Why using a video marketing agency can take your digital productions to the next level
Summary
Video marketing gets results. Moving images create highly engaging, emotional connections with audiences that help raise brand awareness, break down complex ideas into clear explanations and show off your core values.
Actually delivering high-quality video can be difficult, especially if you don’t have much experience with filming or editing. Poorly-done work will reflect badly on your brand, so if you are unsure about your in-house capabilities, it pays to look for professional help.
While there are many options out there if firms are looking for filmmaking expertise, partnering with a full service video content marketing agency offers far more than this. From initial planning to post-campaign analysis, the right video marketing agency partner can help ensure your video is performing to the highest level.
What is a video marketing strategy?
Digital video marketing is about much more than simply filming something and posting it online. In order to make video work effectively, it needs to be used as part of a wider strategy.
Why should you get into video marketing?
Video marketing offers firms a wide range of benefits. No matter what you want to achieve, a well-crafted, carefully-planned video campaign offers a great way to connect directly with audiences, drive conversions and get your brand noticed.
If you’re still not sure, consider these stats:
- Online videos had a global audience reach of 92.3 per cent among internet users in 2023.
- Consumers spent an average of 17 hours per week watching online videos last year.
- 92 per cent of businesses are satisfied with the ROI of their social media video marketing.
- 87 per cent of marketers say that video has had a direct, positive impact on sales.
What are the steps involved in creating a video marketing strategy?
The first step is to understand what you hope to get out of this type of content marketing. Setting out clear goals will help you identify the type of video you should be creating and how you’ll go about getting it in front of the right person. Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) early is also essential when it comes to reviewing the campaign and determining what did and did not work.
Broadly speaking, the process of developing a video marketing strategy can be broken down into a few key areas – of which the production itself is only one small part.
To get started, the basics are:
- Set out clear, achievable goals
- Conduct market and audience research
- Identify the video format and publication platform
- Plan content production
- Create content
- Publish and promote the video
- Analyse results and apply learnings
What is a video marketing agency?
If this all sounds very challenging, a video marketing agency can help. These partners will work with you throughout the process to bring your ideas to life – or even help you come up with one if you’re struggling to pin down a concept.
An agency will give you access to a wide range of skills. In addition to filmmaking professionals, you’ll be able to tap into the knowledge of market research experts, script and copywriters, social media specialists and data analysts.
What are the benefits of hiring a video marketing agency?
Turning to videography services frees up your time and skills for other activities, allowing you to focus your resources on areas where you already have expertise and experience. The agency will give clear advice and recommendations on how best to engage your audience, what format of video would work for your needs and best practices for publishing and promoting your content.
They’ll also bring along top-quality equipment, from cameras and lighting to advanced editing software to ensure the finished product looks polished and professional. This can prove a much cheaper option than investing in such resources yourself and enables a higher return on investment than tackling video in-house.
Some of the other benefits of turning to an agency include:
- Flexibility and scalability as your needs change
- Quickly respond to emerging video marketing trends
- Bring a fresh perspective to your marketing
- Access to more creativity
What does a video marketing agency do?
So you want to get involved with video, and you’ve decided that a digital marketing agency is the best decision. That’s great. But the next step will be to determine how exactly you want to make the best use of these services. Are you looking primarily for expertise in video production or scriptwriting skills to craft a compelling story? Do you need data analysis and market research capabilities? Will you look to take advantage of social media marketing specialists
What services does a video marketing agency offer?
A good video marketing service will provide a wide range of capabilities, not just video production. They work with you throughout the process from initial ideation to post-campaign review.
What types of videos can a video marketing agency produce?
When it comes to the bread-and-butter of actually creating great video marketing content, an effective agency should be able to provide any type of video you can imagine. However, there are a few common formats for video marketing, and a good agency should have experience with all of these.
Among the types of marketing video that every business should consider when planning a new campaign are:
- Brand video – To introduce the company and showcase who you are and what your values are.
- Product/explainer video – Show how your product or service works with clear demonstrations and tutorials.
- Social media video – Content tailored specifically for a certain social media platform to grab attention from a defined target audience.
- Testimonials – Hearing from previous clients in person how your firm was able to help them is great for building authority.
- Webinars – These offer a chance to show off your brand’s in-depth knowledge on a topic.
- Livestreams – A live video lets you connect with an audience in real-time and answer any questions.
How can a video marketing agency help with video distribution and promotion?
A good digital agency should have expertise to help make sure your video gets seen by the right people. It can be surprisingly easy to overlook this if you’re focused too closely on the production itself, so turning to an experienced partner can be hugely beneficial for this stage of the campaign.
For example, strong search engine optimisation (SEO) is essential for ensuring your video finds the right target audience. Many brands may think SEO is primarily for written content such as landing pages, but it needs to be considered at every stage of the campaign, including video titles and descriptions.
A video marketing company can also help you set up paid ads for your promotional videos or run an email marketing campaign to reach out to existing and previous customers.
How can a video marketing agency help with customer engagement?
Customer engagement is all about making sure you’re reaching the right people with a story they’re interested in hearing about. It’s no use setting up a video ad without considering this, otherwise you’ll end up paying for impressions that don’t lead to sales.
This starts with understanding who your viewers are and what they want. To do this, an agency will conduct audience research and develop personas that video content can be tailored directly to. It can also help with targeting, for example if you’re running video ads on social media sites, you can closely control who your video is being shown to in order to ensure the most engagement.
How can a video marketing agency help with storytelling through video content?
Any good video needs to have a strong narrative, and a video production company can assist you with this. It starts by looking at what makes your brand unique and asking what message you want to share with customers. Once a marketing agency knows what makes your company tick, they’ll be able to translate this into a compelling story that tells your audience everything they need to know about the brand and ensures your name will stick in their minds when it comes to making purchasing decisions.
What should I look for in a video marketing agency?
Partnering with a good content marketing agency takes much of the stress and complexity out of the process. But there are a huge number of companies out there offering their services. So how should you go about choosing one that provides all the services you need and is the right cultural fit for your brand?
What do video content marketing services include?
Some video production services may offer just that and nothing more – they’ll create a video for you based on your instructions, but leave it up to you as to what you do with it. However, a full-service marketing agency offers so much more than this.
Firstly, there’s the expert help with ideation and planning. A good agency will conduct market and audience research on your behalf and develop audience personas to ensure that everyone involved in the process has a complete understanding of who they’re making the video for.
There is also expert advice on how best to distribute your content. A social media video will require a very different approach to a webinar recording, for instance, and even within that category, there will be a significant difference between a video designed for Facebook or TikTok and one intended for LinkedIn.
What’s more, a good agency will also provide professional supporting content, such as custom graphics, engaging written blogs or dedicated landing pages, in order to boost the reach of the video, improve search engine optimisation and help drive viewers to the next stage in the sales funnel. No video can be successful without this type of content, so a good agency will help with everything you need.
What are the key factors to consider when choosing a video marketing agency?
Even once you’ve found a full-service agency that can handle all the various aspects of video marketing, you still need to be sure that they are the right fit for you. This means having an understanding of your unique selling points and place in the market.
Start by asking your potential partners what experience they have in your sector, and if they have any examples of previous work or case studies they can share with you. A good agency will be proud of its record and should have no problems showing off their work. However, don’t forget it’s not only the quality of the video content itself you’ll need to see – also ask what stats and metrics they have available that can show how the content performed in the real world.
An agency with good local knowledge can also be invaluable, especially if they’re going to be sending their team out on location shoots. While this isn’t essential, and there are many agencies comfortable operating nationwide, or even internationally, a local presence can help streamline many of the processes.
What makes a top video marketing agency?
Ultimately, there are a few factors that separate the best-performing video marketing agencies from the rest. Consider the below attributes when choosing a partner and you should be able to make the right decision and have confidence your agency not only has the skills you need, but understands exactly how to apply their expertise to your unique brand.
- Creativity – What ideas do they have to make your video campaign really stand out?
- Authenticity – Do they believe what they say?
- Flexibility – How will they respond to changing trends?
- Communication – Can they clearly explain their ideas and why they are recommending them?
Finding the best agency to manage your video marketing campaign takes work, but with the right partner, this will be time well spent as your firm benefits from a full-service video production service that delivers a strong return on investment.