In today’s digital age, video marketing has moved from television to the Internet. You no longer need to purchase air time to get your videos in front of an audience of millions. With video production more affordable than ever, you can’t afford to pass up on the benefits of this visual medium. Check out these popular video marketing strategies and see which suits your business best.

Offer a Helpful How-To

If your product is something that requires a little know-how to operate, a video is the ideal way to show its benefits to your customers. This type of video is useful both pre- and post-purchase. Shoppers considering your product will get an informative look at how it works. Those who are just getting acquainted with the item will pick up some tips and tricks for efficient operation. This type of video can include everything from instructions for changing the filter on a vacuum cleaner to recipe demonstrations for a handy cooking gadget.

Take Your Viewers Behind the Scenes

Image via Flickr by Jetstar Airways

If you’ve ever tuned in to shows like How It’s Made, you understand the fascinating allure of behind-the-scenes parts of a company. Give your customers a tour of how your products are made with a behind the scenes video. If your factory isn’t that interesting, why not offer a peek into research and development or a visit to your employees while they’re working on a company charity project? These videos make your brand more relatable, approachable, and interesting.

Introduce Your Company Culture

Every company has its own unique culture and a clever video or video series can give you an intriguing way to introduce your own. What makes your company culture unique? Do you have a colorful streamer-strewn office like Zappos or a no-door open workspace like HubSpot? Put your employees in front of the camera and let them show the word what makes your company shine.

Give a Face to Your Testimonials

A video can take your testimonials to a whole new level when you can see and hear the emotion behind your customers’ experiences with your product. There are many ways to present video testimonials. You can track down your most loyal customers, pull people off the streets to sample your items, or ask your customers to film testimonials themselves. You may be surprised at the creativity and depth that your customers will bring to their personal video submissions. Try a few approaches and track their success to find out which option has the best ROI among your clientele.

Engage and Entertain

Sometimes the most successful marketing videos are those that aim simply to entertain. Consider campaigns like Invisible Mindy for Nationwide Insurance or the Snickers Brady Bunch commercials. People watch these videos again and again because they’re pure entertainment. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for this type of video, but if you get lucky, you can go viral.

With the right approach, video marketing can transform the way customers relate to your business. Show off your product, give your company a face, or simply make your customers laugh with a smart marketing video that helps viewers connect with your brand.

By Kar

Dr. Kar works in the interface of digital transformation and data science. Professionally a professor in one of the top B-Schools of Asia and an alumni of XLRI, he has extensive experience in teaching, training, consultancy and research in reputed institutes. He is a regular contributor of Business Fundas and a frequent author in research platforms. He is widely cited as a researcher. Note: The articles authored in this blog are his personal views and does not reflect that of his affiliations.