Video marketing has become a major focus of content marketers everywhere. And with the statistics we have, it’s easy to see why. YouTube now has more than a billion users, in 91 countries, watching a billion hours of content every day.
It’s estimated that 82 percent of all IP traffic will be video traffic. And that’s not even considering the high rate of return for videos, capable of securing more conversions or even generating a secondary stream of revenue with advertising. But in the rush to capitalize on the video marketing trend, otherwise savvy entrepreneurs are making critical mistakes, jeopardizing their return on investment (ROI) and turning them off from what could be a powerful content marketing strategy.
At Content Supply, we’ve helped countless entrepreneurs scale the visibility of their brands through content, so we’ve become all too familiar with the approaches holding them back. Fortunately, most of them have easy fixes—so you can jump back into the video marketing game stronger than ever.
Video Marketing Mistake 1: Beginning Without a Plan
You’ve learned that videos have enormous potential as a marketing medium, but that doesn’t mean that literally any video will work.
If you’re going to compete in an increasingly competitive field, and reach the most valuable potential audience, you need to start with a planning session.
For example:
- Who is your main demographic? Why are they your main demographic? What kinds of videos are they already watching? What content do they want to see the most?
- How are you going to differentiate yourself from your competitors? There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of businesses like yours engaging in video marketing. What are they currently doing? More to the point, what are they doing wrong? How can you set yourself apart?
- What platforms are you targeting? YouTube is obviously the biggest video platform online, but is it the best for your brand? And if you’re hosting videos on YouTube, will you have just one channel? How will you syndicate and distribute those videos? Will you be paying to advertise them, or rely on organic ranking strategies.
- What keywords are you targeting? The topics and titles of your videos will play a massive role in determining your success. What keywords and phrases will yield the highest return?
No plan is perfect, so you’ll always need to stay flexible and adapt to new information. However, starting with a plan is the best way to build a strong foundation for your video marketing campaign. Rushing straight to production is a dangerous mistake.
Video Marketing Mistake 2: Skimping on Production
Video production is often the most enjoyable part of the video marketing process, but it’s also where your plan can fall apart. It’s true that you can technically create and publish a video using nothing but a smartphone, but your return will also be dependent on your investment. At a minimum, you’ll want to invest in higher-quality production equipment, including cameras, lighting, and microphones, as well as editing software that allows you to polish your videos to perfection.
You’ll also need someone competent in video production—not just an employee who can hold a camera steady.
For most businesses, it’s better to work with a professional video marketer. They’ll be able to help you form a high-level strategy, then execute that strategy with an emphasis on quality during production.
On another note, quality should be your ultimate priority; too many entrepreneurs begin a campaign by churning out as many videos as possible, neglecting the value of those individual videos. For most purposes, it’s better to have one well-made video than dozens of insignificant ones.
Video Marketing Mistake 3: Paying Too Much Attention to Shares and Views
Don’t get me wrong. Metrics like shares, views, and likes are important for your video marketing campaign. Not only do they indicate the size and interest of your audience, they can also help you choose which topics are performing best—and emphasize them in future productions.
However, these metrics are superficial in the sense that they give you no indication of the return on investment (ROI) your videos are generating. In other words, if you get 100,000 views on a new video, but you aren’t seeing any additional revenue, the video may still be considered a failure from a marketing standpoint.
Some benefits to your business, like improved reputation or higher brand recognition, are hard to measure directly, and can be loosely ascertained by studying these “vanity metrics.” But it’s still advisable for you to have some kind of call to action (CTA) in your video, or otherwise tie your video to some measurable, valuable action that your viewers can take. Views, shares, and other such metrics should always be analyzed in the context of your strategy’s bottom-line value.
Video Marketing Mistake 4: Having No Viable Way to Scale
Even at small scales, video marketing can be advantageous for your business, but the real value comes from scaling your strategy to a wider audience. For example, let’s say you’re seeing a 2 percent conversion rate on a video with 10,000 viewers. You can generally assume your video costs will remain consistent, so a similar-cost video with 100,000 viewers (and a steady conversion rate) will provide an ROI that’s 10 times higher.
There are many strategies that can help you scale, including branching out to new channels, engaging with your video marketing audience, optimizing your campaign to favor your most popular content types, and even paying for advertising.
Every business will need something a little different, so there’s no universal recipe for success. However, most entrepreneurs make a faulty assumption that their campaign will simply grow on its own; instead, it’s on you to come up with a viable plan and start pushing for it. Are you ready to create a video marketing campaign for your brand? Book a sales call today for your free strategy session, and let’s work together to harness the power of video for your enterprise.
