Video Marketing for Local Business is a 3 part series to help small businesses gain a basic understanding of how video marketing can help grow their business and how to get started. Part 1: Getting Started, Part 2: Local SEO, Part 3: Getting Going.
For many small, local businesses, the idea of using video marketing can seem excessive, or even unnecessary. The truth of the matter is video can help businesses large and small, global as well as local. Text and images are used to convey information, invoke emotion, and help with SEO. A good, optimized marketing video can also do all these things by using imagery, motion, and audio. Just as video marketing has become a mainstay for larger companies, now local businesses are becoming aware of how powerful of a tool it can be. Video not only helps to market their business, but also helps them to be found online and locally.
Whether your business is a dentist office, a restaurant, a car service center, or any other small, local business or non-profit, the first step to getting started is to create a Video Marketing Plan:
- Budget. Many small businesses tend have a limited or an “as needed” marketing budget, with an ad here or there or perhaps sponsoring an event. Actually having a budget line item for marketing is not always possible for some businesses. This is where some preliminary research comes into play. Try making some phone calls and meet with a few video marketing production companies. Get a sense of the price range you might be looking at to create a marketing video. What about a series of videos? Committing to 4 videos might get you a better rate than just 1. Even if you can’t do it immediately, is it something that is worth saving up for? Explore your options and take into account your returns.
- Target Market(s). Determine your target market or markets based off of your traditional marketing plan. This will help decide on the style and content of your videos. If you have multiple target markets, consider making specific videos targeted at a particular market and distribute accordingly.
- Goals. A well-done marketing video can help your business in a variety of ways. The key is to have a specific goal or set of goals for each video. Do you want to your viewer to become aware of your business overall? Is it a product or service oriented video? Does your business have a unique way of operating or providing its product/service? Do you want your viewer to call you, visit your website or physically come into your place of business? Each business is unique and each video can be unique in its message and desired goal.
- Video Concepts. Even if you don’t know how to create video, having ideas of what you would like to produce, the type of information you want to convey and what aspects of your business you want to promote is helpful when you start talking with a video production company. As with any form of marketing, video is not necessarily something you do just once and walk away. An effective video marketing strategy will encompass a series of targeted videos with specific outcomes in mind. Remember, these can (and should) be short. Think a couple of minutes or less. You’ll be surprised at how much information you can get into just 1 minute. To learn more about creating a successful marketing video, check our post 10 Keys to Making a Successful Marketing Video Production.
- Video Marketing Production Company. Start doing some research and interviewing video production companies. There’s a lot that goes into making a video, but the right production company will make you feel at ease about the process, excited about the possibilities and proud to share the final product. Read more about finding the right video marketing production company in our post 6 Tips to Finding the Right Video Production Company.
Video marketing is not just for global brands anymore. Mobile internet use is skyrocketing and search is getting more and more competitive. People are increasingly searching for local services, shopping and restaurants. Trying to find an attorney or a place to eat or where to go for dry cleaning. The internet is the new Yellow Pages, and for local businesses, it is becoming more important than ever. Video marketing is an effective tool that not only helps you to be found, but helps convert your viewer into a customer.
For more information on how to get started with a video marketing campaign for your local business, contact us at Real Digital Production.
Stay tuned for the next installment of our series, Video Marketing for Local Business. Part 2 will cover Local SEO and how to optimize your video to help your customers find you.
