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We all know a picture is worth a thousand words. But a video is worth roughly 1.8 million.
If you’re a marketing manager at a small business, you’re up to your ears in work. You handle social media campaigns, email marketing, paid ads, and probably even a few non-marketing responsibilities like customer satisfaction or sales. Why add video marketing to your plate?
Simply put, small business video marketing is one of the most impactful ways to promote your brand. Consumers are more than 27 times more likely to click on a video than a static banner ad, while video tweets are shared six times more than tweets with pictures.
If you’re looking for the highest ROI on your marketing strategy, look no further than video.
First things first: what is small business video marketing?
Video marketing is an umbrella term that includes a variety of video types. It has the same goals regardless of your business size: it’s about promoting your business through video content.
Maybe that video content is a sales pitch or a product walkthrough. Other videos are less “sales-y,” geared instead toward educating your audience. They might provide informative content that positions your brand as a trusted, likable expert.
The power of video marketing for small businesses
According to one Renderforest survey, 33% of all online activity is watching videos. Consumers will spend 88% more time on a website if it contains video content.
Those statistics speak for themselves: video is simply more engaging than any other form of content. So how does that translate into benefits for your small business?
Benefits of small business video marketing
Increased visibility
By adding video to your marketing arsenal, you’ll take advantage of the second-largest search engine in the world: YouTube. Publishing videos with the proper search engine optimization can increase your business’s organic reach only on YouTube, but on Google search as well.
You’ve probably noticed that Google displays video results whenever you search for a topic. By producing helpful videos within your business’s niche, you’ll increase the chances of prospective customers finding you organically.
More powerful social media marketing
Sharing videos instead of static images or text makes your social media marketing campaigns exponentially more effective. In fact, statistics show that social marketing campaigns have a 34% higher conversion rate if they include video.
Better engagement
Videos let you add a personal touch to your marketing. For instance, your tutorial or demo videos can show a real person—ideally an employee—demonstrating your product. And since viewers can comment and ask questions, videos often provide a more intimate and personable way to engage with your target customer.
5 Types of videos small businesses should include in their marketing strategy
Now that you know how video marketing can benefit your small business, let’s review five of the most effective video types to consider including in your marketing strategy.
1. Interviews
In a corporate interview video, the host interviews one or more guests—usually an industry expert or business insider. Interview videos appeal to listeners because they feel like they’re listening in on a natural, organic conversation. Interviews tend to feel less stilted and over-produced.
These videos also have endless use cases. You might interview thought leaders or industry VIPs to create engaging, informative content for your audience. Or you could interview an employee about what it’s like to work with your business or use your product.
Why it’s worth creating: Interview videos are extremely popular for a reason; they’re easy to make, flexible, and boost engagement.
In this example, TechCrunch’s ‘Founder Stories’ series interviews various company CEOs and founders to learn about their journeys.
2. Explainers & product demos
Explainer videos explain how to use your product or service, while demo videos show off your product’s features and benefits. Explainers are often (but not always) animated, with a voiceover explaining how to use your product or service. Another popular format is the talking head video. In these videos, someone speaks directly into the camera while sitting still, being recorded from the waist up.
Why it’s worth creating: Product explainers and demos are especially useful for brands that have products or services with a learning curve. An explainer video on your website’s home page (or landing page) can show potential buyers how your product or service can integrate into their lives.
Here’s a great example of an explainer video from Consumer Reports:
And here’s a demo video from the Lip Bar:
3. Educational videos
Educational videos are not sales-forward; instead, they include facts, tips, and history that your customers want to learn. Think of these videos as showing up on Google searches for “how to…” from your target customer. They find this video, learn something helpful, and file away your business name as a trustworthy and helpful expert in that niche.
You can also create educational videos to teach your customers about your brand and its practices. For instance, beauty brand Lush produces many videos on how they make their products sustainably and with clean ingredients.
Why it’s worth creating: Educational videos help you demonstrate your authority in your industry or niche. They provide helpful, actionable information to your target audience.
4. Customer testimonials & case studies
Another great source of marketing material is from your customers themselves. These videos can be short and sweet, or in-depth, documentary-style case studies into a customer’s success story with your product.
Why it’s worth creating: Recording video testimonials gives potential customers insight into your product or service in a way written testimonials never could. When potential customers see how satisfied—and even passionate—your existing customers are, it makes it much easier to picture themselves in the same situation.
5. Traditional commercial (“Spot”)
And, of course, don’t forget the classic commercial (also known to as a “spot”). These videos are typically 15 to 30 seconds, and their style and content depend on your brand voice, target audience, and creativity.
Spots can be displayed in various mediums, from television to YouTube to social media. The short, snappy nature of these videos makes them ideal for sharing on Instagram and Facebook. You can even find success launching paid ads on TikTok (though the style and content should be much less formal and even more attention-grabbing than in other mediums).
Why it’s worth creating: Your small business might have the budget for massive paid ad campaigns, so you’ll want to use traditional video advertising judiciously. But since 66% of consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it, it makes sense to spend your dollar where it’ll have the most return on investment.
And today’s consumer is tired of formal, over-produced TV commercials. Instead, you can focus on telling human stories and engaging with viewers’ on a personal level. You also don’t have to have studio-level equipment to make eye-catching, engaging videos, as this ad from Jeni’s Ice Cream proves:
4 Best practices for small business video marketing
To get the most out of your small business’s video marketing strategy, keep the following best practices in mind.
1. Use video SEO best practices
Even the best videos won’t do your business much good if no one sees them. Optimize every video to rank well on Google and YouTube by using the following tips:
- Post each video on its own public webpage (if you’re self-hosting it)
- Use proper HTML tags for videos
- Don’t lazy-load primary video content on a webpage
- Create a video sitemap to help Google find and understand the video content
- Include a high-quality thumbnail for each video
- Use structured data that includes your target keywords
2. Share them in the right places
Next, be sure to share your videos where your target audience can see them. Shorter videos are perfect for posting on social media, while others (especially product demos or other more sales-y content) can spruce up a landing page.
Other videos would make the perfect addition to company newsletters or marketing emails to your subscribers.
For maximum organic reach, you can also post videos to YouTube. These videos should be entertaining and informative, answering questions your target customer might search for.
3. Don’t stuff too much into one video
Ideal video length varies by medium and type of content. Resist the urge to cram too much content into one video; you’ll lose your viewers’ interest. Instead, break that video up into shorter, more engaging pieces of content.
The ideal length for various video types are:
- Landing or homepage video: 30-60 seconds
- Company culture video: 2-4 minutes
- Sales video: 30-90 seconds
- Email video: 30-45 seconds
- Testimonial: 2-4 minutes
- Explainer video: 60-90 seconds
4. Use the right video production equipment
Last but certainly not least, you’ll want to choose high-quality production equipment for your small business video marketing content.
That doesn’t mean you need to spend thousands of dollars on professional a videography studio. You can create a high-quality video on a budget with an all-in-one video creation software like Riverside.
Recording small business videos with Riverside’s suite
Our affordable tool lets you record in up to 4K resolution with up to 9 guests (so your corporate interview videos will always appear crystal-clear). Each participant’s track records locally to their device then uploads to the cloud, which means video quality doesn’t rely on your internet connection. You’ll receive separate audio, video and screen tracks for each participant, giving you more editing flexibility and freedom. Plus, you can upload and record your presentation slides if you’re capturing a business meeting.
With automated editing features, a clips feature, and highly accurate AI transcriptions, you’ll be ready to distribute your video content to a diverse array of mediums. Editing on Riverside is as easy as going through a doc. Our text-based-editor works with AI transcriptions so any text you delete in your automated transcript, removes the corresponding video and audio in your recordings. You can then use our Magic Clips feature to create multiple short-form videos, all in one click. Magic Clips uses AI to turn your recordings’ key moments into short, social-media friendly videos. You can add captions to these, and polish off your video by adjusting the background, adding your own logo and more.
And if you’re on the go, our mobile app also lets you take your recording studio with you anywhere.
To experience the benefits of Riverside yourself, sign up for a free trial today!
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