Marketing 8 min read

5 Videos to Turbocharge Your Content Marketing Skills in 2018

Presumably, a young content marketing team making the most out of their Wordpress plugins | Rawpixel.com | Shutterstock

Presumably, a young content marketing team making the most out of their Wordpress plugins | Rawpixel.com | Shutterstock

Content remains the king of internet marketing as we move into 2018.

We have content marketing strategy tips for everything from your average tech startup to the most-nuanced dog training businesses. As we survey marketing changes year-to-year, growing trends from past years transition into established measures while new trends appear as aggressive moves.

What’s the quickest way to tap into new content marketing knowledge and ensure max returns?

Capturing user intent is key, and having original, compelling content always helps. But there are a few easy-to-digest answers to that question, and one is: make videos.

5 Videos to Hack Video Marketing in 2018Click To Tweet
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Video Content is the Way to Go in 2018

While consistent blogging, organic SEO, and social media integration are helpful and necessary, video content marketing is likely to be king this year.

In 2017, more than half of marketing professionals surveyed worldwide said that video content had the best ROI. Regardless of industry or market, viral videos similar to a classic BuzzFeed formula seem to be popping up everywhere.

Condensing something down into media people can consume with their eyes, ears, or both gives people more options. That is one reason many outlets starting implementing “read times” above their articles. Time matters.

Time is money. And time is how you use videos to turbocharge your content marketing skills in 2018.

1. Speaking of BuzzFeed…

This video, sponsored by Google Small Business, features Keith Hernandez, Director of Brand Strategy for Global Team. His role involves developing campaigns for people. While this video is aimed specifically at small businesses, the tips extend and scale.

There are more gems in this video to unpack, but this is the TL;DR from Google and BuzzFeed on how use videos to turbocharge your content marketing skills in 2018:

  • Developing a narrative through social platforms
  • Story building before selling
  • Engaging content feels editorial and not like marketing
  • Focus on four pillars: emotion value & overall impact, information, aspiration, and identity
  • 1:1 ratio on sharing information with friends if marketing meets the four pillars
  • Create content for all markets including niche markets

Many businesses think creating content not solely about their own product, service, or even industry will dilute their brand or message. According to the video marketing gurus of BuzzFeed, this expansion of the brand identity can increase visibility and engagement.

It can also increase your company appeal to new audiences.

2. Good Advice Doesn’t Have to Come From Industry Goliaths

Tips from a video marketing titan like BuzzFeed come from carefully poured over data and years of trial and error. Sometimes, however, it is the smaller, more niche creators who offer more direct advice.

Despite what I consider an unfortunate affinity for Sword Art Online based on his PC background, Roberto Blake has some evergreen tips on content marketing. He is a designer and entrepreneur who has a short, but information packed video on content marketing.

While his tips can apply to print or social media marketing, it applies doubly so to video content. After all, writing scripts for video content means incorporating more brevity and efficiency of diction. His 5 tips:

  • Develop a clear communication strategy and tone
  • Identify your most directly engaged audience
  • Understand the context of platform (Video on YouTube vs. podcast vs. blog post, etc)
  • Respect your audience’s time
  • Calls to Action or “Right Hooks” or Sync content with business goals

Overall, these tips apply to brand development and identity, as well as how to approach writing scripts for videos.

3. Build a Visual Brand (Hint: That Doesn’t Require a Face)

One of the biggest fears many people have when using videos to turbocharge your content marketing skills in 2018 is fear. You are afraid of being too late to the party, of not having the right equipment, or just being on camera.

It certainly is awkward listening to and editing footage of yourself. But you don’t necessarily need a face to go with your brand. Videos can be short, informational, and graphic as opposed to face-to-face explanations or visuals.

Before you can make the jump to graphics and voiceovers, you have to develop your brand identity first. Video content aids with this by setting the value proposition for viewers instantly.

Salma Jafri, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, teamed up with Nick Nimmin to discuss creating a “visual brand”. Noted highlights include:

  • Audiences perceive value from content organization
  • Visual authority also determines perceived value of your video content and brand
  • Production value can decrease bounce rates initially, but effort matters more than equipment
  • Develop consistent brand materials such as logos, header banners, and video introductions and outros

To see an example of these tips in action, consider Business Insider’s video content. They make content featuring actual people, as well as animated segments with captions interspersed with interviews.

Business Insider also tends to embeds content in their Twitter feed. This makes it easy to navigate to YouTube, but difficult to access related articles. Who would navigate toward Business Insider once they’re on YouTube?

While this does come down to personal preference, BI does create content consistent with Nimmin’s suggestions for visual brand creation.

4. Develop a Formula for Consistent Video Content

Many YouTube channels, whether based on an online publication, business, or brand, produce consistent content. Even creators like beauty gurus or video game Let’s Players have installment content or formulas by which they approach content creation.

This is a tip on how to use videos to turbocharge your content marketing skills in 2018 you cannot ignore. Developing a formula means that you streamline your video production process, leaving more time to focus on even more ways to hack your content marketing.

Consider the above video from a channel called SciShow sponsored, initially, by the Green brothers, John and Hank. They utilize a combination of visual host, animations, and on-screen captions with aural sound effects and voice-over.

But, if you watch more than one SciShow video, you will notice various similarities in how each video is constructed.

  • First comes a short, explained introduction that expands the video titles
  • Second comes the several second-long theme song
  • Third comes a reference to another news source about the video title with an animation
  • Finally, the SciShow host expounds on this with on-screen captions.

You get the idea here. There is a pattern. With installment content, you can build brand consistency by giving viewers expectations. Another important facet of videos like this: they end with a CTA to make comments or interact with the content.

5. Use Videos to Interconnect Social Media & Website Traffic

Remember earlier when we mentioned how Business Insider embedded their video content on Twitter? Tip #5 on how to use videos to turbocharge your content marketing skills in 2018 relates to just that.

By not linking the video to their website, BI is driving traffic to their YouTube channel instead. Their objective may be, rather than boosting website hits, to boost YouTube channel subscriptions. Either way, it illustrates ways in which video content can be leveraged to interconnect various platforms for your brand or business.

Nathan Veer of Brightcove illustrates in the above video how to effectively use video content across social media channels. But this company features many webinars on how to effectively implement video content into your marketing strategies.

Just as you could end every video with a CTA to interact with the content, you could also direct viewers to your website for more info or your social media platforms for more content.

image of data and analytics for article 5 Videos to Turbo-charge Your Content Marketing Skills in 2018
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Numbers Matter, But Consistency is the Ultimate Winner

In doing research for this, one of the biggest and most often repeated traits of video content seemed most important: consistency. Releasing content on a schedule and of similar quality maintains the current audience and attracts new interest.

On top of that, utilizing developed workflows means fewer issues with creating content and (hopefully) fewer errors in the content created.

Hungry for more content marketing tips? Edgy Labs has plenty of quick reads and in-depth strategies to feed your ROI. Pro-tip: we do this for a living, too, so know a thing or two.

What other ways can you use videos to turbocharge your content marketing skills in 2018?

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Juliet Childers

Content Specialist and EDGY OG with a (mostly) healthy obsession with video games. She covers Industry buzz including VR/AR, content marketing, cybersecurity, AI, and many more.

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