Why and How to Create Video Content to Help Your Business

• According to research, 76% of marketers claim that video produces more conversions than any other content.
• The four basic types of video marketing for social media are controversial, educational, entertaining and live video content.
• Entertaining content is any video that makes a person express an emotion, such as by laughing, crying or even becoming enraged.

If you are looking for new ways to connect with your customers, video content could be what you need. Video marketing allows you to create informative, entertaining, educational or promotional content to attract and engage your target audience.

Most video marketing campaigns begin with a strategic and coordinated effort to help build your brand identity and drive your target customers to buy your products or services. However, before jumping in, it's important to understand how to produce video content, why it's effective and what types of content get the most user engagement.

How does video content marketing help your business?

Video content can spread brand awareness and build your business's community by establishing a connection between your company and its audience. According to a study from WowMakers, video on a landing page can increase conversion by at least 80%. Additionally, 40% of consumers believe video increases their likelihood of purchasing a product on their mobile device, with 76% of marketers claiming video produces more conversions than any other type of content.  

In an age of technology where most people carry smartphones or tablets, short video content has risen in popularity to become the preferred delivery method of marketing messages, according to Ronald Humes, vice president of Southeast region operations for Post Modern Marketing.

"Printed advertisements can seem one-dimensional and dull compared to the same message communicated through a video," Humes told business.com. "A short video advertisement can quickly relay the same message as its conventional counterpart, but in a way that communicates images, tones, and emotions that will better grab the attention of the target audience and stay in their memory longer."

Humes believes that by combining the concepts "content is king" and "a picture is worth a thousand words," we can thoroughly define video content marketing. This type of content marketing can provide information to your target audience in a visually pleasing format that increases engagement among your consumers.

What types of video content on social media do consumers engage with most?

A HubSpot study of more than 3,000 consumers in the U.S., Germany, Colombia, and Mexico on the type of content they want to see from a brand or business they support found that 54% preferred web videos, with 34% liking social media videos best. The research shows that YouTube is the most popular channel for video overall.

If you're wondering what type of video content you should produce to receive the most engagement, it's important to answer the questions consumers have most often and to leave a lasting, emotional impression.

Determining your business's audience can help you decide which types of video content will drive the most consumer engagement, according to Chris Holder, author of Tips to Success and CEO and founder of the $100 Million Run.

Holder said there are three types of video content on social media that consumers generally engage with most:

1. Controversial video content: These are videos that carry shock value or make people pick a side. For example, if someone jumps out of a plane while recording or someone exposes their body parts for views, people will watch and share it with others, while also choosing who they're rooting for. It's important to know your audience and their views before making a controversial video – you don't want it to backfire and cause you to lose existing or potential customers.
   
   
2. Educational content: These are resource videos that provide answers to people's questions. For example, this very article may drive high traffic, but there's an entire group of people who would much rather watch a video that allows them to see and hear someone explaining this topic. People receive information differently, so it's smart to provide content in multiple formats so you can reach different members of your audience in the format they prefer.
   
   
3. Entertaining content: This refers to any video content that makes a person feel an emotion. It may make them laugh, cry or even become enraged. The goal of this type of content is to keep people engaged and generate an emotional connection. A great example of this is a comedian who posts short, funny clips of their sets to build interest among their audience, with the goal of enticing their viewers to watch the full segment.

Live videos are another type of social video content that engages consumers globally in real time. Each of the major social media platforms offer livestreaming and live video support.

• Facebook Live is the live video platform that can generate the most traffic for your content. With face-to-camera videos, Facebook allows you to produce a marketing message, publish your content and then track its analytics.
  
  
• Twitter Live merged with Periscope in 2016, and now anyone can hold live broadcasts and reach audiences on both platforms. Twitter is best for short videos and breaking news coverage. With Twitter Live, you can broadcast at conferences or launch events to show your viewers what's happening in real time.
  
  
• Instagram Live was created to expand on the social media network's photo-sharing capabilities. Live video on Instagram is part of Instagram Stories, which are video clips that last no longer than 15 seconds before cutting to the next piece of content. Instagram Live is generally used as an extension of a person's or business's photos, providing Q&As, behind-the-scenes insights and short chats with the audience.

The key to consumer engagement is not making a sales pitch, but telling a story. Your business could provide the most compelling ad ever, but if people don't connect with it, they won't fully comprehend it, and they will not buy into something they don't identify with.

How do you make quality video content?

1. Start with the end goal in mind.

The creation of quality video content requires a marketing strategy with both pre- and post-production steps. You must have a motivation for your content and an understanding of who the video is targeting.

As with any form of content marketing, it's crucial to ask yourself what goals you're trying to meet, who the audience is, how you'll present the information, and whether that approach will engage your target audience, according to Kelly Waffle, head of digital strategy at Hinge Marketing.

"Too many people jump right to execution," he said. "They think their content is great and everyone wants to hear it. Unfortunately, they are often wrong."

2. Don't skip the script.

You should set specific guidelines for your pre-production steps, such as by creating a script or shot list, to follow as you start to create your video content. The post-production steps, such as editing and search engine optimization (SEO), are much easier to tackle as you review items rather than while doing the initial drafting. This facilitates the finishing touches to a video that cause it to generate high traffic.

"Before you pick up any mics or cameras, you'll need a script [and] shot list and [to] identify the video's objective," said J.P. Scott, director of multimedia at Venta Marketing. "Without these three items, shooting and editing your video content will be extremely difficult, and your message may get lost in the production process."

3. Take advantage of modern access to video hardware and software tools.

You don't have to choose between shooting on a smartphone and springing for a full Hollywood production setup. Waffle said there lies a world of video tools in between those extremes that can help your business capture and edit high-quality videos.

"Bring your video segments, photos, music and production techniques together to create something that is effective, meaningful and memorable," he said.

Quality video content has become easier to create with the help of advanced cameras and user-friendly editing software, according to Scott.

4. Optimize for search engines.

SEO via targeted keywords and key phrases can increase your search rankings, causing your video content to populate in the results when consumers search for your type of business or product. [Read related article: 7 Things Entrepreneurs Should Know About SEO.]

5. Streamline your studio or workspace layout.

This is basically pre-pre-production. It is always best to arrange the equipment in a manner that makes it easy to access and use as needed. Make sure that any relevant software is open and ready to minimize delays during recording. A clean, organized workspace can significantly cut down time spent in production and post-production.

6. Find, prepare and nurture talent.

Many organizations designate a speaker or presenter just for videos. You can use an internal employee or contract outside talent for this. There can be pros and cons to each:

• Contracting outside talent puts you in touch with someone who has extensive experience presenting information in a video format and will need little coaching, but this can be quite costly. Also, while they may be skilled in speaking, pausing, and reacting to prompts, professional actors and speakers may lack familiarity with the industry they are promoting, which can cost your video some authenticity.
  
  
• Using someone from within your company can cut back on additional expenses, but it may take some time to groom them to become an excellent video speaker. Though familiar with your industry, many employees lack the skills to explain what they know in an easily digestible format.

In all cases, you should expect the video speaker to take some time to get familiar with the industry or process. Selecting someone who can fill this role for the long term will ultimately make the production process go faster.

7. Edit, edit, edit that video.

As tempting as it can be to just read the script and knock out the video in one take, the best videos need a little more TLC than that. Prolonged pauses should be trimmed, along with excessive "uh" or "um" usage. B-roll footage should be inserted at the most effective time in the video to correspond with the clip.

Shooting multiple takes will help you get the best version of each line, should the speaker or performer do a great job on some segments but not so well on others. Editing allows you to compile the best-performed segment from each take into the final video.

8. Choose the right music.

Even soft background music can help viewers focus on the video. Active scenes may be enhanced with something up-tempo, or a nighttime scene could promote a relaxed ambiance with something slower. Longer videos may warrant more than one song, a loop of the best segment of a single song, or a combination of both.

Why is video content so effective in marketing?

Video is a good marketing format because it helps you tell your story or spin your narrative in an aesthetically pleasing manner. It also leaves less room for the audience's personal interpretation of a topic. There should be no uncertainty around the message in a video if the narrative is solid and engaging.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth billions, because there are at least 20 frames for each second of a video, according to Connor Clay, director of marketing at Rentwear Inc.

"Real life is full of motion, and video is the best way to mimic that," Clay said. "Video allows for more creativity. The combination of live action, animation and motion graphics can create an extremely compelling piece that takes customers to places they never imagined your brand could go."

Video content marketing requires less effort on the consumer's part. Video is so effective because it is highly engaging, doesn't require as much concentration as reading articles, and is easy to understand, according to Patsy Nearkhou, marketing manager at Talkative.

"Because of this, there's a huge appetite for video content, particularly on social media," Nearkhou said. "More eyes on your content ultimately means more people engaging with your brand, which is a marketer's most important KPI."

How to measure the success of your video content marketing

Once you implement video content marketing in your business, it is natural to wonder what impact the video is having. These are a few metrics you can check to gauge how well the video is performing, according to Digital Marketing Institute:

• View count: This is how many times the video has been watched. The faster this number rises, the more your video is being viewed in that timeframe. A rapid increase suggests a lot of interest generated.
  
  
• Click-through: This is how often viewers have clicked on links in your call to action.
  
  
• Social media shares: If someone gets so much out of your video that they think others will benefit, they will likely share the video to their social media platforms. This exposes you to prospects that you would not have otherwise reached.

Video content is the most authentic and real-life form of content marketing you can use to connect with your target audience. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram allow you to share your content and create livestreaming videos that engage consumers in real time.

If you're not yet creating video content for your business, 2020 is your year to start using this powerful marketing tool as a potential new revenue stream.