The Power of Video Marketing

Online marketing is indispensable in our daily lives in 2020. In fact, as consumers, we see about 300 messages daily, in addition to dozens of emails. Through social media, news pages, and traditional media such as radio and television, brands try to reach their target audience 24/7. The competition is enormous, and the target audience (consumer) is exposed to more and more messages. How do you ensure that you stand out to your target audience in this overcrowded media landscape?

Especially now (we are writing in the year 2020), staying in contact and visible is important. Many trade shows, client visits, and live events have been canceled. Videos play a very important role in partially filling the gap that has arisen. We see a large increase in demand for video products. Tal Gonen – Owner Merkelijkheid

videomarketing

Within online marketing, various forms can be distinguished. There is affiliate marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing. Even within this last form of marketing, there are different possibilities. Think of writing a blog or whitepaper, a webinar, or producing a video. In this article, we will further explore video as a powerful tool. Additionally, we will inform you about the success factors and, of course, provide some examples of videos we have produced.

What is video marketing?

The term video marketing is not very complicated. If we define the term, we do so as follows: ‘The strategic creation and distribution of video content with the goal of promoting products, brands, or services.’

The increasing popularity of using videos is evident from research. In 2020, approximately 80% of internet traffic consisted of moving images. It also appears that 64% of consumers make a purchase after watching a video, and videos are shared 1,200 times more often on social media than images or documents.

The advantages of video marketing

Not every consumer wants to spend (a lot of) time and/or effort to be informed. A video ensures that this target group can also be reached.
A video contains more emotion than a piece of text.
By publishing videos on your website, you keep consumers on your website longer.
By letting an employee of your brand speak in one of your videos, you create a personal feeling and a sense of trust towards the end user.
A video can be distributed on multiple platforms. This ensures a larger reach.
Video is very suitable for advertising campaigns on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Increasingly, video ads deliver better results compared to photos.

What makes a video strong?

How long can you hold the consumer’s attention? To increase the chance that the consumer watches the entire video, it is important that a video does not last too long. According to research by Clickz, the optimal advertised video lasts 15 seconds, and 90% of the target audience remains focused on the video if it is no longer than 15 seconds. For a 30-second video ad, this drops to 67%. Do you have a video that lasts longer? Then ensure that the target audience remains curious to seek more information about your video. Of course, these are averages; the target audience and the purpose of your video largely determine how long your audience stays engaged.

The user (your target audience) at the center

The use of the product, brand, or service becomes much more tangible when the end user sees how it is used. Make sure the message is powerful and clear and always put the end user at the center. If you want to convey a message, inform the user why it is important to watch, what the goal is, and what it delivers. Besides that, it is of course about the content of the video. Cliché but true; a picture says more than a thousand words. Let alone when you combine these two..

Accessibility

Accessibility is the key to success. You want your video to be viewable anytime and anywhere. Think, for example, of an office where the video is played without sound. Subtitling your video makes this possible. More and more videos are therefore provided with subtitles as standard. Major platforms such as YouTube sometimes automatically subtitle videos in previews. This is not the highest quality but certainly a practical solution. Accessibility also relates to display. You want your video to be displayed optimally on every device.

How to use video marketing?

You want your video to reach the target audience as much as possible and that the distribution of the video on various channels ultimately leads to your website. How do you do that? We give you five tips for creating a content distribution strategy for your videos.

Determine how you will distribute your video: organically, paid, or both? The advantage of organic distribution is that it stays on your website and social media as long as you want and improves findability. With a paid campaign, you can spread the content even better beyond your own customer base and network. Paid promotion of your content can be done, for example, via Google, but also via Facebook, LinkedIn, and many other social media or (industry) platforms.
If you decide that advertising is part of your content distribution, make sure the ad always leads to your website, where you make sales or generate potential leads and can truly connect with your target audience. Not unimportant: choose the right format depending on where you want to place the video. Create videos you place on YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn in a horizontal format and videos you place on Instagram in a vertical format.
As described earlier, the optimal video lasts 15 seconds. Does your video last longer? Then use part of the video as a trigger on various platforms to lead to the full video on your website.
Always write an article about the video you posted for SEO purposes. At least describe what the video is about and supplement the blog with other information that is interesting for your target audience where possible.
Don’t just think about what you want to achieve with your video, but also how you persuade a potential customer after watching the video to make contact or purchase. We recommend placing a ‘Call to Action’ where you place the full video and direct your ads. This is the point where you want to connect with the target audience, whether for a purchase now or perhaps later. With a call to action, you offer the possibility to leave an email address. Which call to action you use depends on your product or service, what the target audience needs, and what you have to offer. Think, for example, of a newsletter subscription, downloading a whitepaper or e-book. Because the potential customer leaves data, they can be approached later for other contact moments and conversions.

Video marketing and Merkelijkheid

Merkelijkheid produced many videos for its clients in 2020. Tal Gonen, owner of Merkelijkheid and involved in many video projects, says about this:

‘We saw the demand for video marketing increase sharply during the Covid-19 crisis. Clients were looking for a way to still reach their target audience. Video marketing plays an important role in this. Over the past year, we have therefore produced more than 40 videos for our clients’.

Below is a selection of some videos that contributed to the success of our clients, what the request was, and what result was achieved:

Video for lead generation in strategic target markets Audion

For client Audion Packaging Machines, we were allowed to film at one of their customers. Fascino Coffee from Weert uses Audion packaging machines for packaging and sealing their coffee products. The food sector is, alongside Medical/Pharma, Parts, and E-commerce, one of Audion’s four strategic spearhead markets. Packaging coffee forms an important segment within the strategic target market. We produced a beautiful film for Audion, were responsible for the script, interviews, and editing. Of course, subtitling was also considered. We wrote a series of articles around this topic, which were published on the website. Naturally, provided with sufficient CTAs (Call To Actions).

The result:

Contribution to business goals: New machines have demonstrably been sold from this assignment, as told by the owner of Audion Packaging Machines. For this client, we had previously made another video, also specifically for the strategic target market food. Starring the famous chef Alain Caron. You can watch this video here:

Video for increasing brand value Intratone

For client Intratone Benelux, we achieved a lot in 2020. Besides producing various videos, we also designed the Dutch and Belgian websites and ran campaigns in these countries. In this way, we contributed to the brand awareness of this originally French brand. We would like to highlight one of the videos. This video has now been used in several countries, including the Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK, and Denmark. The result:

videocontent

We were responsible for the concept, script, storyboard, actors, and props. Of course, we were very lucky with the weather in mid-March 2020. The video was shot at multiple locations but all within one shooting day. The video has been translated into several languages, such as Danish (including post-production for the translated text in the wireless intercom and phone).

Video about new strategy Buma/Stemra

For client Buma/Stemra, we produced a video that addresses the new course the organization will take in the coming years. Together with Buma/Stemra, we developed a concept in which this new course, consisting of 4 pillars, is not told by the creators but really from the perspective of the executors and users. We chose a setup where much attention was paid to color and background. This way, you really take the viewer into the story. Data analysis showed that a large part watched the video completely, a feat in itself because the length (almost 5 minutes) and the complexity of the message are considerable. Mission accomplished! Besides project management, the script, a large part of the interviews, and the concept, we also launched a campaign around this video. With the campaign, we were able to distribute the video beyond Buma/Stemra’s network and increase the reach of the message. See the result here:

Company presentation video (technical) Donghua

Donghua is a supplier of chains, sprockets, and complete chain systems. Besides being responsible for the website and recently for linking their product database with that of MRO partners, we were also allowed to produce two videos. The main goal of this video is to show that Donghua Europe is more than just a distributor.

With this video, we show that Donghua Europe not only stocks more than 15,000 different products but is a real competence center. A competence center has everything in-house to truly integrate into the customer chain. From a modern workshop with modern machines to an extensive laboratory. All under one roof.

In this video, we bring the competence center into view, from customer-specific design to shipping. See the result here:

Campaign video Wisseloord Studios

The Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum are world-famous. Many of the biggest names have retreated to one of their studios to record albums. From Michael Jackson to The Police, from the Scorpions to Simply Red, and even today, Hilversum is known for top productions. The Wisseloord Studios are nowadays more than just studios. Under the leadership of CEO Malik Berrabah, it is becoming a true music hub. This hub plays an important role in bringing together knowledge, network, and talent.

The Wisseloord Academy is the place where that talent can further develop. This happens under the guidance of the absolute top in music, production, but especially by being involved with music together. For this beautiful client, we made a series of videos and wrote articles. The main goal: to connect new talent to us. These videos are distributed organically via the Wisseloord Academy website and social media channels and supported with periodic campaigns around the start of new courses.

We made a total of 5 videos and wrote several articles. We would like to show one of these videos. Watch the result here:

Video to strengthen your positioning

Merkelijkheid has worked for years for Helmond-based Apex Dynamics. The first positioning “Apex runs faster” was recently reviewed, and it was decided that the brand was ready for repositioning. This is now “move forward” and plays on the contribution to innovation they provide. Innovation appears in various forms, at product or process level but also by supporting the next generation of technicians. Apex Dynamics does this with a combination of knowledge, products, or financially. One of the projects they have supported for a long time and with great enthusiasm is University Racing Eindhoven (URE). A student team that builds electric-powered and even autonomous racing cars at a very high level. Each year, several students from TU Eindhoven dedicate an entire academic year to the project. Normally, URE participates in various international student races across Europe. In 2020, this was not possible due to Corona. Thom van Oss, owner of Apex Dynamics, spoke with URE about the consequences, the disappointment, and the future. It will come as no surprise that these driven students quickly want to look ahead again: “move forward.”

This film was not only used by Apex but also deployed for the URE launch event, a great example of how appealing content always finds its way to other distribution channels and target groups. This with the added benefit that the film received thousands of extra views (from 5:24 the video we made for Apex).

In conclusion

Would you like to brainstorm with us about what videos mean in your marketing mix, how they contribute to your goals?

If you want to watch many other videos, Merkelijkheid’s Vimeo channel has much more beautiful work.