Video is known to be an effective part of a marketing strategy, but marketing teams often face challenges getting their video marketing strategies off the ground. When implemented correctly, video can engage and educate customers, drive conversions, and more. However, it can be complicated to produce and distribute video. Without the right approach, marketing teams can quickly become overwhelmed.
A recent study from Ascend2 and Vidyard highlighted a number of the top challenges companies face when implementing video marketing. Here are four of the top issues and how to solve them:
1. No strategy
Forty-eight percent of survey respondents indicated a lack of appropriate strategy was the largest factor holding them back from achieving success with video. Without the right approach in place, not only will you not know if your program is working, you will be shooting in the dark.
The first step to rectifying this issue, according to the report, is to identify the purpose of your video marketing efforts. What are the main objectives of your campaign? Before moving forward, outline the following:
- The goal: Why do you want to make video? If you don’t immediately know the answer, it’s important to figure it out. According to Ascend2, the most popular reasons are to improve customer education or increase brand awareness (46 percent), increase online engagement (45 percent) or increase lead generation (39 percent). Don’t feel limited by these goals, however. There are many ways to use video, whether it’s engaging donors or for lead nurturing purposes.
- Who it’s for: It’s also key to highlight the audience segment you intend for this campaign. Is it prospects? If so, are you thinking top of the funnel or bottom? Maybe it’s only a certain segment of your audience, such as larger firms. Make sure it’s clear who you are talking to.
2. Inadequate budget
The next issue marketing teams run up against is an inadequate budget. In fact, 39 percent of respondents cited this as a challenge. Unfortunately, effective video marketing often requires a certain amount of resources. To obtain what you need, you will need to sell your organization on the value of video marketing. On the other hand, video marketing budgets are increasing, overall. Only 5 percent indicated their video marketing budgets are going down.
However, if you do want to gain more budget for your video, you will need to make an appeal to the C-suite. Related to this issue, limited organizational buy-in was a challenge cited by 17 percent of respondents. To gain the buy-in you need, compile a few stats to demonstrate the effectiveness of video as part of a marketing strategy.
For instance, a recent report from Demand Metric found 82 percent of marketers have been somewhat or very successful with their video efforts. Invodo revealed that 74 percent of all Web traffic will be video by 2017. In addition, more than half of marketers worldwide agree video delivers the greatest return on investment compared to other digital content types.
3. Lack of good content
Another issue holding marketers back is a lack of compelling content. As more companies flood the Web with video campaigns, it will be harder for individual brands to break through the noise. The only solution is to make video content better. This may mean marketing content will begin to look more like the streaming content that viewers look for on YouTube and other channels.
However, it is possible to get around this. While most viewers skip the ads on YouTube as soon as they can, some companies have found success by producing content so compelling, viewers stick around even after the skip option becomes available. The odd but engaging video ads for Poo-Pourri and Squatty Potty are good examples, according to Fierce Online Video. Both of these ads have been able to hold viewer attention for up to three minutes.
That being said, developing engaging content is difficult, so it might be best to work with a partner that can help you develop characters and scenarios that will hold your prospects’ attention long enough to make a difference.
4. Lack of metrics
Determining which metrics to use is a critical part of video marketing success. Just like a lack of strategy will give you no roadmap for your campaigns, a lack of metrics will give you no indication of whether your ideas are working. Thirty percent of respondents to Ascend2’s survey indicated lack of metrics as a challenge.
Outline metrics to determine success.The best metrics for video marketing are always up for debate, but there are a few to pay attention to. According to Harvard Business Review, it’s key to be able to see who is watching your videos. This can tell you whether they have watched more than one. Another important metric is average engagement: the amount of time people spend watching each video.
To get the most out of your video marketing, you may want to invest in a dedicated video analytics platform like Vidyard, which can provide more nuanced data.
There will always be challenges in any marketing strategy, but if you can find a way to jump these hurtles, the reward is great.
