Video advertisements are known for being very effective, and they remain to be a great way for companies to get visibility. It also allows you to improve your branding and your lead conversion as well, but it is a well known fact that the most effective video advertisements are based on practices that often comply with the general principles of advertising. Why not take a look below to see the top 8 best practices so you can get started on the right track.
1. Know Your Audience
Instead of making a general video, just for the fun of it, you need to make sure that you have a target audience in mind. Your target audience could be your existing customers or they could be those who already know your product. You could target those who have never purchased your product before as well, but either way, it helps to have a quality videographer on-hand to help you with the film production. You also need to remember that each video that you make could cater for a different audience, and this could be the smallest detail. For example you could rephrase one of your sentences or you could change the theme of your video as well.
2. Don't Waffle
The first 5 seconds of your video will either make or break your advertising campaign. One way to find out whether or not your video is okay, would be to act as though your entire video is only 5 seconds long. If you miss out the price or other important information, make sure that you edit it to make sure that you fit everything that you need into this small time frame. The start of your video should also catch your viewer's attention, and it needs a call to action as well.
3. Short and Simple
People who watch videos normally skip through them so they don't need to watch any of the advertisements. Advertisements are normally not any longer than 30 seconds, and this is normally how long it takes for someone to press the skip button. Longer videos with advertisements that can't be skipped could spell bad news for your brand, so to avoid this you need to make sure that you engage your users by asking them to go to your site for more information. This is really easy to do, and you'd be surprised at what a turnout you could receive.
4. Marketing Lists
Remarketing campaigns are ideal if you want to target customers who have visited your site before. This is most effective with users who never actually ended up purchasing your product, so it can really be a profitable decision for your business. It is high conversion, low cost and to maximise its effectiveness, you could just create a number of lists based on the products that you are trying to sell. Use the products that those customers have recently viewed, because it is these types of customers who can have a huge impact on the bottom line of your company.
5. YouTube Placements on Google AdWords
AdWords is specifically designed so you can place ads on your YouTube account and any partner sites that may also be linked. It is very important to test both of these options because there isn't really a clear cut choice and both of them could be very profitable for your business. By learning which one is the right one for your business, you can then begin to streamline your marketing campaign and this is a great way to get started.
6. Voiceovers
Many YouTube viewers do other things while they are browsing the site and they don't really pay much attention to what is happening in the video. For this reason, you should make sure that you expand on your video with a voiceover, that can be used on its own instead of the video if this is required. Your production company will be able to help you to get this in time with the video so it has never been easier to get this done. You also need to make sure that you remember about the user's attention span, and when you are filming your video, make sure that your voice is clear and easy to understand. If your voice isn't clear and easy to understand then you won't get across your message to your customers, and this can be a real problem if you want them to purchase your product. Consider hiring a voiceover artist as this can make all the difference to your video.
7. Test Your Components
It might be worth creating many different versions of your video as well, so you can use them for your multiple audiences with ease as well. This can all be done with targeted advertising and it really is easy to do as well. You could target them based on their geographical location or you could target them by using your own company data as well. With so many options available, it really isn't difficult to make sure that your video turns out great. When you create multiple video versions, you should try and implement a split testing schedule. This is a concrete strategy and it will really help you when it comes down to the production itself. If you want to be able to continually improve your video however, you might want to build a system that allows you to identify what your best video is, so you can create different versions of the best video that you have. To determine what your top video is, you should try and work out how well they perform when they are placed on the internet. Compare your best video to your previous video and keep doing this until you have enough data to make a full and proper decision. It does seem fair to think that the video that makes you the most money would be best to use for your current version, but it is still important to take into consideration the characteristics of your video. For example, your video may very well have the highest conversion rate, but other video advertisements may have a higher cost per conversion. As mentioned above, the first 5 seconds are the most important and these will most likely determine whether or not people will watch your video, so you need to make sure that the first 5 seconds contain as much information as possible. After all, if someone clicks off your video, you need to make sure that they know enough information about your product so they can come and pay you a visit again at a later date, and split testing is a great way to do this. If you want to learn more about split testing, think about your audio, your call to action and even your music, as these can make all the difference when you are trying to find the right one for your needs.
8. Audiences and AdWords
It may be worth setting up a single advertisement group for every one of your audience members. In order to do this efficiently you need to make sure that you monitor the data. Marketing departments often rely on teams and they work with those who have very fixed budgets. For this reason, they tend to market their services to clients who would be considered profitable. The same applies to your marketing, don't waste your time marketing to people who would not be profitable and don't try and market to those who don't have an interest in your services. Instead, focus your efforts on those who would be interested in what you have to say and this is easier than ever when you know and understand your target audience. You will also find that by storing this data, you can then use it to further your marketing efforts. For example, out of the people who have an interest in your product, how many people went onto purchase and how many people didn't? Also think about how many people clicked off the page and at what stage, and if your customer did purchase, did they return for a repeat purchase? By taking all of this information into consideration, you can then tailor each one of your videos to meet the needs of your customers, while also making sure that each one is as effective as the next. Not only will this help to save you money but it will also help you when it comes to your future marketing efforts as well. You will know how to target your customers and this can all lead to higher conversion rates overall, so as you can see, it is actually more efficient to operate your video marketing strategy this way when compared to just hosting them on YouTube and hoping for the best.
Creating and running your own video marketing campaign can be a walk in the park but if you don't use an audience that is pre-defined, you won't really get a good return on your investment. For this reason, you should always create a scalable campaign that can be catered to meet your every need. Even though this may appear to be time consuming at the time, it could really pay off for you at a later date and you don't need to start with a low budget either. This is because you can tweak your existing video multiple times and you don't need to worry about hiring anyone to re-film it for you either. You will also find that the best videos are short and sweet, so try and stay away from long videos that drag on and on. Your customers will most likely get bored and they may even click off the video as well, so keeping it short and simple is always the way to go if you want to achieve maximum results. When creating your short video, make sure that you take notes of the points that are listed above in this article. They will help you a lot when you start creating your own video and it could save you money as well. You will also find that by listing all of your points within the first 5 seconds, you don't need to worry about people clicking off as well.
One thing that you should note when creating your video however is how useful a professional video company can be. They will be able to show you how to make your video the best that it can be and they will also be able to show you how to make the most of your finances as well. You should also remember that when you hire a professional video company, they will be able to help you edit the video and master it as well, not to mention that if you need a voiceover as well, they will be able to do this for you without any difficulties. This is great if you want your video to appear truly professional in the eyes of your customers and it is also great if you don't have any video experience of your own as well. Your video production company will be able to piece your video together and they can show you different ways of how to include information.
