Video Marketing: The Ultimate Guide

Developing a video marketing strategy isn’t too different from developing other marketing strategies, but the underlying medium naturally creates some distinctions — after all, video requires more time and money to produce than text or images. We discuss these distinctions below, along with steps you can take to develop a video marketing strategy of your own.

5 steps to creating a video marketing strategy

1. Define your business objective

“When you first start thinking about video, stop thinking about video. Instead, think about what you’re doing as a business,” says Robert Weiss, president of MultiVision Digital. Are you launching a new product? Are you moving into a new line of business? Your video goals should support these initiatives.

For example, you wouldn’t want to focus on corporate overview or culture videos if you’re announcing a new product — your spend should go to product launch videos. “Video works best when it’s integrated into a thoughtful plan. And that plan can certainly evolve over time as your objectives change,” notes Weiss.

2. Understand your target audience

As with any marketing-focused effort, knowing who you’re speaking to is critical. You’ve no doubt already defined your target audience, but ensure you have an in-depth understanding of who they are and what they want.

According to Weiss, knowing your audience inside and out is important for your production efforts and the costs associated with them. “It’s about added efficiency,” he says. “You can output multiple videos that speak to different audience segments while using the same basic video components. Just make a few changes and you have a whole new video — without scheduling a whole new shoot.”

For example, consider an insurance company that wants to produce videos featuring experts talking about insurance. The information will be largely the same, but different customers look for specific insurance products or coverage.

“The company can share the same insurance knowledge, but change up the talking points and visuals to focus on aspects that newlyweds or retirees care about most,” Weiss explains.

3. Identify distribution channels

The where of your video marketing strategy is another important component. You have to decide how best to reach your target audience with your videos. “The exact mix of distribution will differ depending on your business and the types of videos you make,” explains Weiss.

Here are a few channels you may decide to use:

• Streaming platforms (Netflix, Hulu, etc.)
• Social media (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)
• Google Ads networks
• Your website

“I recommend starting small. You can test a monthly budget of around $1,000 until you’re satisfied with the results,” says Morten Storgaard, creator of PassiveIncomeGeek. Then build up from there. A good video marketing budget is one that gives a promising return. As you add more to your budget and keep testing, you can further refine the idea of good and acceptable ROI.

As far as what you’ll need to consider, Weiss calls out a few key elements:

• Time and talent to write the script
• Cameras and other equipment
• Production and editing time
• Motion graphics and color correction
• Labor and experience of the crew

Video branding is essential to establishing yourself with your audience. Make sure to include elements like your logo, slogan, and brand colors within the first five to 10 seconds of each video, especially if the video is an ad.

Remember that users can typically skip video ads after a few seconds, or scroll past them on social. “Unlike traditional video ads for TV and streaming platforms, you can’t afford to tell the story first and then expect the viewer to watch to the end to find out who you are,” Storgaard explains.

Also consider video SEO optimization to ensure your content is ranked and seen. Weiss says one video likely won’t cut it — you’ll need several, just like with blog posts in traditional content marketing. And speaking of content marketing, Weiss notes that adopting a video-first strategy can help achieve greater video optimization: “This strategy is about creating content for video, then turning that content into supporting blog posts, social media images, emails, and so on.”

Creating your own video marketing strategy may seem like a big challenge, but the above guidance should give you a great foundation to start.

Meet your video marketing guides

Aaron Nix

Aaron Nix currently serves as an assistant professor of art and video producer at Concordia University, Nebraska in Seward, where he leads courses in film production, film criticism, digital media, and photography. Through his freelance work, Nix has written and directed award-winning films and produced successful ad campaigns for clients nationwide.

Ken Kerry

Ken Kerry is the executive creative director at Script to Screen. Ken cofounded the company in 1986, along with his wife, Barbara. Together, they built Script to Screen into one of the nation’s leading direct response television companies, producing more than 600 infomercials and DRTV spots, generating more than $6 billion in sales for clients and winning numerous awards for excellence.

Lance Cummins

Lance Cummins is the president of Anyvoo, a scrappy maker-startup that helps remote workers revolutionize the way remote work is seen by handcrafting simple, professional video call backdrops. He’s also the president of Nectafy, a growth content agency that helps clients attract new business.

Morten Storgaard

Morten Storgaard is an online marketing veteran and creator of PassiveIncomeGeek. He has a background in e-commerce and has worked with large and small brands to establish awareness and drive sales online.

Randall Harp

Randall Harp is the creator in chief at Chapel Hill Media. He has a diverse background in fine arts, film scoring, and software development for a variety of industries. With his experience, Harp creatively tells the stories of businesses through video — driving the production of strategic video assets, including scripts, storyboards, voice-overs, music, and motion graphics.

Robert Weiss

Robert Weiss is the president of MultiVision Digital, a video content marketing company. He got started in video production and marketing nearly a decade ago and has produced over 800 videos addressing a wide array of business objectives.

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