Over the last decade, we have seen an increase in online video consumption driven by the introduction of on-demand video content. We no longer have to wait a week to watch the next episode of our favorite series, and we have grown accustomed to consuming video for longer periods of time.
If there’s anything in the multimedia world that I can confidently say is never going to change, that is storytelling. Regardless of the way they are told, humans connect through stories. And this applies to businesses as well. What is the story of your product? What problem does it solve? How can it help your target audience?
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The Marketing landscape has adapted to the new habits of consumption and more and more marketers are incorporating video into their mix, knowing it will catch the attention of the average consumer. Over the last couple of years, short, bite-sized videos have seen an incredible amount of growth in popularity. I count myself among the many users that downloaded TikTok as a “joke” during the first lockdown an eternity ago and ended up completely hooked. This simple app with 30-60 second videos that you can scroll through had become a timesink sooner than I realised.
Don’t just take my word for it, this year’s Hubspot State of Marketing Report points out that video uploads increased by 80% this year whilst minutes watched increased by 85%. Your audience is hungry for video and no longer will be intimidated by its length, as long as it’s been marketed appropriately.
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However, is this the case in Science Marketing? How have Science, Healthcare and Engineering marketers adapted to this new landscape? We have surveyed over 160 Science Marketing professionals to determine the goals, priorities and challenges we have seen this year and will impact next year’s marketing plan.
Video was ranked as a high or very high priority by 48% of participants for next year, showing scientific businesses are aware of how important video will be for brand awareness and engagement next year. However, in industries where white papers and offline Marketing used to be the norm, adding video as part of the digital marketing plan can seem a bit daunting. 68% of respondents have ranked video anywhere between slightly to very challenging.
Telling your product/service stories through video can differentiate you from your competitors next year. Testimonial videos, applications, demos and thought leadership webinars are among the most popular types of videos our clients request to produce. How can you make the most out of these videos and market them through every stage of the funnel?
Types of Video to Consider for 2022
Making sure you are using your resources efficiently is fundamental when you're looking to start including video in your marketing plans next year. You can produce content for all stages of the funnel from one single long format video, editing it to fit into one of the 3 most popular types of video for 2022.
Make Video an integral part of your Marketing
Every part of your communications strategy can be enhanced with video. In 2022, people watch nearly double the amount of online video than they did back in 2018. Video plays an important part of the average person's day to day and you should leverage this to your advantage.
Have you struggled to explain your product's applications or produced miles long how-to blogs? You can illustrate complex topics in an user friendly way with video. Incorporating video to your communications further educates your audience and creates deeper engagement.
When you invest in a marketing activity you want to maximise your ROI. You have spent time and effort in, let's say, going to a tradeshow. Why not create a video on the product you're launching? Or interview your scientists demonstrating its applications? There as many types of video you can create as different types of content in your marketing strategy. Continuing our tradeshow example, here just a few types of videos that can support your communications:
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Thought Leadership Interview - Bottom of the funnel
This is your main product. What does your product do best? How has it helped your target audience achieve their goals? Interviewing your customers and telling the story of their research (including the part your product played) is a great way to showcase your company thought leadership.
Find someone that you know will be good on camera and support it with b-roll of your product, the research and the locations. How long should my video be? As long as it’s interesting and you’re telling a compelling story, there are no hard and fast rules for video length!
This longer format video is intended for an audience that is already interested in your company or product. This audience is close to conversion. But how do you get them to this stage in the first place?
Short Series - Middle of the funnel
If you have produced a 30-60 minute story with a beginning, a middle and an end, you can break it down into a small 3-4 minute video series. Let’s go back to our thought leadership interview: you can choose two or three different topics present in the interview and create a mini-series about them, with their own beginning, middle and end.
This also works when you don’t have the time or resources to create a longer format video. Are you meeting with a client at the office? If they have 10 minutes to tell their story in front of a camera, you have a 3 minute video testimonial to embed on your website, post on social media and share with clients in a similar industry as a case study.
Social Media Snippets - Top of the funnel
Short social media snippets are the perfect gateway to attract customers and gain overall brand awareness. You have taken the time to create a high quality video, now comes the time to promote it and distribute it as part of your marketing mix. What are the highlights of your video? Has the speaker from the longer format video said something that really aligns with your brand values? Create a short 30-60 seconds snippet of it and share it everywhere! When sharing on social media, you can give context to the snippet in the copy, making it more engaging and visually appealing.
Once you have caught the attention of the audience, you can offer a link to watch the longer format video where that snippet was taken from. This way, you attract a highly interested and engaged audience that will be happy to invest more time in your longer videos.
Learn more about the Video Production Process
If you are interested in more trends and predictions for next year’s Marketing Strategies, you can watch our State of Scientific Marketing Webinar below, where we discuss video and many other marketing strategies and how they will shape 2022’s Marketing landscape.
Plan your Video Strategy
Thought Leader Testimonial Videos
Training & Ease of Use Videos
