Promotional videos for small business have become indispensable tools in today’s marketing landscape. With their ability to engage audiences, convey brand messages, and forge emotional connections, these videos have emerged as a powerful medium for businesses to stand out from the crowd. As the number of digital video viewers continues to rise year after year, it’s clear that video marketing is here to stay.
The significance of promotional videos is further exemplified by the substantial investments made by businesses in this medium. In 2022 alone, the United States witnessed video ad spending reach a staggering 75 billion dollars, accounting for nearly 30% of the total display ad spending worldwide. This massive allocation of resources underscores the effectiveness and value that businesses attribute to promotional videos.
If you haven’t already embraced the potential of promotional videos for your small business, now is the perfect time to do so. These videos have the power to take your brand to new heights in 2023 and beyond. To help you navigate the world of video marketing, we’ve compiled five of our best tips to ensure the success of your promotional video endeavors.
So, whether you’re looking to showcase your products, highlight your services, or tell your brand’s story, promotional videos offer an unparalleled platform to captivate your target audience and leave a lasting impression. Get ready to unlock the full potential of video marketing and propel your small business towards unprecedented growth. Let’s dive into our expert tips and make your promotional video a roaring success!
1. Understand Your Target Audience Deeply
When creating promotional videos for small businesses, understanding your target audience is crucial for maximizing conversion rates. By having a clear picture of who you’re producing the video for, you can create content that resonates with both your brand and the people you aim to serve.
To effectively identify your target audience, consider asking yourself the following questions:
- Who are they? Define the demographics, such as age, gender, location, and profession, that characterize your ideal audience for the promotional video.
- What do they need? Understand the specific needs and challenges your target audience faces in relation to your product or service. Identify how your offering can address these pain points effectively.
- What do they like? Gain insights into the preferences, interests, and values of your target audience. This knowledge will help you create promotional videos that align with their tastes and engage their attention.
- What do they struggle with, and how can you help? Identify the common difficulties or obstacles your target audience encounters in their lives or businesses. Then, highlight how your product or service can provide solutions or support to overcome these challenges.
- What are their pain points, and how can you solve them better than competitors? Analyze the pain points your target audience experiences and emphasize the unique value propositions that set your business apart from competitors. Showcase why choosing your product or service would be the superior choice.
- What benefits would they have if they purchased your product or service? Clearly communicate the benefits and advantages your target audience can expect from using your product or service. Highlight the value it brings to their lives or businesses.
- What kind of videos do they consume? Determine the types of videos your target audience prefers and consumes regularly. This insight will guide your promotional video’s format, style, and tone to ensure it aligns with their viewing preferences.
- What kind of content do they value? Understand the type of content your target audience finds valuable, informative, or entertaining. This knowledge will help you create promotional videos that provide relevant and engaging content, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
For instance, if you specialize in creating promotional videos for small businesses in the beauty industry, your target audience may include salon owners, makeup artists, or skincare product sellers. Understanding their needs, preferences, and pain points will enable you to tailor your promotional videos specifically for them. By highlighting how your services can help them attract more clients or increase brand awareness, you can effectively convey your message and drive engagement.
Remember, by thoroughly understanding your target audience and crafting compelling promotional videos, you can effectively promote your small business and achieve your marketing goals.
2. Identify Your Promo Video Goals
Now, let’s delve into defining your objectives. What is the purpose behind creating a promotional video? What do you anticipate it will accomplish for your business? It’s crucial to establish clear goals for the video and determine the criteria for success.
Prior to devising a plan for your promotional videos for small business, it is essential to clarify your goals and expectations in the following areas:
- The core message you wish to communicate
- The specific product or solution you want to showcase
- The key advantages that viewers can expect from your video
- The significant benefits that viewers can expect from your product or solution
- Any necessary elements that must be included in the video
- Any pitfalls or mistakes to avoid in the video
- Your desired call to action for the viewers
- The metrics and measurements you will utilize to assess the success of the video
- A comprehensive strategy outlining how you will promote and distribute your promotional video
- The styles, effects, trends, or specific details you would like to incorporate into the video
3. Hire a Professional Video Creator
If your in-house video production team isn’t top-notch, we highly recommend seeking the expertise of an established video creator to bring your promotional video to life.
It’s crucial to find a creator who resonates with your style, objectives, budget, timeline, and core values. Reach out to multiple creators and choose one who truly comprehends your vision. Ideally, aim to collaborate with a creator who has prior experience in your specific niche. For example, if you run an online boutique, search for video creators who specialize in shooting fashion promotional videos.
Clearly communicate your expectations and requirements to the creator right from the beginning. While featuring a customer success story might be essential, you might be more flexible with sound effects or transitions. In such cases, inform your video producer that showcasing social proof is crucial, but you trust their expertise when it comes to sound and layout. By sharing these specifics, both parties can determine if collaboration is the right fit.
4. Plan the Rough Draft
After discussing your target audience and promotional video goals with your chosen creator, it’s time to move on to planning the rough draft.
During this planning phase, engage in a brainstorming session with your creator, where you can exchange ideas and thoughts. You can communicate any emerging trends you would like to incorporate, emphasize storytelling elements that hold value to you, and suggest specific effects or visual styles you desire.
To ensure your creator has a comprehensive understanding of your vision, provide them with ample details. Help them grasp what you want to showcase in the video and how your product or service functions. For instance, if you intend to distribute the video across various channels such as Instagram and embed the Instagram feed on your website, make sure to convey this information. This way, the video can be optimized accordingly for each platform.
Depending on your preference and collaboration style, you can either plan the rough draft step by step together with the creator or entrust them with all the necessary information to commence their work. The decision of how involved you want to be in the process ultimately rests in your hands.
5. Review the Rough Draft and Request Edits
Now, the rough draft is finished, you’re have come one step closer to finishing your promotional videos for small business. But first, let’s meet with your video creator to analyze the rough draft. Take a moment to review the video, paying attention to its strengths and weaknesses. This is the perfect opportunity to fine-tune the content and make it truly shine. Consider incorporating feedback from a panel or focus group to gather additional insights before proceeding with any edits.
6. Review the Final Cut
Are you noticing a sudden change in the flow of the text? Did the previous content end abruptly? It’s essential to pay attention to these little details. Let’s conduct a quality analysis checklist for ensuring a seamless final cut:
- Is our core message clearly conveyed? It should shine through the entire video.
- Is the video precisely tailored to our target audience? It should resonate with them.
- Would our target audience love this video? It’s crucial to capture their interest.
- What would our target audience think of this video? Considering their perspective is vital.
- Have we included enough trust elements? Building trust is important for engagement.
- Have we provided our audience with enough reasons to discuss our promo or service? Encouraging conversations can boost awareness.
- Have we highlighted the benefits our audience would care about the most? Addressing their needs is key.
- Does the style, tone, and feel of this video align with our brand? Consistency is essential.
- Is the editing clean and smooth? The transitions should be seamless.
- Are there any details that need to be cleaned up? Polishing the video ensures a professional appearance.
- Does the video look professionally made? A high-quality production instills confidence.
- Are there any current or potential accessibility issues? Ensuring inclusivity is important.
- Does the video fulfill the promo video goals we established? It should align with our objectives.
- Would this video convince our audience to opt-in or make a purchase? It should be persuasive and drive action.
By addressing these points, you can refine the video and create a compelling final cut that engages your target audience and achieves your promotional goals.
7. Finalize the Video and Make an Alternate Copy
Once you’ve gone through the quality analysis checklist, it’s time to wrap up your promotional videos for small business. To ensure maximum impact, it’s important to communicate with your video creator about where exactly you’ll be featuring your promo video. This information allows them to adjust the aspect ratio accordingly or even record the video from the beginning in the appropriate aspect ratios for each platform.
Having the right aspect ratio is crucial for compatibility across different platforms where your video will be viewed. While some platforms might automatically crop your video to fit their aspect ratio, this can negatively impact the overall look and feel of your video. It’s always best to have control over how your video appears on each platform.
If you have the budget, we highly recommend filming an alternative copy of your promotional video. By creating two versions, you can conduct A/B testing to determine which one resonates better with your target audience. This valuable data can help you make informed decisions about your ad spending and refine your marketing strategy moving forward.
Don’t forget to request the alternate video in multiple formats, ensuring compatibility across all the marketing channels you plan on utilizing. This way, you can effectively test and measure the performance of your promotional videos for small business across various platforms and optimize your results.