5 Types of Videos That Will Boost Your Content Marketing Strategy

What makes videos such a compelling marketing tool?

It’s an important question, worth a bit of consideration. Especially when you are thinking of using video as part of your business’ marketing campaign.

The right answer can help you steer the creative process, and inform your choice on the type of video that fits your strategy best. Resulting in an overall stronger game plan.

Approachability is one of the most popular answers I get. It’s easier for people to understand and remember info they get via video than other mediums – like plain text – which makes video an ideal platform to convey your message.

Another popular reason I get often is their sense of value. Regardless of the type you end up going for, people want to attach importance to a great looking video, and to the message it carries. Which clever marketing invariably transfers to the product or message in play.

And then there’s the camp that focuses on time. Nowhere else does the phrase “time is money, friend” ring truer than in marketing. While people aren’t usually able to sit around to read a 2k word blog post on a topic – even if they care about the subject – most wouldn’t say no to watching a 2 min video condensing the information in an interesting way.

I don’t need to tell you what a boon that is in a fast-paced/low-attention-span society like ours.

And while those are all valid answers, I think the main reason behind video content’s sway over the marketing landscape today is due to its versatility. If you know how to use it, video content provides you with an impressive array of options and different approaches depending on the goals you are pursuing, and a lot of it stems from the type of video you go for.

In this post, I would like us to talk a bit about those types of videos, what they are best suited for, and while we are at it, give you a couple of tips on how to best use them. Let’s get to it, shall we?

How-to Videos

How-to videos are a popular type of educational video, and probably the most used type of educational video in marketing.

These videos follow a particular structure and language that sets them apart from other types of educational videos. They are usually centered around a process, and follow it through in a detailed explanation of how to carry them out step by step.

Their marketing appeal is pretty self-evident, they give the viewer valuable, relevant, and easy to understand instructions on how to accomplish something of interest to them. And in doing so, carry out other marketing goals like furthering your brand recognition and establishing your company as a reliable source of info on a topic they care about.

How-to Videos General Tips:

• Procedural: Structure is key to how-to videos, so focusing around the process and following through to its logical end is paramount.
• Simple: Someone watching your How-to is probably following along trying to accomplish something. Make it as easy to follow as possible, regardless of the complexity of the task itself.
• Versatile: The content of your script is essential, yet don’t forget that this is video, and there are many ways to convey ideas using imagery and sounds.

Explainer Videos

Explainer videos are the darlings of many a marketing campaign, and there’s good reason for it.

By their very nature, these videos tend to fit seamlessly with most approaches you decide for your advertisement strategy. Equipped to function exceptionally as both, powerful lead generators and funnel-oriented pieces of content.

Explainer videos speak to people’s drive to learn and understand the topics and issues they care about. By doing so, they create an ideal platform for other marketing elements – branding, conversion, trust building – to accomplish their goals in a perfect environment. Subtly, but effectively.

Explainer Videos General Tips:

• Short n’ Sweet: Generally, explainer videos work best when kept under 90.
• Straightforward: Keep them as simple as possible. Aim to answer the “what” “how”, and the “why” of the service or product in play.
• Targeted: For explainer videos to work effectively in marketing, it’s essential that they are tailored to a specific audience, to create a strong connection with the intended viewer.

Testimonial Videos

I really can’t stress enough how useful an asset a well-made testimonial video can be for any company’s marketing efforts.

There are few things more convincing about the value you bring to the table as a brand, a product, or a company than having real customers offering their unbiased review and opinions for whatever it was you did for them.

Testimonials excel at bypassing consumer bias about what you have to say on the quality of your product. Potential customers can easily see themselves reflected in the person on the screen, and with the proper content, you can asway their major gripes and insecurities, driving a conversion much closer.

Testimonial Videos General Tips:

• Script: Effective testimonial videos live or die by their script. Prepare the right questions ahead of time and make sure to cover everything you need during the recording.
• Context: Most of the time, your clients shouldn’t be speaking in a vacuum. Portraying them using or enjoying your product (whenever possible) will go a long way.
• Honesty: You need to keep it real when it comes to testimonials. Use real satisfied customers and don’t push your agenda. Just let them express their satisfaction and guide them with the right questions when appropriate, and your video will be golden.

Company Story Videos

All the other videos we’ve covered so far focus either on your products or your customers. Company story videos are all about you.

These videos are all about showcasing the company’s core values and the people that work hard to see them realized. Adding this human touch to your brand brings nothing but gain to any marketing approach, but more so if you are using social.

Providing this sort of honest representation of the people behind a brand, you can generate a warm response from your potential and existing customers, and start establishing deeper connections between your company and the people interested in their services.

Company Story Videos General Tips:

• Unique: Figuring out the “feel” you are going for by watching other company’s videos is great. But at the end of the day, you have to find your company’s voice and be unique.
• Representative: Don’t try to portray something you aren’t. People can tell when something’s not right in these types of videos. Be honest and represent your brand accurately.
• Real: Again, using your actual employees and staff is the best way to proceed here. Give them a chance to express their version of your company’s core principles, and they’ll surprise you.

Social Videos

To wrap up, let’s talk a bit about social videos, and the huge impact they have on most company’s efforts to seize social networks’ potential.

As the name implies, these videos are intended (and designed) to hit a chord and be shared on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And their main appeal is that they can be a bit of everything by either combining or outright employing the video types we’ve already discussed.

The thing that sets them apart, though, is how each social media platform influences different attributes. For example, you’d want a Twitter video to remain under 30 seconds whenever possible, while you’ll probably want a video intended for Facebook to follow a number of other conversions and styles from the platform.

By accounting for these aspects and making sure to cover them from the initial stages of video planning, you are increasing their chances of resonating with their intended audience and performing better than they would have otherwise.

Social Videos General Tips:

• Length: Different platforms respond wildly differently to videos depending on their length. To increase the chances of your content performing well, do a bit of research on the ideal lengths for each platform and stick to them.
• Native: While the simplicity of linking and embedding might be attractive, native videos tend to perform better. Try and upload your videos to each platform’s native environment whenever possible.
• Beginnings: Social videos tend to live or die by their first few seconds. Make sure you make those openings strong and entertaining, and your videos will perform dramatically better.

Choosing the right type of video your brand needs to kickstart their digital marketing is a reliable first step to successful digital marketing campaigns.

Understand each style’s particular strengths, and how to use them best, and you’ll have selected the right tool for the job you are trying to accomplish.

Create quality video content in this manner, and you’ll start seeing the improved performance of a strategic approach to video marketing.