With the New Year comes new opportunities to blow your video marketing efforts out of the park. Now more than ever, businesses need to take advantage of the benefits video marketing offers – like higher user engagement, retention, and conversion rates. People are consuming videos faster than ever before and, luckily, it’s easier than ever to create them, too.

Don’t know where your company should begin? That’s OK, we’re here to help! With a few dependable strategies and a breakdown of how to approach creating your first video marketing calendar, we’re giving you the tools you need to launch an amazing campaign – or more!

Does that sound overwhelming? It shouldn’t! This upcoming year, commit to creating and promoting at least three separate videos: one social content video, one branded video, and one educational or industry video.

Your social video can be short, fun, and personal – don’t put on a huge production if that’s out of the question. Instead, film something authentic with a high-quality smartphone and promote it online with the goal of increasing your brand awareness. Then, dedicate most of your video resources to creating a branded video, like a commercial or about us video that explains who you are and what you do. This will inform those in the consideration stage about your company and help keep you top of mind. Finally, an educational or industry video helps establish your brand as credible and authoritative in your field. Once the user is ready to commit to a purchase, they’ll feel more confident picking you over the competition.

These three videos alone guide users through the buyer’s journey, providing all the information they need at the appropriate stages. In addition, they’ll give you good data about your target audience and their purchase behaviors. More videos is better, but if you have to narrow it down – this is a good place to start.

If you’re putting on or participating in any event this year, make sure to film it! You have nothing to lose and so much to gain. Everything from putting on an industry conference to participating in an expert Q&A session with other industry leaders can help you boost your digital cred, and providing that content will not only provide valuable information and insight to your target audience, but give you an opportunity to showcase your brand.

Plus, filming your event serves two very distinct purposes: providing value to your target audience, of course, as well as giving you more footage and content to use for other purposes. Use video clips of your event on social media, use it in a company highlight reel or branded video, or upload the audio as a podcast or transcribe it for a blog. You’re already putting on the event, may as well record it and get more bang for your buck!

Most companies have some sort of brand mission on the books that, besides specifying the company’s goals, also focuses on what sets them apart from the competition. Whatever that is for your company – a commitment to timely service, low cost, local offerings, free shipping, whatever! – be sure to strategize around that idea for your 2019 video.

This is a great way to get started with video marketing if you haven’t done so before – it doesn’t limit you in terms of video length or type and helps you approach the video’s content with a pretty straightforward idea. Whether you opt for a longer brand video or a shorter piece of social content, highlighting your brand differentiator can take you that extra mile and help make your video (and brand) more memorable.

Live streaming is an entirely different beast than your typical video production with its own set of pros and cons. The biggest con: you can’t typically re-use streaming video footage since it’s uploaded live and direct to your social platform. There are workarounds for this, like using screen recording software, but that’s not always the most reliable option. Even so, live streaming gives you an amazing opportunity to use video to connect directly with your audience.

Best of all? Live streaming costs you almost nothing. All you need is a phone and, with the right event, expert session, or insider look, you can have a live, engaging video session with a captivated audience.

Due to its low barrier to entry, strategizing a live stream is relatively simple. There’s no real budget required, no extra equipment, no actors, and if you haven’t done one before, you don’t have much to lose. You can live stream an office event or Q&A, practice your presentation abilities, and see what your audience is into.

Did you create a commercial for your brand years ago? Do you have random social media footage here or there? Do customers occasionally create user-generated content (UGC) that’s worth posting? If you have any of these, use’em! You shouldn’t post the same 15-second clip over and over again, obviously, but be creative and see what other new, fresh content you can create by repurposing past videos. From creating a highlight reel, to creating a montage of other users’ videos, use what you have to help you spread your message.

Bonus Tip: This repurposed video content can be posted across social media, on your website, on your blog, via email, and more! Get everything you can out of it by varying your distribution methods.

So, what’s your first action item in 2019 when you start putting your video marketing strategy together?

Let’s break it down step by step.

How much of your marketing budget can you commit to spending on video? This plays a huge factor not only in the scope of your video’s production, but its promotion, as well. Don’t create a $10,000 video and leave yourself with zero to spend on distribution via paid advertising or email promotion.

 

Here’s where you figure out the strategy behind your video. What type of video will you create? Will you create it in-house or hire a video production company? Who’s your target audience? What’s your primary video goal? This is a huge step – it’s important to be as prepared as you can be for these tough questions. Bookmark our video marketing strategy guide and refer to it as you reach this crucial planning stage.

 

This is essentially a catch-all for everything that’s left. When and how are you communicating your plan to your team? Would creating numerous videos be more effective and drive a higher ROI than creating just one? What else will you need to think about, like equipment, location rentals, or actor scouting?

 

These are the three pillars for organizing your video calendar. Once you’ve got answers to all these questions, you can begin to lay out your video marketing calendar for the entire year.

Unfortunately, we can’t lay out your entire calendar for you! But keep in mind: a typical video schedule will take about nine weeks to plan and execute from start to finish. Shorter video content or live content can be planned and executed in a much shorter time. If you hire an outside agency, they can likely also create a video pretty quickly for you.

If you’ve got a limited budget and can only create one, hopefully high-impact video, aim to launch that video when your audience is most active. That may be during back-to-school season, during holiday seasons, or during tax return season – only you know! If you can create lots more content, plan your calendar around its completion and release it regularly.

Don’t forget to target holidays, too! Our holiday video calendar can give you some great seasonal ideas.

Planning your entire video strategy for the year all at once can sound overwhelming, but taken one step at a time and with your specific needs in mind, the process can actually be a fun one! With a little help along the way, you’ll create amazing video that you’ll love with the added bonus of helping you bring in more sales. What could be better than that?

Get started today!