If you haven’t noticed, videos have been taking over the internet. With the rise of popular, video-based social media and the improvement of internet and data speeds, Americans are consuming more and more videos. Videos are a great way to advertise your small business, and not just by making commercials. Below are 3 ways that videos can help to market your small business.
The Social Media Takeover
Between TikTok and YouTube, hordes of internet users are watching videos every day. Other social media has taken notice. Facebook and Instagram have both tweaked their algorithms to include (and sometimes prefer) videos. Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Pinterest also feature more video content than they previously did. What does this mean for your small business? It means you should be uploading videos to whatever social media you’re using.
Algorithms are both the beauty and the beast when it comes to social media. While many users criticize different social platforms for the type of content the algorithms show them, you as a business owner can use these algorithms to your advantage. By playing along with what the algorithms want (in this case it’s videos), you are opening the door for more impressions (people seeing your videos).
It’s not just about having videos, though. You also need to have videos worth watching. YouTube and TikTok both pay attention to the amount of time people spend with your video. If a user scrolls past your 30 second TikTok after only 2 or 3 seconds, TikTok’s algorithm will make a note and show it to less users. YouTube works similarly. As with all other forms of content marketing, the better your content is, the more attention you are likely to get. It may take time for you to build up a following, but good content is evergreen and will only help you in the future.
Videos are Accessibility-Friendly
We’ve talked about accessibility a few times before. It’s an important thing to keep in mind when you’re doing anything online, but especially so with videos. Videos offer a unique opportunity to make content for people who have hearing impairments AND people who have visual impairments.
Videos are a perfect solution to small businesses with a diverse customer base. If your product or service can be used by almost anyone, it’s important that your marketing reflects that. With a video, you can reach someone who is visually impaired by telling them what they need to know through the video’s audio. You can also add closed captioning to reach individuals with hearing impairments. Video hosting sites, like YouTube and Vimeo, also offer users the ability to slow down or speed up a video’s speed. This can be helpful for individuals with special attention or sensory-related needs.
Long-Form and Short-Form Content
Depending on where you choose to share your videos, you can vary the length of them. Some platforms, like TikTok and Instagram, will favor shorter videos. Other platforms, like YouTube and Facebook, allow for longer ones. If you choose to add videos to your website, you can use whatever length best suits the content discussed in the video. There’s a lot of flexibility available when it comes to video length and this gives you a lot of room to experiment and see what works.
Pros to Short-Form Videos:
- Allows for creativity by making a point succinctly
- Easily digestible
- Quickly grab a lot of attention
- Funnels people toward your longer content
Pros to Long-Form Videos:
- Allows you to tell a more nuanced story
- Shows off your expertise
- Builds trust with your audience
- Funnels people toward making a purchasing decision
In Conclusion
All in all, video marketing is a good form of content marketing. You can utilize it to promote your small business on your website and any social media of your choosing. If you are interested in making videos for your small business, call Bold River Marketing. We can help you shoot, edit, and post your videos. We also have drone capabilities to up the production quality. Contact us for more information.