9 Critical Steps To Ensure Your Video Marketing Investment Pays Off

You’ve established a comprehensive communication strategy that combines video with your other marketing tools. You need to create a detailed strategy to release the online content that complements your existing marketing plan.

By following these six important steps, you will not only create content that moves your targeted buyer to take action, but you will also have three important metrics to determine the return on your investment into video marketing.

Develop a video marketing plan

• 1. Gather video topic ideas. Effective marketing begins with a solid understanding of your company’s value proposition and your services or products. According to a recent study by video platform KZO Innovations, generally people remember 50% of what they see and hear. Along with providing a brief history of your company, your marketing videos should answer the following three questions: What pain points do you solve for the viewer? What is the best objective solution to this problem? Why are you the best company to solve this problem?
• 2. Begin with a detailed budget. Creating a successful video library takes time and money. But if you plan in advance, your production budget doesn’t have to be expensive. If your company is short on cash, you can borrow a few dollars from your other marketing budget areas, because you’ll integrate video into the other communication zones as well.
• 3. Create a style guide. Before you hire the production company or begin story boarding, decide whether you want you videos to have a home movie vibe or if you are creating a more professional and polished look. Every detail in a video counts – from the sound quality and the background to the type of camera you use to shoot. That is why adhering to a style guide ensures that the look and feel of your videos are consistent.
• 4. Plan your video production schedule. The most successful marketing videos are carefully planned at least 6 months in advance. Because video production has a lot of moving parts, make sure that you give you and your team plenty of time to coordinate your video launch date with your other marketing activities.
• 5. Address every detail to create a compelling product. As the creator of these videos, you are responsible for every frame that the viewer watches. If the video begins on a high, but become boring somewhere in the middle, you could lose your prospect’s interest and ultimately a sale.
• 6. Cut the fluff. The purpose of a video is not only to educate and entertain your prospects, but also to move them a few steps closer to making a sales decision. Therefore, it is important to make every second count. Irrelevant and extremely boring videos do not serve your prospects well or lead to conversions. Remove any frames that do not lead to conversions.

Review key metrics to determine market reach and ROI

• 7. Measure the activity levels of your video viewership. No matter how many people see your videos, it is most important to measure the number of views that directly relate to sales.
• 8. Look for influence. Video marketing on YouTube and Vimeo has created an opportunity for brands to establish a strong position of influence. Take a look at the number of video comments, Facebook likes and retweets of your video links to determine your weekly and monthly online influence.
• 9. Check for delight and audience retention.  The audience that you are looking to reach is not the general market; it is your customer base. Use a heat map and analytic software to determine which content resonates with your targeted consumers most.