In the contemporary digital world, video is a popular medium of choice for everyone from Generation Z to boomers. I lead a creative digital agency that specializes in video marketing. Business owners and clients continually report positive ROI using video in their marketing. Users consistently cite product videos as helpful in their purchase decision.

Video can be a powerful driver in boosting conversions and increases sales. With the compelling value propositions, video is worth the investment to grow your business. Here are 12 best practices to maximize your ROI with video:

1. Tell An Authentic Story

Yes, you need to tell a story, but you also need to ensure that the story is unique and authentic to your business and market. What is that magical, core “thing” about your product or solution? How do you see the world differently from others? Answering these questions will create a more genuine story for your video.

2. Customize Your Videos To Each Channel

Creating quality video content takes time, money and resources. Once you reach the end of the creative process, you need to make sure you’re getting the most value for your effort by customizing video elements like length, format and even content to each channel you plan to distribute on.

3. Harness SEM Data

SEM data contains keywords used by your prospective customers, which makes understanding that vernacular very valuable. Before you produce a video, I recommend using an SEM tool to uncover the language that your prospects are using. This language won’t make up the majority of your script, but it can still be a great tool to leverage.

4. Vary Video Length Based On Your Needs

Some people live by the maxim that no video should be longer than two minutes. And yet, you can point to countless examples of videos that have great success by flaunting this rule. Producing a video should never be about hitting an absolute length, but rather customizing the length to the specific use case.

5. Create Personalized Video

Many producers are still creating static content that puts general appeal over more targeted influence. Personalizing your videos — even in seemingly simple ways — can lead to increases in viewer engagement.

6. Incorporate Video Into Other Types Of Marketing

You want to get the most value possible from the video content you produce, and that’s why it’s essential to leverage it on all your marketing channels. Send it to an analyst company to be featured. Upload it to the Amazon product page. Provide it to salespeople for use in their email marketing. Think about video mailers. There are many different options, but the important thing is that you get creative with how your video is distributed.

7. Understand Where Your Prospect Is In The Sales Funnel

Understanding the sales funnel and where your prospect is in that process is essential to crafting video content that speaks to their specific moment in the customer journey. For example, if a prospect is unaware of your solution, you might create aspirational videos that get them intrigued about who you are and why your business is different. On the other hand, upselling a solution to a prospect who knows the product very well might require a focus on product features. Get smart about the funnel and reap the benefits.

8. Produce Video That Engages With The Sound Off

No matter how good the voiceover artist or how beautiful the music track, it won’t matter one bit if the person watching your video has the sound turned off. With an estimated 85% of Facebook videos watched on mute, you need to prioritize creating content that looks great and communicates the message just as well with the sound off.

9. Give The Viewer The Next Step

Calls to action are critical for driving desired outcomes. Make sure that you give viewers a next step at the middle and end of the video, whether it be purchasing a product, visiting a landing page or contacting a representative. Letting a viewer know what they should do next is a great way to turn the excitement generated by your video into meaningful action.

10. Take Advantage Of Free Tools At Your Disposal

We’ve already discussed how expensive video production can be, and that’s all the more reason to not forget about the tools available to you for free. Even a simple tool like YouTube Studio can provide invaluable insights and analytics about video performance, and that is just one of a plethora of options available to budget-minded creators.

11. Make The Most Of The First Few Seconds

Let’s face it: Most people have the attention span of a four-year-old at a toy store. For video, that means you often have just a few seconds to grab the viewer’s attention and hold it. YouTube ads are skippable, and other mediums are scrollable at a fast pace. You need to stand out. How? With a good hook. A good hook communicates the magical thing about your offering in a compelling way. Some hooks might be a surprising image, a promise, an offer or an intriguing framework (e.g., a before and after example).

12. Nail Your Thumbnail

Whatever the medium, a thumbnail image often appears as the attractor image. You need to make sure this image captures the audience’s attention immediately. Go easy on the text in thumbnails; besides often violating media guidelines, too much text might signal boredom to your audience versus excitement.

Video is a compelling medium to grow your business. Stay focused on your key message and value propositions, follow these best practices and you will become a video superstar in no time at all.

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