How to Improve Your Content Marketing with Video! [Video Influencer Interview]

Read Time: 4 minutes

We’re not totally sure where it started or how it came to be, but somehow, marketers everywhere are plagued by this idea that content marketing is blogging. The truth is, there’s more to it if you aim to improve your content marketing.

Blogging is a great content marketing avenue, but it’s merely a form of content marketing, not the be-all and end-all. Content marketing also includes eBooks, landing pages, podcasts, webinars, and so much more!

Our favorite type of content marketing? You guessed it, VIDEO!

Unfortunately though, video is often pegged as one of the most complicated and complex of the content marketing sisters (though we beg to differ). Yes, video is in many ways unique to her content counterparts. But she is content, nonetheless. Let’s not overlook how much they all have in common.

To help you best understand how you can use video as a pillar in your content marketing strategy, we’re here to guide you in making a strong and sustainable video strategy that becomes the crown jewel of your marketing efforts. To do this, our Chief Evangelist, Renee Teeley, met up with Hey.com’s CEO, Dane Golden, to talk all about how you can use video to maximize your content marketing. Hint: It’s all about Y-O-U.

Let’s do this!

Focusing on the Funnel

Just like all other forms of content marketing, video marketing offers incredible value for different areas of the buyer’s journey. It’s a common trap (and very easy) for content marketing creators to focus on the company instead of the prospect. This is no less true of video creation.

If you can create video content that guides prospects through their path to purchase, you’ll be able to make the greatest impact with video’s adult-learning Swiss-army-knife-effect —offering visuals, audio, and movement — all at once.

Educate your viewers about industry trends and best practices so they can grow their business. By adding this value, you put them at the center of your messaging (not you or your company): the ultimate roadway to building trust and authority with your audience.

Double or Nothing

Research has shown that the magic word when it comes to video is you. Three simple letters, a consonant and two vowels — one syllable is all it takes to capture attention.

Here are some more numbers for you. If you were to use the word you in the first 5 minutes of a video, you can expect 66% better views. What’s more? If you say you twice, you get 97% more views. And, you know that’s almost double, don’t you? (Ok, you don’t have to use you thaaat much.)

By showing your audience right away that this video is about them, you set a tone for creating a larger Hero’s Journey. This turns them into the star of their own story, with you acting as the supporting guide who helps them along the way.

Searchability for Video

Like all other forms of content marketing, the basic premise of creating valuable video content is the same. Your goal is for it to be searchable, valuable, and for it to send viewers down the road to choose your product or service. The first (and foremost) item on that list though is searchability!

Think about what your customers are searching for initially when they find your product. What challenges are they trying to solve? Find those keywords and be sure to integrate them into your video’s title, description, and tags.

Another thing to note when considering the ability for your prospects to find your video content is to think about the difference between YouTube content and native video upload. While native upload does have some great pros, there are shortcomings when it comes to search capabilities.

We’ve ALL had that experience when you’re scrolling on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram and we see a video on autoplay and it totally catches our eye. Next thing you know, sometimes even what feels like minutes later, it just disappears!

If you want to index your videos and make sure they can be searched, rewatched, and cherish time and time again — you’re going to want to post it on YouTube.

The Long-End Game

When assessing what video content to make, ask if the topic and content of your video is something that might change next year — or even a quarter —or if it’s evergreen.

Just like in other forms of content marketing, there’s an important distinction to be made about what is relevant vs. evergreen content. While relevant content is cool and has some chance of going viral when created and distributed to a tee, evergreen content is best for the long haul.

One key difference between video and other forms of content in this regard is that video takes time and energy to produce (unless you use Powtoon), so it’s important to consider the longevity of your video. If it’s super trendy but not going to be valuable or interesting to your audience weeks, months, or years down the road, it may not be worth your time and resources.

Got something big that will stand the test of time? Get shooting! Remember, like a the trees that bear its name, evergreen video content (that’s been well SEO’d) appreciates over time. Lay down the roots now and watch it educate others and grow in views and backlinks for years.

Another Angle: Body Language

As we discussed, there are a bunch of factors that make video creation very similar to, and different from, other content marketing approaches.

Video sets itself apart from the rest of the pack in one simple way. People can see you! For those willing to step in front of the camera, your tone, body language, and personality can be a HUGE selling point to viewers.

When viewers see you as someone that gives off the vibe of the kind of person they could get along with, work with, and see as a trusted thought leader, that’s a big win! Over text or audio content, video has that magical ability to make the content feel personal, engaging, and overall unforgettable.

Piecing It Together

You shouldn’t feel that you’re reinventing the wheel every time you make material for a certain content avenue. Content should be built as complementary to each other and reused and repurpose for your other content channels. That way you build a beautiful SEO tapestry of valuable goodness that weaves into each other.

Take this blog post as an example. This is a blog piece that can totally stand on its own, but it also has a video element to it. If you haven’t noticed yet, it’s linked with our expert interview video with Dane Golden who talks about just this topic! What’s next for this content web? We’re thinking a SlideShare deck for LinkedIn.

What are Your Keys to Content?

Got any of your own ideas on how video is complementary to your other content marketing efforts? Let us know in the comments below or on YouTube.

Last but not least, don’t forget to subscribe to Powtoon’s YouTube channel for more episodes of the #MakeItAwesome Show and more awesome content from the Powtoon team!

Stay Awesome!

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Shoshi Davis

Shoshi joined Powtoon as a Marketing Assistant. To read more of her stuff, you can find her content on Upwork and Business 2 Community talking all things inbound marketing for SaaS. After only 2 weeks at Powtoon, Shoshi was dubbed by the marketing team as having the superpower of "Unbridled Enthusiasm." So that was pretty cool.