A survey has revealed the most challenging obstacles faced by companies during video marketing strategies. We look at some potential solutions.
Ascend2 recently released a survey of video marketing strategies. After interviewing 280 leading marketing, sales and business professionals from around the world, Ascend2 found that 85% of companies rated video marketing as ‘Somewhat Successful’ or ‘Very Successful’.
While the survey shows that video marketing strategies work for the majority of companies, it also implies that 15% are struggling to achieve success in the medium.
Every video marketing team faces challenges along the way, but what are some of the biggest obstacles that those 15% are finding tricky to overcome?
‘Lack of an Effective Strategy’
Topping the chart is the ‘lack of an effective strategy’. 48% of companies named this as the most challenging obstacle they face.
A video marketing strategy is something that constantly develops in a company. While Wooshii’s project managers can help with a video marketing strategy, this is an area where companies can really push forward their own ideas and strategies.
There are a great many online resources to help you start thinking about a video marketing strategy. Here are some which we think could help:
Business2Community | 13 Simple Tips to Help You Draft a Winning Video Marketing Strategy
- Business2Community put forward some general tips to think about when starting up a video marketing strategy.
Vidyard | How to Plan Your Video Marketing Strategy
- Vidyard provide useful and more in-depth advice about what your strategy could include.
Forbes | 5 Things Your Video Marketing Strategy Should Include
- Forbes presents useful ideas for the potential content of the videos.
Hero Hub Hygiene
Hero Hub Hygiene is a framework that you could consider implementing in your video marketing strategy.
Hero: ‘Hero’ content is a large-scale and emotive video/advert that is designed to disrupt, engage, entertain and essentially raise huge brand awareness. It appeals to the masses and attracts views. You should be looking at releasing 2-3 ‘hero’ videos per year as you would use these videos to lead campaigns.
Hub: Think of the hub as the home for your content. This could be a YouTube channel, your blog, any place where interested viewers can frequently visit to receive updates on when videos are being released.
Hygiene: This is regularly released content designed specifically for your target market. ‘Hygiene’ videos include useful, informative content designed to educate viewers about your product, service or brand. The videos will appeal to enthusiasts who actively search for information. You can use these videos to mark your company as thought-leaders and experts in your respective fields.
Click here for an article in the Guardian which uses Volvo as an example of using a Hero Hub Hygiene strategy very effectively, or take a look at our slideshow on Hero Hub Hygiene content below.
Reach Your Audience Using Video, (and Heroes) from Wooshii
So, you’ve got your video marketing strategy in place. According to the survey, the next most frequent problems identified are a ‘lack of compelling content’, ‘inadequate video budgets’ and a ‘lack of production resources’. What are some of the best ways to overcome these problems?
‘Lack of Compelling Content’
You know the message, you know the branding and you know the target market. But what is the best way of showcasing this?
Creating compelling content is an understandable challenge, and again there are some online resources that can help point you in the right direction.
Marketing Profs | Create Compelling Marketing Videos that Educate and Entertain Infographic
- Marketing Profs has created a helpful infographic for three styles of video: Instructional, Informative and Entertainment.
Content Marketing Institute | 10 Commandments to Create Compelling Content
- The Content Marketing Institute here gives a clever and fresh way of looking at how to create compelling content.
7 Tips for Making Compelling Web Videos
- PR Newswire ask 7 useful questions for thinking about creating compelling content.
There are many creative ways companies can use video. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Video Series
Consider releasing a video series or two. This way, the video branding and styling can remain consistent throughout, reducing the pressure to switch up the video style. It will also encourage viewers to regularly return to your website or YouTube channel, raising the number of dedicated customers.
Here is a trailer for a documentary series we produced for Thermo Fisher Scientific. It is a good example of using a video series as part of an online marketing strategy.
User-Generated Content
User-generated content is a great way of interacting with your customers. In terms of user-generated video content, one of the most well-known examples is GoPro Hero Action Camcorders. GoPro allow customers to post videos they recorded to YouTube which the company then uses to market their product.
In the case of GoPro, this is a recipe for great content: from fascinating videos, to awe-inspiring, to some that are just a bit daft:
‘Inadequate Video Budget’
Video has become far more accessible than it was in the past. Cameras, microphones and editing software used to be a costly investment, let alone the personnel needed for the video making process. Nowadays, however, the process is a lot more bearable.
Whilst high end equipment does create higher quality content, it is not an absolute necessity. Compelling content can be created to your budget, so long as a thorough strategy is in place.
Outsourcing a video making team is a cost effective method, but also time consuming and risky. Sourcing the team can take a long time, and there is often no way of ensuring a high product quality unless you have seen direct results from them before.
‘Lack of Production Resources’
Sourcing an in-house team can be time consuming, expensive and limiting in terms of variety of video styling. What you need is a network of video makers with different specialities that you can call on as and when you need.
This is really where Wooshii can help. We work on the basis of three key principles: choice, care and quality.
Choice
The Ascend2 survey reveals that customer testimonials, project reviews/case studies, explainer/tutorial videos and demonstration videos were generally the most effective content, but the most difficult to create. Working with a network like Wooshii helps solve some of the most challenging aspects of this such as getting crews in a variety of locations or finding specialist video makers in a range of video styles.
Care
Wooshii’s project manager becomes a single point of contact between the company and this network of video specialists. Our role is to ensure that the process is as easy and stress-free as possible. We do this by dealing with the video production process, quickly sourcing the best video makers and offering advice on video content: ultimately striving to realise our clients’ goals.
Quality
Both our level of choice and care results with as high quality videos as possible. Wooshii always recommends the video makers who we think will create the most effective video, and as a company we have been endorsed by Google, YouTube, Ebay and many of our clients. The quality of our product is always at the forefront of our methodologies.
