Video is seeing a growth in popularity in the marketing world, and more-and-more companies are embracing the format. Below is a quick guide to the ten main marketing video types.
1. Customer Testimonials
Customer Testimonials are important to build trust between a potential client and a business. Testimonials, when done right, add a certain gravitas—though there’s always the question of authenticity: is that really what so-and-so said?
Which is exactly where video comes in. Sure, a video may be scripted, but the intentions and tone are real.
2. Corporate Video
We connect with people on a basic level—by their body language, their facial expression, and the tone of their voice. Which is why video is the perfect marketing tool. A high quality one-minute corporate video focusing on how your customer benefits from your brand or product gives a huge boost. Aim for warmth and honesty, and your video will resonate on a whole other level.
3. Video Case Study
A video case study is a relatively rare beast. Combining customer testimonials and in-depth explanations of how the company’s product or services helped, video case studies can come across as a little too much.
These case studies are usually more constructed, involving a narrator and the voice of the customer and can have a run-time of anything from one to five minutes.
4. Product Demos
Product demos are pretty self-explanatory. We’ve all seen product demos on TV, on a shopping channel, or in a shop, extolling the virtues of the ergonomic design and extra-squidgy mop head.
5. Visual Stories
Visual stories offer something a little different, employing illustrations, animations, motion graphics, and voice-over—often to explain something complex in an engaging way. These videos are sometimes called ‘explainers’, though they are primarily meant to be entertaining.
Often, visual stories capitalize on a ‘catalogue’ of assets: pre-animated characters, backgrounds, actions, etc.
6. How-to Videos
Another self-explanatory one: a how-to video is a training video or video ‘manual’, essentially teaching someone how to do something. They are becoming particularly popular inthe mobile market.
7. Adverts
For the juggernauts, a big budget advert is the easiest way to reach a mass audience. This year, the Superbowl was the most-watched TV event ever. Over 100 million people saw the Budweiser ad where a dog fell a little bit in love with a horse.
8. Email
Email is a tried-and-tested marketing method, though its effectiveness is proven to double with videos included. Email videos should be purpose-built to mesh with the tone of the email in general: maybe it’s a corporate video embedded within an email about a website redesign, or a Vlog that confounds the points made.
9. Content
More-and-more, digital content agencies are switching to video content as a means to stand out from the written word. Video content is an excellent way to give personality to the brand—and offer the consumer a real look into the workings of a company.
10. Vlog
YouTube has seen the popularisation and explosion of the vlogging format: short, snappy videos about whatever. At the time of writing, the most subscribed YouTuber is a Swedish gamer with over twenty million subscribers.
Vlogs are an excellent opportunity to introduce customers to the people behind the brand.
If that’s not enough to convince you of the value of video, how’s this for a stat: landing pages incorporating video has an increased conversion rate of 130%!
And that’s it! A quick and dirty guide to the ten most popular video marketing types!