these articles, but here are a few quick tips anyhow:
1. Automate the videos through websites like Vimeo, or using Instagram’s own tools. If you want really professional-looking videos, you’ll have to hire an editor or a video production company though. IndieVisual offers custom video services across India, at whatever your budget or timeline.
2.Another thing to keep in mind is the footage. In case your video only has graphics/texts over plain backgrounds, it’s not an issue. But if you need video footage, you’ll either shoot it yourself (which means hiring a videographer or photographer), or you could simply use stock footage to make videos.
Stock videos are 10-40 second videos that can be bought at a very reasonable price, and then ued royalty-free. This means you’re reducing the cost of hiring a crew yourself, and getting the benefit of convenience by buying readily-available stock videos. Also, you get to choose from thousands of options. You can read here about How to liven up your videos, using stock footage.
IndieVisual is an India-centric stock footage website that offers royalty-free stock footage at affordable pricing. IndieVisual also has custom video production services, so you can state your requirements and the creators shoot the content for you.
