Youtube might as well be taking over the world right under our noses.

As of 2017, about 55% of people watch videos online every day. Just having the word video in an email subject line increases the chances that an email will be opened by almost 20%.

But you already know videos are a powerful way to market your business. What you’re struggling to understand is how to make a promotional video that can compete with all these adorable cat gifs.

Don’t worry, we got you covered.

Keep reading for a collection of our most valuable, most effective tips for promoting your small business through video.

Grab Attention

This much should be obvious.

A promotional video title is not the place to get abstract and poetic.

If your video doesn’t have a strong title, nobody has any reason to click on it. A good title should succinctly describe what the video’s about and why anyone should care. There are plenty of buzzwords you can look up to help you accomplish this.

Once your compelling title works its magic, you’re going to need a killer introduction. A great introduction always starts with a strong hook before flowing easily into the content.

Good storytelling will help you hold the audience’s attention so much more than rattling off dry facts. Whenever possible, arrange your content in a way that tells a story and include real-life testimonials.

It’ll be easy to collect more testimonials if your mission statement is easy for viewers to describe in their own words. Which leads nicely to the next tip…

Keep Your Brand Consistent

Here’s what we’ve learned after years of content marketing.

The point of your video should always be promoting your mission statement, not your product. The beauty brand Dove is the perfect example of this.

Dove makes amazing viral videos that promote their company mission with raw emotion. They’ve really got the whole storytelling angle down to a T.

Dove’s videos go viral because they leave viewers keenly aware of what they stand for instead of reciting petty details of their latest deodorant. Surprisingly, this actually makes people want their products even more.

Reinforcing your brand’s mission in every aspect of your marketing builds trust. If you say you’re going to do something, always follow through. Never contradict yourself as a brand.

Consistency applies to your video’s production value as well. Make sure the imagery in your videos match your company site and reflect the quality of your services.

But at the same time…

Remind the Audience You’re Human

…don’t drive yourself crazy chasing after perfection.

True, you want to make high-quality videos that represent your brand well. Production value is essential, and you need to watch what you say. But getting too neurotic about the details will make your company feel stale and unapproachable.

The best ways to humanize yourself through video is to include humor. Relax! Keep your tone somewhat casual, and crack a joke now and then.

Make sure there’s appropriate music in the background to keep viewers comfortable and focused. Complete silence in videos is usually reserved for stern announcements or mourning a tragedy.

Taking viewers behind the scenes can also be a great way to pull back the curtain and show off your company’s personality. Showing viewers exactly who’s behind the camera and who they’ll be talking to when they call will make your business seem less intimidating.

Great. Once you’ve got your brand message down, it’s time to get your promotional video in front of the right eyes.

Build Content Around User Intent

In 2018, content is king.

No amount of branding, marketing, sales, or promotion can save you from terrible content. In fact, amazing content is more likely to be shared by complete strangers and start promoting itself at no cost to you.

Offering free value draws in more viewership than a sales pitch ever will. Create educational videos that directly address a frequently asked question. Or create a tutorial for something popular that also directly relates to your brand.

Chances are there’s a small group of people actively searching for your product. But there are even more people trying to educate themselves or solve a problem by looking up a video.

In your promotional video, only mention your product after you’ve helped someone solve the problem they searched for. This is a great way to encourage reciprocity. We all feel obligated to return kindness to people who have been kind to us.

Always start by making content that solves a problem well. Then you can briefly offer more free content by encouraging viewers to join your email list or visit your company site and generate new sales leads at the same time.

Remember, Google owns Youtube and decides how well your promotional video is going to rank when potential customers start searching. Google rewards genuinely helpful content with higher rankings on the front page of search results.

So focus all your energy on creating A+ content before applying the rest of your SEO hacks.

Take Advantage of SEO

Following SEO best practices is a great way to suck up to Google’s search algorithms a little bit, and get even closer to the ranking you want.

Some tried and true SEO practices for promoting video:

• Use a well-written description with the right keywords for your content
• Include links to your company website and other social media platforms
• Make sure your videos are mobile friendly

More details about video marketing with SEO could be its own blog post altogether. These tricks can definitely help but remember – quality content and a strong brand message come first.

Encourage Engagement

You’ve heard the phrase two heads are better than one.

To make your promotional video seem like a big deal, you’re going to need a lot more than just two people interacting with it. Encouraging natural engagement with your content is the best way to build online credibility. Do whatever you can to get real people to comment, like, share, subscribe, etc.

Ask your viewers to give their opinions in the comment section. Ask for feedback with the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons. Reply to viewers in the comment section once the video is published.

Another way to encourage engagement is to promote a shortened version of your finished video on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkdIn. Then reply to comments on those platforms and engage with people you think would find the video valuable.

Even if some of the comments are negative, don’t panic. Nasty comments still count as comments under your video that drive up your analytics. You might learn something you need to change about your approach as well.

Provide Value, Don’t Sell

Ironically, the worst way to promote your brand is to aggressively promote your brand.

Don’t try to force your brand on people who might not even be interested in your services. Instead, focus on getting helpful content in front of the people who’ll benefit from your business and have money to spend.

The good news is if your small business offers more than one service you’ve got plenty of potential content. Figure out who your ideal customer is and what kinds of things they’ll be searching Youtube for. Then pick video topics that show off your expertise in that area.

Consumers are so much more likely to buy something from a source they trust. Establish yourself as an expert in your field by providing the highest quality information you can. This alone will make new viewers want to keep coming back for more and subscribe to your online profiles with no added pressure from you.

You would never follow a customer around the sales floor and oversell your goods to death. Don’t do the same thing in videos about your small business. Just offer the most valuable information you can, and let their natural curiosity do the rest.

Need Help with Your Next Promotional Video?

We know, we know. This is a ton of information to keep in mind all at once.

To recap, a great promotional video starts with a compelling title and a killer introduction. This grabs the viewer’s attention and makes them eager to see the rest of the footage.

Next, keep your brand message consistent and remind the audience of your humanity to build trust.

Building your video content around the info your ideal customer is already looking for will guarantee you attract the right viewership. Using SEO best practices couldn’t hurt either.

Once you’ve made the video, don’t shove it down everyone’s throats. Let the word spread naturally by encouraging real customer engagement and offering free education to people who need your services.

You don’t actually have to do all of this yourself, either.

Contact us today to see how our professional video services can boost your online marketing results.