5 video marketing tips to engage and enthuse an audience
Video marketing offers high engagement and conversion. By using newer options like interactive video, mobile apps, social media, and incentives, brands can expand the impact of any video advertising or marketing message. Marketing managers seeking video marketing tips should consider these emerging avenues to reach consumers and get them to try a product.
The benefit of video marketing campaigns is the ability to use multiple channels to gain engagement for one video. By working with available platforms and partnering with third-party apps, your brand can get its video content in front of new users who may not be familiar with your products. These five video marketing tips will provide brands with better ways to expand the reach of their content and improve marketing ROI.
Video Marketing Tip #1: Adding Interactive Components to Video
Making video interactive—having viewers participate in driving the story—is an excellent way to increase engagement with a message. An interactive video can be simple, like in the case of a poll embedded in video content. Alternatively, these videos can be complex, immersive virtual reality experiences. Interactive elements within a video include the following.
Encourage Active Watching
Encourage active watching: When a consumer must make selections or click on portions of the screen, they’ll be more likely to watch the video actively. This active watching means they will also be more likely to retain the video’s message and remember a brand.
Create a Personalized Connection
The interactive components of video create a connection with consumers that regular video does not, as the consumers drive the story. This involvement helps to develop a relationship between the viewer and content, making it appear that brands are not advertising at them, but rather working with them.
Gather Consumer Information
A common interactive component of video is a poll. Through these polls, brands can gain insight into viewers, how the content appeals to them, and other information that will better help market to the right audience.
Interactive video offers an additional opportunity to grab the consumer’s attention and get them to engage with branded content. Video that features interactive components can both help advise brands on future marketing decisions and offer immediate brand awareness and affinity.
Video Marketing Tip #2: Make It Mobile for the Most Interaction
Mobile video is a must for brands that want to reach consumers on the move. The most recent data indicates that mobile video accounted for 60% of all mobile traffic and this number is expected to increase. Selecting platforms that support mobile video—whether you’re purchasing ad space before primary content or releasing your own branded content—is critical.
Another added benefit of optimizing for mobile video is the ability to control the timing of a message to reach consumers on the move. A consumer out shopping, as an example, may see a mobile video ad for a quick-service restaurant in their immediate area and decide to stop by for dinner. The proximity of the video watcher to the product increases the chance of purchase, making mobile video a strong sales driver. In addition, mobile allows brands to extend their reach to consumers who may not have Internet access through a desktop computer. It’s very common in emerging markets—like India or China—that some consumers only access the Internet via their mobile phone. By making video mobile-friendly, you can reach a wider base of consumers in these markets.
Video has become the preferred type of media for consumers and mobile is the place they choose to view it. To ensure you’re able to make the most of this trend, a brand must make sure their video content is optimized for a mobile platform.
Video Marketing Tip #3: Gather a Crowd Through Social Media
Social media is a great place for video sharing, whether you choose to use it as the native platform or host content elsewhere and share the video to your social sites. It offers an opportunity to make a brand’s message trend while providing a reasonable ROI from your marketing efforts. Social media offers three basic ways to share a video message, outline below.
Organic Engagement
Organic engagement comes as a result of ads which aren’t outright advertising—like a how-to video or customer testimonial—and it’s the content itself that drives consumers to share these posts.
Paid Ads
On social media, paid video ads generally come before primary content, or as sidebar video content. Depending on the social media site, the paid content can blend in with the user-generated content and attract customers without seeming like an ad.
Influencer Marketing
Another category of social media video marketing comes through influencer marketing. In this case, the brand doesn’t create content themselves but instead relies on a popular social media personality to share information about their product.
While companies don’t have to buy ad space to create organic engagement, there are costs to be considered such as the cost of creating the content and building buzz. As such, while organic engagement has no media costs, it’s not a free marketing avenue. Costs of creating content and pushing engagement by connecting with users of the platform can be extensive.
When it comes to influencer partnerships, these arrangements can either be free or paid, and the cost depends on how many followers these individuals have. On the lower end of the spectrum, brands often use micro-influencers with smaller followings as the individuals are willing to provide reviews in exchange for free samples or nominal fees. Online celebrities—like those with tens of thousands of followers across multiple sites—generally work under sponsorship contracts similar to what celebrities receive.
Social media can boost the reach of your video marketing by getting the content in front of more viewers. As sharing and commenting on videos is common, this also improves engagement, which expands brand awareness and affinity.
Video Marketing Tip #4: High Tech AR and VR Components Build Buzz
Augmented and virtual reality components are growing in popularity. The primary issue slowing down the development of AR/VR content is the accessibility of hardware. These types of headsets can be very expensive for consumers, as they primarily come as add-ons to expensive gaming consoles. Most recent estimates indicate shipments of virtual and mixed reality headset shipments are expected to grow by 68.9% by 2022. This is a market that is ripe for expansion, so brands should be looking at AR/VR video content options in preparation for a surge in demand.
For now, brands that wish to leverage the buzz-building potential of AR or VR video can offer experiences via a consumer’s smartphone. While the combination of video and AR is still emerging, we’ve already seen some excellent examples of this type of media in action. This strategy is one a Parisian luxury fashion brand used with great success. When promoting a new line, the company used AR as a way of sharing 360-degree video and fashion shows with consumers who were in the vicinity of stores. This immersive content spurred interest in the line while also creating an intriguing experience which gained extensive press coverage.
Of course, the ROI on most video AR campaigns isn’t clear, as this is a very new area of mobile video marketing. Over time, the removal of cost barriers will allow brands to find many creative ways to use high-tech features in video ads.
Video Marketing Tip #5: Rewarded Video Boosts Results
Another video marketing option for brands is rewarded video programs. Rewarded video allows brands to gain views while also creating a connection with consumers. These rewarded experiences work by offering the consumer non-tangible benefits (like rewards points or in-game items) in exchange for a few moments of their time. This rewarded viewing is a common feature of shopping apps, like Shopkick. Providing consumers with rewarded video offers several benefits including the following.
Limiting Discount Dependency
While many CPG brands will typically look to discounts to incentivize customers, rewards offer a higher benefit. The brand does not have to take an immediate loss on the product and consumers will perceive rewards as more valuable than discounts, due to their emotional return.
Higher App Retention Rates
Rewarded video has proven retention rates for apps. In one study, more than half of users that watched only one rewarded video within the first week after downloading an app kept that app for at least 30 days. That rate is 300% higher than the average retention rate of a non-rewarded video app. Simply incentivizing viewing is enough to boost app retention rates, which are a key part of any mobile video campaign.
A/B Testing Opportunities
Brands can use rewarded video as a way to test out which media will be better to deliver on a mass scale. As an example, a brand offers two rewarded video options to consumers. Based on which video consumers choose more often, the brand knows this is the preferred choice. They can then share that video on social media and other platforms, ensuring they’re getting the highest ROI based on the consumers choice.
Increased Completion Rates
In a regular video ad—like a pre-roll ad—a consumer may choose to skip or ignore the ad. In rewarded video, the consumers only received the rewards after viewing the complete video. This requirement significantly improves video completion rates.
Improved Brand Affinity
When a brand gives incentives for engagement, this creates a connection with the consumer which can be used to improve the overall perception of a product. The consumer views the video advertisement as a benefit and not a disruption.
There are many benefits to adding rewarded video to a marketing campaign. It offers an opportunity to both reach consumers directly, improves the perception of your brand and retention of both branded apps and third-party app partnerships.
There are many video marketing tips for brands that wish to engage consumers with this popular form of media, but not all are appropriate for every brand. Higher-tech options like AR and VR may not be cost effective for smaller brands, while brands with massive followings may find that interactive content is too difficult to manage when dealing with a large audience. The best results come from using a variety of options to gain the most engagement for your marketing dollar.
Shopkick offers an engaging app which allows our partners to leverage the power of mobile video, shopping rewards, and more. For more information, contact us.
