Video communication: the essential marketing tool for conquering the web

Over the years, video communication has become one of the most powerful marketing levers.

Indeed, the figures for video on the Internet constantly demonstrate the extent to which this tool needs to be integrated into an attractive digital communications strategy. As a medium that is attractive, accessible and promotes viral content, video is a powerful conversion tool.

Would you like to understand the ins and outs of video communication? Are you thinking of getting started, but don't know where to begin?

In this article, appvizer looks at the effectiveness of video, the steps you need to take to develop your strategy, and the most accessible software for making your first videos.

3, 2, 1... action!

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Why adopt video communication?

Video is the most attractive content

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a well-crafted video is more likely to engage Internet users.

This success is based, first and foremost, on saving effort: Internet users are more inclined to watch a video quickly than to read a more time-consuming article.

80% of visitors watch a video, while only 20% read the site's content.

ilestunefois.com

On the other hand, audiovisual production encourages creativity and storytelling: entertaining, educational, promotional content... convey emotions, enhance your brand image and generate more engagement.

Video raises your profile on social networks

Video is the most widely shared content format on social networks. On average, it generates 1,200% more shares than text and images ^combined1. What's more, the average engagement rate for a video on Facebook is 6%, compared with 4.8% for a post with a photo, and 3.3% for a post including a ^link2.

Communicating via video on social media therefore means boosting the virality of your content and, by the same token, raising your public profile and visibility on the web.

Video generates more conversions

Once again, the figures speak for themselves: an email containing the word "video" in its subject line has a 19% higher open rate and a 65% higher click-through ^rate3.

By making the message more readable and attractive, the use of video as a means of communication generates a very positive impact on consumers and their purchasing intentions. What's more, this format increases your credibility with prospects, customers and users: a testimonial from a satisfied customer or a video demonstration are formats that are more likely to convince web users.

Video improves your site's natural referencing

Google favours results from its YouTube video platform. As a result, a web page featuring a video is 53 times more likely to land on the first page of ^results4.

What's more, because the content is more attractive, web users spend more time on pages containing video. This increases their popularity in Google's eyes.

💡 To optimise the natural referencing of your YouTube videos, we recommend that you :

• specify the name of your video file,
• choose a title that includes your keyword,
• take care with the description,
• fill in the category,
• add tags,
• insert transcripts and subtitles,
• include calls to action to encourage interaction,
• create a playlist with several videos.

Video is mobile-friendly

The smartphone is the most frequently viewed screen, far ahead of the computer. Every day, the average number of video views climbs to... 1,000,000, ⁰⁰⁰⁵!

Over time, video on mobile phones has become the most popular format, because it is the easiest to consume. All web users have to do is turn their smartphone around to enjoy full-screen viewing. The information is easier to assimilate than reading it on a mobile phone.

Video encourages innovation in communication

Augmented reality, artificial intelligence, 360° video... Thanks to the technical advances of recent years, video has become the playground on which to express your creativity and produce innovative content that Internet users will enjoy sharing.

Example of a 360° video advert for a hotel.

How do you develop a video communication strategy?

The advantages listed above have convinced you of the relevance of digital video communication, but you don't know where to start?

To guide you, here are the key stages in a good video marketing strategy:

Define your objectives

Video can serve several purposes, depending on the structure of your company and your development strategy:

• Communicate a new image,
• increasing brand awareness
• responding to a crisis,
• generate more visitors to your website,
• popularising the use of software or a service, etc.

In all cases, try to hit the nail on the head and remain effective. There's no point in aiming for a million views. Concentrate on what's important: getting the right message to the right people.

But just how do you identify the right people?

Establish your audience

Segmentation is still standard practice in all marketing campaigns. It is the sine qua non for undertaking relevant actions and obtaining concrete results. And of course, video is no exception to the rule.

We therefore advise you to define your target profiles, your personas, in advance. Also take an interest in their customer journey, to identify the most opportune moment to receive your video message.

By doing this, you can identify the distribution channels and social platforms that are most popular with your audience.

Choose the right distribution channels

Understanding the customer journey of your personas enables you to identify the best distribution channels from among the many possibilities offered by the internet:

• YouTube obviously remains THE platform for hosting and distributing videos (over 1.9 billion people use ^it6). Hosted by Google, it will also serve your ambitions in terms of natural referencing.
• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram... and all the social networks in general have the power to spread the word about your main channel, generate virality and extend the reach of your content at lightning speed.
• Finally, remember the excellent open and click-through rates generated by including a video in your promotional emails.

Determine the right format for the right message

There are no precise rules here either. It all depends on what you have to say and the production resources available to you.

It's worth noting, however, that there are many different video formats. Here are a few examples:

• tutorials: these accompany users and win them over with their educational content;
• Live: creates engagement by encouraging users to react live;
• Teasers: keep your community on the edge of their seats;
• motion design animation: popularises information in a fun, graphic way, etc.

Here are a few other recommendations:

• Always go for quality. Framing and sound recording must be impeccable. And sometimes it's better to scale back some of your ambitions if you don't have the means to achieve them.

• Choose short formats. Internet users are increasingly in a hurry. So they prefer concise videos with a punchy message.

• Think mobile-friendly. With the increasing use of smartphones, you need to ask yourself a number of questions. Should you opt for a vertical format, which is better suited to mobile phones? Is your message understandable without sound? This last question is particularly important: users are likely to watch their videos in situations (public transport, waiting rooms, etc.) where sound can be a barrier.

• Take care with the tone. With a view to improving the customer experience, your videos will be all the more powerful if you convey emotions, using humour for example.

Draw up a production and distribution schedule

As with any editorial strategy, you need to know where you're going.

To do this, we recommend that you draw up a table containing the following information:

• your target audience
• the stage in the customer journey at which the video will be used,
• the format and distribution channel,
• the content
• shooting dates
• broadcast dates.

Evaluate your results

Finally, always evaluate your results, to identify areas for improvement in your future campaigns. Determine the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to be observed for each video. These can be defined according to your objectives, but here are a few examples:

• number of views
• the number of shares,
• the number of "likes",
• the open rate of your emails with video and the number of clicks,
• the number of clicks on a call to action at the end of the video,
• the number of leads generated by your videos, etc.

Armed with all this advice, do you feel ready to launch your first video campaign?

Then the question arises: advertising agency or not advertising agency?

What about communications agencies?

Given the scale of the task of setting up marketing videos, you're wondering whether you should use a specialist agency?

In reality, it all depends on the expertise you have in-house:

• You don't have a marketing department: call in a communications agency for personalised support on the marketing strategy to be adopted, as well as on the production of the content.

• If you have a marketing department within your organisation and a substantial budget, you can call on the services of a video communications agency or an audiovisual production agency. This type of agency follows your brief and manages video production from A to Z.

• If your marketing department wants to control the entire video production chain and its production costs, you can train a person to be in charge of filming, with a minimum of equipment. Certain software packages are also becoming essential for saving time, being more productive and making economies of scale.

Have you chosen the last option? We'll now take a look at the hardware and software you need to get started.

Hardware and software for creating your marketing videos

When it comes to video communication on the Internet, you need to opt for solutions that match your financial resources. Here we take a look at the essential hardware and software you need to know to make a success of your marketing video, whatever your budget.

What equipment should you use to create your videos?

To get started, you don't need to equip yourself like a big Hollywood production. However, here are the minimum requirements that we recommend you acquire:

• a latest-generation smartphone, camera or HD camera,
• a memory card with plenty of storage space,
• a tripod, with a smartphone adaptor if you use one, to stabilise the image naturally,
• a stabiliser, or gimbal, to compensate for movement in dynamic shots,
• a lapel microphone, an omnidirectional microphone or a boom microphone,
• Artificial lighting on a stand for filming indoors, consisting of softboxes for intense lighting or umbrellas for softer light,
• a black background, or green if you want to insert video.

And of course, add to this the various software programmes you'll be using during the editing and post-production phases.

What software should you use to create your videos?

First of all, you should know that you can download some editing software that comes with Windows or is available free on Mac OS via the Apple Store, such as iMovie.

More experienced users with ambitious projects can turn to Adobe products: Adobe Première for video editing, and Adobe After Effects for special effects.

On the other hand, if you're a beginner, here are two programs that should interest you.

Kannelle

With Kannelle, you can quickly and easily produce professional-quality videos that reflect the image of your company.

To do this, choose a scenario from the many available, depending on your objectives (customer testimonials, for example). All that's left to do is to let yourself be guided through the process of quickly editing your video (in just 15 minutes) and personalising it in your company's colours.

Kannelle is also particularly effective when it comes to capturing footage: the application helps you to guarantee optimum quality for videos filmed from a smartphone.

Pitchy

Pitchy makes it quick and easy to create your own video without any technical skills.

All you have to do is shoot your video rushes (filmed sequences) with your smartphone, then load them into Pitchy to make the most of them: edit, add music, text and subtitles, integrate a call to action, etc.

With this software, you can also create a video from A to Z, thanks to numerous video and animation templates that you can customise (corporate, social networks, Whiteboard, Flat, Tech, etc.).

Finally, Pitchy streamlines the processes of marketing teams, with a collaborative space for validating the various stages.

See all software Video Management

Create a dynamic brand with video!

As you will have realised, video is an essential part of your marketing plan. Its diversity of formats, as well as its ability to capture attention and arouse emotions, make it the preferred medium of communication for the majority of French people.

It's up to you to come up with staging ideas that will thrill your audience and generate sales.

And the good news is that you don't have to be the new Spielberg or spend a fortune to achieve a level of quality that will captivate Internet users. Software publishers have clearly understood the benefits of developing tools that are accessible to as many people as possible, even those with no technical skills.

From now on, there are no limits to your creativity.

Have you ever produced videos to develop your online communications? What have been your successes? Your mistakes?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Source :
^1fr.semrush.com
^2wearesocial.com
^{3lueurexterne}.com
^4iswissweb.com
^5brandwatch.com
^6youtube.com

Article updated, originally published May 2019.