Four ways videos boost engagement with target audiences
17 April 2019
Video is increasingly becoming one of the most powerful marketing and communication tools available to businesses today.
There’s no way around it – video is popular. YouTube is now the second most visited website in the world, with almost five billion videos watched every day, and 500 hours of video uploaded every minute.
People like videos because they are visually entertaining engaging and an easy way to digest large amounts of information quickly. They are low-cost, easy to produce and easy to share across multiple platforms.
For organisations looking to grow their business, video should be a vital component of their communication and marketing strategies. Here are four ways to boost engagement with your target audience by using video content:
1. Create Brand Champions by Engaging with your Employees
One of the best ways to harness the power of video content is to first engage with your own employees. Use video as a tool to discuss company highlights, new initiatives or plans for the future.
Videos are also great for sharing staff events and functions. Sharing regular, relevant and entertaining video content with your employees will increase their engagement and build their loyalty and trust in your organisation.
Employees who are happy and respect the organisation they work for are more likely to recommend its services to their friends and family and become long-term brand champions.
2. Lead by being genuine and authentic
Videos are a great way to humanise your brand and improve engagement with audiences, allowing you to connect with them in a way that no other medium can.
Avoid the trap of filling your website or social media platforms with boring, bland content and uninspiring stock photos. Instead, upload relevant and engaging visual content that not only provides an authentic, behind the scenes look at your organisation, but also captures your audience’s attention.
Share the stories of the leadership team and the people who work at your company. Customers will want to invest in your brand’s journey if you are seen as real, relatable and approachable.
There are some simple ways to implement video content into your marketing. Why not update the About Us page on your website with an interview of the CEO explaining their vision and goals for the company?
A short video detailing a day-in-the-life of an employee or your organisation’s annual fundraising campaign could also be compelling ways to boost engagement on your social media platforms.
Remember to always create content that is honest, real and representative of your company’s values. In a world saturated with fake news, people today respect authenticity above all else.
3. Demonstrate your leadership
Positioning your company as an industry thought leader requires a multi-channel approach to regular dissemination of valuable content to target audiences.
Video provides an ideal vehicle for demonstrating your ideas and perspectives on industry-relevant topics in an engaging way, and should serve as a fundamental component of any thought leadership campaign.
Video proves more engaging than text, establishes more meaningful interactions with customers, and is easily repurposed to create further engaging content for consumers.
Rich video content can be transformed into shorter videos, pushed out on social media channels or screenshot and used for imagery; while scripts can be adapted for blog posts or edited into a video series.
Video content should provide innovative solutions, ideas and perspectives on your industry’s most pressing issues from subject matter experts representing your brand.
Successful video content should provoke, challenge and spark meaningful conversation around an industry topic.
Delivering thoughtful, considered content will differentiate your brand from your competitors, drive business leads and sales, and position your organisation at the forefront of your industry.
4. Share your knowledge and expertise
From webinars to how-tos and tips and tricks, educational videos are an effective means for providing target audiences with valuable branded content worth watching.
Educational video content reinforces the credibility of your brand by positioning your company as experts in the field sharing information and knowledge to target audiences.
Videos can answer questions for your audience, simplify complex topics, build trust and authority and generate leads for your company.
If you use your communication channels as genuine platforms for learning and education (without hammering people over the head with strong advertising content and marketing lingo), you will foster long-term engagement and create loyal and dedicated customers.