As much as we love the written word, there’s a lot to be said for  video right now. According to research found within this great state of video whitepaper from See That,  90% of companies that use video content have a chance of having an  impact on audience decisions. Marketers claim that video conversion  rates outperform other marketing content.

It’s no surprise then, that top content publishers such as Hubspot  are emboldening marketers to focus on a 50/50 written-to-video split.

If we all know this to be true then one, why are so many brands still  shying away from video content creation and two, why is half of the  video that’s currently created rarely fit for purpose? 

We think a shift in approach is needed. Just like when brands started  to do social media and would tweet all day about how great their  product and service was, the same appears to be true within video. 

For video marketing to successfully generate leads and sales it needs to have one of three key narratives. 

Do people want to watch your corporate video? The answer is probably  no. The corporate video is often produced because it makes the people  who produced it feel proud of their company achievements. Very rarely is  it a piece of content that’s storyboarded because of its purpose to the  user.

For any marketing campaign to succeed, resonate, engage and entertain  it has to have a purpose. This was the thought behind the very first  overview video we ever made for ScreenCloud. Sure, we could of explained  who ScreenCloud was, what we did and our customer testimonials.

We did none of those things. In fact, we didn’t name a single feature. Here’s what we did instead:

Put your content on your screens - Digital Signage

The video is less than 50 seconds but it does the job of showing  ScreenCloud’s purpose. Our job is to help fill the world’s unused and  blank screens with better content. That’s our company purpose and that’s  the purpose of this video, to communicate the wider mission. Hopefully,  after watching it, the viewer will head to our website to find out more  about how we do this - features, pricing, free trial and so on.

Far too often videos are created that sell every feature or denote  the entire company history. You probably wouldn’t create a blogpost  about your company’s history you’d save that for the about page. Would  you write a blogpost from a customer testimonial? Probably not. When it  comes to video ideas that are going to have an effect on your sales and  marketing, think about your video within the same parameters.

Here are a few questions to check if your video content idea has purpose:

Will the viewer get something from watching this video?

Does this video help, support or enlighten the viewer in some way?

Will this video show why we’re different to the 50 other companies out there?

Without a purpose, your video is no more worthy of generating leads  and sales than a badly written landing page, or salesy blogpost.

54% of people’s go to source for learning is video. The most searched phrase on YouTube is indeed ‘how to…’.  

One of the ways you can create video that leads more people to find  out who you are and what you offer, is to create videos that inform and  educate. This could be:

Content that makes a seemingly difficult subject appear easier

Create video content that truly solves a viewer’s problem and you’ll  be much more likely to get video views, as well as referrals to your  website, app or product. 

Checkout these guys below from a company called Pulsate, who make  mobile marketing software. Sure they could have created a YouTube  channel selling their software. Instead, they create informative content  that educates an audience about trends and developments in mobile  marketing.

iBeacons Explained: 10 Things About iBeacons You Need to Know | Pulsate Academy

The format of the video is pretty simple, it uses a whiteboard and  assumably, a company employee, who works through a topic in a simple and  relatable way. A great example of informative content done well and of  course, once you’ve watched a few videos you’re more than likely to head  over to their website or social media channels to take a better look.

Additional note: how to find what video topics your audience need help with 

One of the reasons we believe people don’t use video in the way they  should is because they don’t know how to create video content that is  genuinely useful, not because they don’t want to! 

Even without a production team, it’s now possible to create smart videos in minutes using modern video tools — making it easier to focus on storytelling and audience insight rather than technical barriers. 

Fortunately, it’s  really simple to find the topics your audience are searching for.

Firstly, you could look at the auto complete information on YouTube  (as well as related video topics) to see what people are searching for. 

For example, if you’re an app developer here’s a list of topic ideas your audience are searching for:

You can use the same process for Google, Bing, Facebook and so on.

Secondly, you can search forum sites and communities where people  specifically go to ask questions around topics they need help with. For  example, if you’re an expert in social media, head to Quora to find a  list of potential video topics like these ones:

Lastly, use your own customer or prospect pool! A simple question to  ask on Twitter or within an email campaign could be “what type of stuff  would you love us to create a video tutorial to help you with?” You can  bet that your audience already have a ton of ideas you may never have  considered!

You can also look through your customer support queries to find  common themes and threads, all of which could be solved by a two-minute  video, saving you time and energy in the future. 

As well as the purpose and content of your video, you need to  consider how it will be consumed to really produce something worth  watching. 

Video is not just for your teenage audience; 76% of consumers over 18 watch short-form videos as least once per week.  Video is perhaps one of the easiest content forms to consume as it  doesn’t have to take centre stage like reading a blogpost or magazine  does. So think about where your viewers might be watching your video,  for example while cooking dinner or on a second screen while they work.  If possible, your video should cater for eventualities where your  viewers may just be listening to the video (without viewing it) and  where they are viewing it without the sound turned on. 

Over 50% of video views happen on mobile devices and 85% of videos are viewed without sound. 

If the audience can’t hear (or read) what your character or story is  talking about, can they still understand the message behind it? Often, adding captions, a voiceover, or experimenting with an AI video generator to automatically create engaging content, can make the difference between a user staying on the channel and leaving it.

Video and great marketing: it’s a match

Videos are no magic bullet to success. Sure, a lot of people are  watching them right now but if you produce video for the sake of video,  it won’t contribute anything to your wider purpose. Just like any other  form of marketing you have to have great content, a distribution  platform and the right thought behind your concept to create great video  that meets your goals. 

When you get those things right, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t see your lead generation soar!

At ScreenCloud we’re committed to helping you get your  amazing content (video included) up onto the digital screens around you.  Find out more at https://screen.cloud. 

How to find video themes, topics and formats that appeal to your target audience, to generate real leads and sales, backed by video marketing statistics.

Many of the videos businesses create today just aren’t working. We find out why.

How to Make Video Content That Your Audience Wants to Watch

How to Make Video Content That Your Audience Wants to Watch

How to Make Video Content That Your Audience Wants to Watch

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