How many videos have you watched today? One? Two? More?
Video is everywhere, from email marketing campaigns to your WhatsApp groups, so the only answer that would surprise me would be “none.” Below we list the type of videos that enhance content marketing push.
Due to this widespread acceptance, companies of all kinds are using video as a surefire way to reach their marketing goals. Marketers know that when they need to increase their engagement rates or reach a wider audience, they can rely on video to make it happen.
However, it’s one thing to just make videos, and it’s another to make effective video pieces that enhance your content marketing plans.
Every effective video company knows that you can’t produce an effective piece if you don’t know the exact purpose behind it! So, today, we are going over some of the most popular marketing goals that you are bound to pursue, and seeing the types of videos that match them best!
Video Types & Marketing Goals
Each task has its correct tools. And while you can try to unscrew something with a kitchen knife and get away with it, that’s not how the pros do it. Here are a few of the best video “tools” you’ll have at your disposal.
1. Educational Videos
Did you know that there are more learning-related videos on YouTube than books in the Library of Congress? People consume massive amounts of educational content and the best form for it is video.
Educational videos are a great way to grow your audience by attracting people with interests related to the services or products that you’re selling. They’re a great way to generate awareness and establish your company as a reliable figure in your field!
How can you make great educational videos, though? Start by examining your audience’s pain points. Potential customers and quality leads are probably looking for certain information online before they decide to buy the kind of product that your company is selling! So, you can help them by making sure that your company is the one providing that information.
Growth Hackers has helped brands craft educational videos that not only engage audiences but position companies as trusted authorities in their field. That said, always choose quality over quantity: it’s better to have just one in-depth video that’s useful to your target audience than several videos that might confuse your audience even more than before.
2. How-To Videos
In a similar category, how-to videos are educational pieces with a defined structure: instead of merely educating you about a certain topic, these videos will show your audience a step-by-step process for accomplishing something.
How-tos provide immediate practical value to your audience and that’s what makes them so powerful!
Because of that immediate practicality, how-tos are highly shareable: 60-second cooking hack videos are the living proof of it! Users like to share useful content with their peers.
A useful tip to get these right: Make an impactful tutorial by basing it on a clear premise and a simple execution.
3. Explainer Videos
Explainer videos come in different flavors, like whiteboard videos, motion graphics, etc. But all are short and entertaining pieces that describe your product or service’s inner workings and benefits, relying heavily on narrative and meaningful visuals.
Because of this combination, these videos are incredibly engaging, and they will hook your audience from the get-go. They deliver the core information of your product and brand without being too “salesy,” which is something that usually customers in the early stages of conversions dislike (and so should you, if you want them to consume your content!).
By crafting relatable narratives and compelling visuals, Growth Hackers has helped clients showcase their products in ways that educate, entertain, and convert.
The magic of explainers relies on creating characters and situations that your target audience can relate to. The idea is to construct a narrative in which you showcase a certain problem or conflict that can be solved by the use of your product or service.
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4. Social Media Videos
Yes, videos are taking social media by storm, and it seems that there are hundreds of different video styles going on in these platforms! But don’t be fooled, certain characteristics (like immediacy) make social videos especially engaging for audiences online. Doubly so when we are talking about things like TikTok ads or Instagram Stories.
On social platforms, people are looking for content that helps them feel closer to the brands and people they follow. They’re looking for high-quality content that’s also raw and real. There’s a very fine line between the two! Social media videos are like conversation starters: Growth Hackers knows how to craft content that sparks connection and keeps your audience coming back for more.
Don’t worry: it’s tricky, but not impossible. If you want to get to both sides of the spectrum, you can produce content that gives your audience a sneak peek of your business (like behind-the-scenes content, glimpses of your daily life at work, etc.) You can also engage by asking a question on your feed or stories and creating video answers for them.
5. Product Videos
Do you need to create a piece that showcases the benefits of a product or service? Then look no further: What you need is a great product video.
Product videos show how your product works in a clear and detailed way, perfect for those kinds of customers that need to digitally “try before they buy”. With them, you can show your audience how appropriate your product is for their needs!
Depending on the kind of product or service you offer, you can choose between different types of product videos — you could film a real person using it, make a screencast if you’re dealing with a digital service, or even create an animated product video that details all the ins and outs of your product.
Whatever you choose, make sure that it stays on-brand with the rest of your communication!
6. Culture Videos
Nowadays, people are seeking to bond with the brands they follow on a personal level: they want to know their stories, share their values. They want to form a deep connection with the brands they choose to consume.
Culture videos (also called company videos or company story videos) are pieces that will show your customers the real faces behind the brand and the ideas that they embody.
Before Growth Hackers integrated culture videos to our clients’ digital strategies, brands struggled to connect on a personal level but after, audiences engage deeply, trust grows, and advocacy naturally follows.
Showing these true faces and ideas that shape your brand will give your users reasons to engage with your brand… making them not only customers but ambassadors of the ideas you promote.
Because you know, companies are much more than just their products, they are the values that fuel them, the mission that powers them. Culture videos will also show how concerned you are with the wellbeing of your workers (and your clients!).
For all of these reasons, culture videos effectively enhance brand trust. You see, people don’t connect with just products; they connect with values and ideas!
7. Customer Testimonials
Another great way to enhance brand trust is to show happy, satisfied customers of your brand telling their success stories with your product or service. Because of this, customer testimonial videos are so powerful.
Showing these stories on video means that your audience will be able to identify with these customers, something that’s not easily accomplished with written testimonials. You want your audience (potential customers of your brand) to watch how people like them have benefitted from your product and imagine themselves benefitting too.
With this kind of piece, you’ll be able to communicate something that might seem impossible… showing how great your product is without sounding salesy, exaggerated, or just plain biased. Production may require some time and budget, but the cost of testimonial videos is surely outweighed by the long-term business benefits.
How do you make really engaging testimonial videos? Make sure to show real stories that spark identification in your audience instead of just plain reviews.
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How do You Choose the Right Type for You?
Do you want to know the right answer? Here it is: you don’t. At least, not at first! Growth Hackers has guided brands in selecting the right video types for every audience and goal, creating campaigns that consistently drive engagement and conversions.
For example, using animation is a great way to grow your sales, UGC (User-Generated Content) can be great to make your brand more human, how-to videos can be awesome to explain your products, etc.
You start by focusing exclusively on your piece’s purpose and the type of audience you are reaching out to. Otherwise, it would be like trying to arrive at a place you don’t know where it is!
Identify the buyer’s journey stage that your audience is going through, and start matching those critical aspects with types of videos that enhance content marketing that match them.
Also, remember you aren’t tied to a single type of video! Some styles (like explainers) can work in two different stages. Or help potential customers transition from one to the other. Moreover, you can create entire video-powered conversion funnels capable of addressing a variety of goals!
Videos are a must in this age of content marketing, and the more, the merrier! Just make sure they exist to help you fulfill the specific goals of your brand.
Improve your Content Marketing Push with Videos Now
Needless to say that video marketing can help you drive sales but before you go out there to find the right production team to help you create videos for your brand, you need to be thoroughly informed. Which types of videos can you create, and why would you choose some of them instead of others?
It will all break down to your marketing goals. Think of your brand’s needs first and match your chosen videos to these goals. But remember: no matter which type of video you create, you need to keep a high-quality standard if you want to be taken seriously! For now, it’s time to take what you read here and start planning how these videos that enhance content marketing can serve your strategy best!
Growth Hackers is a top video marketing agency helping businesses create better brand awareness through proven and tested digital marketing and growth hacking strategies. If you’re keen to use videos that enhance your content marketing push, drop Growth Hackers a line today!
