Exploring the Potential of Video Content Marketing [Interview]

In June 2017, data from the “State of Social Video: Marketing in a Video-First World” report from Animoto suggested that more customers were being influenced by the video content on social media. About 84 percent of consumers said they now watch video on mobile devices, and 81 percent of marketers are optimizing their social videos for mobile.

But how is this shift in content consumption and formatting impacting marketers’ overall strategies? We spoke to Jason Hsiao, co-founder and chief video officer of Animoto, for more insight into the report.

What differences have you seen in the types of videos B2B marketers are creating vs. B2C marketers?

“B2C marketers have more opportunity to tap into emotions than B2B marketers do. Consumers can be engaged with your videos online purely because they are fun and entertaining. There is more room to convey nostalgia and humor and other emotions in B2C videos.

When appealing to business customers, that audience needs to know that your product or service will truly enrich their business in some way.

That’s not to say B2B marketers can’t have a personality with their video marketing. They definitely can. However, I find successful B2B marketers tend to educate far more than anything else with their video marketing.

Buffer is a great example. They are a social media management tool that many brands use. They use Animoto videos on social media mainly to educate and enrich their audience’s expertise around social media marketing.

Are there certain types of videos (e.g., How-Tos, educational) that perform better than others?

“Marketers often feel like they need to be funny with video. At Animoto, we try to emphasize being authentic to you and your brand, first and foremost. And stick with the content you already know your prospects and customers care about.

At Animoto, we really value video shares. When someone hits the share button on a video we post on Facebook, that’s the ultimate endorsement, confirming that what we’re putting out there is resonating with our audience – so much so that they want their friends and family to see it. However, another business might look at videos as a way to capture leads and base it off that metric.

Under that lens of share-worthiness, anything that you can make that is timely is great. Billboard Magazine used Animoto to recap The Women’s March that took place in January of this year, and that got tons of shares.

A B2B example of this is Facebook marketing expert Mari Smith. She uses Animoto to reach brands that want to know what Facebook’s earnings call or new features Facebook is putting out there means for them. Timeliness is always great. Educational videos work well too if you are putting out info that people are interested in. B2B marketers can definitely take this approach. Make your following feel like they are getting valuable information from the expert (you!).

At the end of the day, choosing the types of videos that work best for a brand is step one. Regularly creating videos like that is step two. And step three is sticking to a consistent message. Consistency is so important. Use video to amplify what message your brand is already communicating.”

What can marketers do to provide better customer experiences with their video content?

“Video is the next best thing to being there in person. Utilizing video for your help center and even for customer service agents to use when engaging with prospects or customers is a great start. We encourage our Customer Success team to use video in fun and creative ways when communicating with customers who are writing in with questions or feedback.

Surprising and delighting folks is what a lot of brands strive for and video is great for that. Sometimes it’s nice to put a fun video on a confirmation page when someone has given you their email or any other touch points in which you’d like to convey what your brand personality is a bit more vividly.

Using video to inject personality and also to enhance education are great ways for marketers to start using video content during the customer experience.”

What was the most surprising statistic/finding in your research?

“Learning that 92 percent of marketers are re-purposing content they already have for their marketing videos was really encouraging. Video is quickly becoming the medium that provides the best reach on social media and it enriches other forms of marketing as well.

I was expecting marketers to be resourceful in creating marketing videos regularly now that we live in a video-first world, but I wasn’t expecting that many of them to be using marketing collateral they already have to amplify their message with video.

Just a couple years ago, so many marketers viewed video as a special one-off project for a website or a campaign.

Now marketers are not only realizing that video has to be part of their regular communication to prospects and customers, but also that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel when creating a new video. They know they already have the assets to create something that they’re proud to share.

How can marketers who aren’t already using video integrate it into their strategies? Where should they start?

“We like to tell marketers getting started with video that they shouldn’t view video as an entirely different type of marketing strategy. It’s a way to amplify your existing marketing strategy. Your content marketing, email marketing, social marketing. Anything you blog, tweet, post, etc. could/should be a video. Again, start with what you already know works with your prospects and customers and tell that message with video.

Finding a tool that is simple and fast to use is key. You can’t spend tons of time on each video you create. Brands need to be communicating with video regularly and so the amount of time you spend on each video has to be reasonable.

Choose what platforms on social media are the most important for you. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are all different in the types of videos you would create. Facebook and Twitter needs to work with sound-off viewing and videos out-play. With YouTube, people are generally watching with sound-on. Identifying where you want to start posting your videos regularly will help determine the types of videos you want.

And then lastly, remain consistent and regular with your video usage. With each campaign, milestone, announcement or anything else you’re touting to customers and prospects, ask yourself how you can create a video for it. It will amplify your reach. You can create something short and with assets you already have. Don’t overthink it, but do be thoughtful about your approach and then remain consistent with it.”

For your free copy of the “State of Social Video: Marketing in a Video-First World” report, click here.

ABOUT JASON HSIAO

Jason is the Co-Founder and Chief Video Officer of Animoto, the company that makes it easy for brands to create professional online videos.

Prior to Animoto, Jason served as a television producer for MTV Networks.