With the proliferation of video content in advertising and marketing, it’s never been more important for businesses to adopt a strategic approach to video creation. The compelling fusion of visuals and sound not only captivates the audience but also resonates deeply, leaving a lasting impact.

Expectedly, businesses are pivoting to using compelling video content to narrate their brand’s story and showcase their products or services. But how do you build an effective video marketing strategy from scratch?

These step-by-step guidelines will help you lay a robust foundation for your video marketing efforts.

Step 1: Define Your Marketing Video Goals

Before hitting the video editor, clear and measurable goals must be outlined. Your marketing video isn’t just a creative venture; it’s a powerful tool tailored to generate specific outcomes. As per the video marketing strategy:

• Promo Clips and Ads: Are we boosting brand awareness or targeting sales?
• Explainer Videos: Is the aim to educate about a product or service?
• Video Emails: Are these meant for customer engagement or lead nurturing?

Remember, the kind of video you want should align with the stages of the marketing funnel. Align your video content goals with your broader marketing strategy, and the results will be compelling, professional marketing videos that deliver in terms synonymous with your targets.

Step 2: Understand Your Audience

When it comes to creating stunning, high-quality marketing videos, knowing your audience is king. Here’s why:

• Developing audience personas: Crafting tailored video content starts with understanding who’s watching. Develop real, tangible audience personas to nail this step.
• Tailoring content to preferences: Audience preferences dictate the video style and format. Do they love animated explainer videos? Crave behind-the-scenes video clips? Aim to fulfill their video needs constantly.

Your marketing video could be a single piece of content or an entire video campaign. Either way, make it resonate. Remember, your video marketing strategy is more than simply sharing a video. It’s about creating targeted videos your audience wants to watch and share online.

Step 3: Craft Your Message

Next up in your video marketing strategy is crafting a compelling message. This is your power move – it’s how you’ll make marketing videos that reach audiences and deeply resonate.

• Clear Message: Get straight to the point. Whether it’s a product promo or an explainer video, your message should be unambiguous and digestible. It’s the kind of video content audiences love.
• Compelling Story: captivate them. An effectively told story is a powerful video tool that can convert passive viewers into active customers.

Remember, how your message is molded could make your video immersive and powerful, encouraging audiences to share your content. Crafting compelling marketing video narratives is an art worth mastering.

Step 4: Decide on the Type of Video

The type of video you create can massively impact your marketing efforts. Here’s how:

• Explore Video Types: Explanatory, product demo, behind-the-scenes, testimonials – the video marketing landscape is varied. Choose the type that suits your marketing message and goals best.
• Align Video Type with Goals: The type of marketing video you choose should directly link to your broader video goals. Want to showcase a product? Go for a demo. Need to humanize your brand? Opt for a behind-the-scenes clip.

Remember, your video must entertain, inform, and captivate your audience in the best possible way. Whatever type you prefer, create a video that becomes synonymous with your brand and its story.

Step 5: Focus on Storytelling

In the world of video marketing, storytelling shines a powerful light on your content. Here’s why:

• Engagement: Good stories encapsulate attention, stirring emotions and encouraging connection. Be it a product explainer video or a compelling marketing video, craft a narrative that holds viewers till the end.
• Shareability: A well-told story has high share potential, quintessentially increasing your brand exposure.

The trick here is to make your video content more than a sales pitch. Transform it into a seamless journey that weaves your product or service into the narrative. It’s not just about selling. It’s about engaging. Use storytelling to elevate your video marketing from mundane to memorable.

Step 6: Plan Your Production

The production process consists of pre-production (planning, scripting, sourcing equipment), production (shooting the footage), and post-production (editing, adding music, motion graphics, etc.) phases. Don’t forget to apply your brand’s unique identity throughout production.

Video production isn’t just pressing ‘record.’ It requires foresight, strategic planning, and tuning your video maker skills. With a tight plan, you’ll save time and resources and ensure a high-quality, professional marketing video that perfectly reflects your brand story.

Step 7: Write a Captivating Script

A good marketing video begins with a captivating script that engages your audience.

• Outline Elements: Start with an enticing intro that declares video goals and captures interest, followed by the main narrative where you demonstrate the value of your product or service, and finally, a strong call to action asking viewers to share your video or explore more.
• Keep It Short: Brevity is crucial. Ensure your script isn’t rambling but concise and straight to the point whilst maintaining engagement.

Never underestimate the power of a well-written script. The script will provide structure and guide your video storyline. Remember to incorporate storytelling principles – a problem, a solution, and a call to action.

Step 8: Pay Attention to Visuals and Audio

Never underestimate the impact of high-quality visuals and crisp audio in your marketing video. Clarity and Style. Use professional video templates or editing tools to ensure your footage looks polished. Stunning visuals grab attention, whether it’s a product explainer video or animated marketing clips.

Clear, noise-free audio is non-negotiable. Your message must be heard without strain, reinforcing your video content. Visuals and audio must complement each other, ensuring your video flows smoothly from scene to scene.

Invest in a good video maker for a clean, professional look; remember, good audio is as vital as the video for making your marketing video successful.

Step 9: Edit for Impact

Polished video editing can transform a simple video into a captivating marketing asset. Seamless edits make your video flow effortlessly, maximize engagement, and improve comprehension, ensuring your viewers stick around till the end.

Good editing includes trimming unnecessary parts, ensuring the visual transitions are smooth, the audio is synchronized with the visuals, adding necessary text or graphics, and applying color grading for consistency.

Use high-quality video editing tools to maintain a professional, sleek look. Remember, your goal is to create a compelling marketing video that the audience wants to watch and share. Good editing turns your great content into an unforgettable viewing experience.

Step 10: Optimize for Different Platforms

Customization is key in marketing video creation:

• Adapt Formats: Square for Instagram, horizontal for YouTube, short and snappy for TikTok—optimize your video format to suit the platform.
• Tailor Lengths: While Instagram stories thrive on quick 15-second clips, YouTube favors longer, in-depth content. Edit your video to fit the platform’s pace.
• Vary Styles: Animate for engagement on socials, go professional for LinkedIn, and keep it fun for Snapchat.

Using the right video maker, leverage templates and editing tools to refine your content for each platform. Remember, whether it’s a video ad, explainer video, or a simple promo, how your video looks and feels can significantly boost its success across various video hosting platforms.

Step 11: Include a Call to Action

A marketing video without a clear call to action (CTA) is a story without ending. This prompt directs viewers on what to do next. Whether you want them to visit your website, share the video, or purchase a product—spell it out!

Use your video maker to visually and audibly include a CTA. Remember, a compelling marketing video hinges on driving actions. Be persuasive, but avoid sounding pushy. You could say, “Like what you see? Share this video!” or “Ready to boost your marketing strategy? Visit our website now!”

Finally, track CTAs in your video marketing strategy to understand the impact and fine-tune your future approaches.

Step 12: Distribute and Promote Your Video

Congratulations! You’ve made engaging marketing videos, but the job isn’t done yet.

• Smart Distribution: Use various video hosting platforms to reach a wider audience. Optimize each upload with tags, catchy titles, and compelling descriptions to enhance visibility.
• Promote Actively: Share your video on social media, add it to your emails, or feature it on your website. If the video is compelling or explains a product or service well, it might be worth investing in paid promotion.

The objective? Get as many eyeballs on your video as possible, as each view is a potential customer. Remember, distribution and promotion are key to unlocking the power of video marketing.

Step 13: Measure and Analyze Performance

Even the best marketing video achieves little without measurable results:

• Track Performance: Use analytics tools to assess your video’s reach, views, likes, shares, and more. Measure how many viewers make it through the entire video or engage with your call-to-action.
• Learn and Optimize: Draw insights from the data. Is your video achieving its goals? Which parts of your video are working, and which need improvement?

Finally, it’s critical to evaluate the success of your videos. Make sure they are meeting the objectives defined at the beginning. Use analytics to track views, engagement, and conversion rates, then adjust your strategy based on these insights.

Remember, a successful marketing video creation strategy involves regular evaluation and tweaking. Stay innovative, engaging, and on brand. 

Good luck in your video marketing journey!