How to Use Video Marketing in 2024

YES, it’s a new year and you may be wondering how to use video marketing in 2024 for your small business. Whether you’re marketing for a small local business or marketing for an online business, your video can be personalized. So you may be wondering how to use video marketing in 2024. There is a host of current marketing strategies, new marketing strategies, and small business marketing tips out there – many of them are good. I’m taking a different approach in this post. I’m sharing what I and my clients do for our customers. What is that you ask?

A business always finds enthusiastic customers, momentum, and sales through personalized video. As a business owner, put yourself in the shoes of your customers. They want to know what your customer experience is like, “Insider” access to your company, the ability to watch your work ANYWHERE they are in the world, videos that make them feel appreciated and unique and to be part of a bigger story. Personalization – This is how to use video marketing in 2024.

5 Ways I use video marketing in 2024

Customer Experience Videos

Just take a moment to browse through your competitor’s websites. There may be some good ideas there. Most of my clients have great ideas in their websites. But almost everyone is missing a key element…an answer to the question, “What can I expect when I work with you?”

If I know exactly what you do, the process of making an order, having a meeting, what the product is like, and your pricing, I’m much more likely to sign up with your business. Here’s where a video for your business can help.

A Physical Product – Customer Experience

If you sell a physical product, make a video that shows the customer the entire process that their order goes through to deliver the product to them.

Explain and show packaging
Communication processes and people.
How their order moves through a CRM tool
Unboxing videos – Unbox your own product with assembly tips
Show the people behind your product.

I guarantee this video will cement trust and relatability in your company. Plus, it demonstrates the personal care that you offer to each customer.

Here’s an example video that I shot and edited for a local small business. This is an unboxing and assembly video. Nick did a great job here.

A Digital Product or Service – Customer Experience

If you have a digital product or online service, make a video that shows a client exactly the process you use when you work with a client.

What is the first meeting like?
Show the digital tools you use to keep track of client needs, questions, information, and feedback.
What factors do you account for when making a quote for a customer?
What are your goals for your customers?
How does Billing and Payment work?
What do you charge – on average? I know, that is a sticky one but there are very good reasons for listing your price – perhaps a topic for another time. Basically though, if you think like a customer and not like a business owner, you’ll want that information right up front – think of them and do it. Keep it simple. Give an average. That gives you room for more customized pricing later.

For flexibility, I’ve made a video that loosely outlines my process and then plan on the webpage that my video sits on having the rest of the information for a customer process.

“Insider” videos

People like to feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves (just look at sports, politics, religion, and cosplay!). Let your audience behind the curtain. Make some off the cuff, natural speaking, personal, and relatable video that directly connects to your business.

These videos can be 15-second films on social media, a question that you answer for a client that you can share with everyone (including the story of how the question was asked), a Vlog, or newsjacking based on current events.

The power in these videos is putting a human face on an otherwise impersonal business entity. If you share your stories of success and failure with your audience, they engage more with your brand, you can work together with them to help them and you, and your audience joins something bigger than themselves. It’s great, with one word of caution.

It is important that whatever video you make for your business relates directly to your business. If you just Vlog about how your dog is sick, your mother-in-law is a monster with a forked tongue, or that your employees are the worst, the impact of this content will be just as immediate and very negative. Keep it professionally relatable.

This is an example of a vlog I did as a challenge for my other business overlandtrailer.com. Could I get the perfect flat lay shot of something large??

Subtitles are POWER

USE SUBTITLES! Think about your audience. Where are they engaging with your brand in the real world? Sure there’s plenty of digital marketing trend charts that tell you which social media platform is best but what about the experience of the viewer? Can you personalize your video for their environment?
I see people watching videos on their devices all the time at grocery store lines, in waiting rooms, on public transportation, at work. Most of the time, audio is NOT an option in these physical locations. Enter the power of subtitles, it personalizes the video for the viewer’s location.

YouTube has a subtitle option but doesn’t count on your customers using it. You should make the subtitles for both ON Screen and on YouTube’s platform. Put the words on the screen in your video.

In 2019, LinkedIn reports that 70% of their user base watched video content without sound. Make it easier for your audience to get your information.

This example is a video that I made when teaching a course for Adobe, Inc. It is a sample book promotion that all participants were challenged to make. Subtitles make the cute child’s voice-over understandable and watchable with the audio off.

Custom Personal Video Message

This is POWERFUL! I’m most stoked on this way of using video because it changed my business last year. Sending a video message to a customer, client, or vested party.

Think of making a purchase from one of your favorite businesses and getting an email (the same day you make a purchase or fill out an interest form) from the CEO of that business. How powerful is that?

Leverage your small business size. Personalized video messages and customer support is where a small business can crush their bigger competitors. Let me share how to use video marketing for a small business.

Give a greeting
Call the person by name
Give them a thanks – interest in your business, a purchase, whatever
Tell them that you’re excited for them to get your product or service.
Say goodbye

Keep the video to 30 seconds or less. Grab the link for the video and email it to them with a message, “I made a video for you [person’s name]

Talk about personalized! Does it take a few minutes? Yes! Does it create raving fans of your business? TOTALLY!

Long-Form Videos

Google’s Online Video Consumption statistics tell a story. Audiences are larger and harder to engage in 0 – 60-second content. These videos are also easier to produce. But what if we looked longer?

Google also sees an uptick in viewer engagement above 10 minutes in length. Sure the audience is smaller but they are more engaged with your brand. These videos are more work to produce but they offer opportunities that shorter videos cannot.

There are two main opportunities with the longer video:

A deeper story – this allows you the time to build a stronger emotional connection to your audience -which makes you more personal. this longer form of storytelling is also useful when trying to change how an audience may think about your brand or industry. What would it be like to see a long-form video from a TV cable company explaining their passion for customers, good and reliable hardware, great service, and no hidden fee scales? They would break their industry with that video!
Education – this is a great time to explain the details of what makes your product or service so good. It is also an opportunity to connect your brand to a larger issue (environmental, political, social change, relief aid, or celebration of a customer’s story). Not only do these videos inform, but they also create emotional connections.

Here’s an example of a long-form custom educational video that I made for a client. To be clear, longer videos can be as personalized as this or more generalized to fit a specific type of audience member. I made this for this client at no charge.

Summed Up!

So now you know how I use video for marketing in 2024. As you probably discovered here, I try to always put myself in the shoes of someone outside my business. Then I make videos that fit their personalized needs.

tell them what they can expect from me when they work with me.
pull back the curtain on my business and show them “how it’s made”.
strategically use subtitles to meet them wherever they’re watching my content.
send loads of personalized videos to my clients.
used long-form video to promote my own brand and that of my clients.

Here’s an idea! Make a quick video to me to ask a question, tell me a story or just to get my feedback on your process. Publish it online and send me a link. I’d be happy to share my thoughts. OH! and it costs you nothing.

Cheers!

Mark

How to Use Video Marketing in 2024