Whether you want to drive traffic to your website, newsletter or store, marketing videos are an effective tool for your business. They can also be used to promote brand awareness or support your leads through the decision stage of their buyer’s journey.

The most successful branded videos share certain key traits. They are emotive, authentic and aligned with your brand’s values.

Visuals

Online video is quickly becoming the dominant method of marketing to consumers. It’s effective, entertaining, and a lot more engaging than text. Consumers retain 95% of a message presented in a visual format, and click-through rates jump two to three times when videos are included in emails.

Entertaining videos such as jokes and cute puppies can be a fun way to engage an audience while still being informative. Professional video production services can cultivate an emotional bond between your brand and its audience. Testimonial and demo videos showcase real-life customer success stories and create social proof for your brand.

Educative videos can be used for brand awareness, webinars, and to educate leads at the middle of your marketing funnel. Be sure to keep these educational videos short, as long-form marketing videos lose engagement rapidly. Also, consider using clickable annotations in the video to drive traffic directly to your website or landing page.

Audio

Video is a powerful form of marketing but it’s just as important to include audio. Audio provides meaning and emotion to your content and helps your audience connect with your brand.

When preparing your video, ensure you use good quality music that compliments and enhances the desired tone of your video. Avoid music with lyrics that may distract or confuse your audience.

Auditory cues like body language and verbal tone play a big role in conveying the message of your video. They also help create a connection with your audience as they relate to the story. Remember to incorporate a call-to-action at the end of your video to encourage your audience to take action. This could be to subscribe to your newsletter, share your video, sign-up for a free trial or visit your website.

Storytelling

Storytelling is a valuable tool for connecting with viewers on an emotional level. Content that makes people feel something is more likely to be shared and remembered, so it’s important for brands to use storytelling in their marketing videos.

Video storytelling can take many forms, from funny jokes to heartwarming customer reviews. However, it’s essential to know what you want your video to achieve before starting production. Do you want to entertain your audience, create social proof, or persuade them to buy your product?

A good storytelling video should also include a call to action. Keep in mind that viewer engagement drops significantly after two to three minutes, so you’ll need to be quick and clear with your message. To avoid confusion, a good way to make your video more engaging is to incorporate on-screen captions.

Emotions

Video content can be an emotional experience. It can be a funny, heartwarming or even an educational video that captures the attention and interest of viewers. When a marketing video incorporates these emotions, it becomes more engaging.

The key to creating an engaging marketing video is delivering your message in an effective and captivating manner. This includes catching the audience’s attention right at the beginning and keeping them engaged throughout the video.

Video content can also be entertaining by adding a sense of humor, cuteness or pranks to the video. Entertaining videos are great for brand awareness as they can catch the attention of social media users who are scrolling down their feeds. These kinds of videos are usually short, but will keep your audience hooked for more.

Call to Action

One of the most overlooked elements in a marketing video is the call to action. A well placed CTA will help to move consumers down your sales and marketing funnel. It should match the role of your video and the strategy behind it. For example, if your video is for brand awareness it might make sense to prompt people to visit your website or social media accounts.

On the other hand, if you are using your video for lead generation it might make more sense to ask viewers to book a meeting or phone call with you. Adding a CTA is easy and can be done by either using annotations or by putting it in your end card. Both can be very effective if done right.