Who in the marketing industry doesn’t know Gary Vaynerchuck —the man, the myth (well, not quite), the legend.
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He’s known for quite a lot of things, including launching one of the first wine e-commerce business and writing best-selling books.
But above all, he’s known for his incredible internet savvy.
Ahead of the rest of the world in all things social media marketing, this Belarusian-American entrepreneur has amassed legions of followers.
And for good reason—after all, there’s no one who is quite as ahead as Gary Vee in the field.
And to find proof of that, you have to look no further than his own social media presence: from Twitter to Youtube, he has it all covered.
One of the things Gary Vee does best in video content, which in his own words is the "single most important strategy" in content marketing.
With the evolution and distribution of technology, the most prevalent content consumption pattern has to do with video.
Think about it: how many videos have you watched this past week on Facebook, Snapchat, or Youtube?
Exactly. Just like you, the members of the target audience for your business are also busy scrolling on their smartphones and computers.
And just like you, they are watching lots of video content from creators around the world.
You can rest assured about the importance of a video marketing strategy, because numbers don’t lie.
For example, one complied report by Adelie Studios shows that companies who use video marketing increase revenue 49% faster per year.
Why may that be?
Well, the same report also tells us that four times as many customers like to watch a video about a product than read about it, and that social videos generate a whopping 1200% higher share rate than text and images combined!
So if you’re thinking of investing in new marketing approaches, you should definitely opt for video. And to help make your journey a smooth one, here are eleven expert tips that we’ve gathered from none other than Gary Vee himself.
1 - Explore Different Platforms
The internet is a dynamic entity, with websites continually experiencing rises and falls in popularity.
Your target audience does not just occupy one social media hub, so you should not limit marketing to one platform either.
By diversifying your marketing presence across sites, you will be able to reach a large number of potential customers.
Of course, you should not miss the most important platforms—the current leader in which Facebook.
"Smart, shareable, and personal", Facebook is at the moment non pareil when it comes to the number of active users and the amount of targetable consumer data available.
However, video consumption on platforms are also growing; for example, Snapchat in 2016 apparently witnessed 10 billion views on its video content per day.
Similarly, from Instagram to Youtube, there are several major platforms that you should include in your video marketing strategy.
The key thing to remember is to invest fully in creating videos suited to each site, since merely sharing from one platform to another will not be effective.
The Adelie Studios report also shows, for instance, that native video upload to Facebook have 10x higher reach than shared links from Youtube.
2 - Build Your Brand
Running a business is not easy, and often requires many hands to make light(er) work.
But when you have different divisions running different agendas, it isn’t surprising that sometimes companies fail to reach their big-picture objectives.
And at the end of the day, marketing is done in order to develop your brand—and with that, sales will ultimately amplify.
So an important piece of advice when you get involved with video marketing is to ensure that the sales team and the marketing team are on the same page.
A lot of times, inadequate coordination may lead to you aggressively pushing sales.
But as we learn in this #AskGaryVee episode, marketing can make the big difference between “being a Nike, being a Puma, versus just selling some sneakers”.
Especially with video, you have the option of doing so much more than with text or images.
Don’t waste that opportunity by focusing too much on transactions and not enough on creating meaningful experiences for your customer.
3 - Short-Term Pain for Long-Term Gain
Business is a Marathon, not a 100-meter race.
To add to that last point, building a successful brand doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a lot of time and hard work.
And video, which will account for 80% of internet traffic by 2019, is certainly not a cheap marketing approach.
From camera equipment to animations, from implementing creative ideas to editing, producing high quality videos on a regular basis will use up a lot of your resources.
But you have to believe that it will be worth it in the long-term. If it seems like an overwhelming amount of effort, you have to prioritize it and give more time.
Video is the present and the future of online marketing, so do not be afraid of investing in it.
Remember, all the big brands people adore today did start out as a small business.
What you have to realize is if their efforts paid off, yours can too. But to make that happen, you have to be willing to put in patience and perseverance.
4 - “Content is King”
In 1996, Bill Gates published an essay titled "Content is King", in which he wrote that he expected content to be where “much of the real money will be made on the Internet”.
Now that more than two decades have since passed and the Internet has become an integral part of daily life for millions upon millions of people, we can say with certainty that he was right.
And since the market for writing-based content such as blogs and e-books has become so saturated, companies are flocking to video—as they should, since surveys show that users tend to prefer watching videos about something rather than get the same information in text form.
In the face of marketing competition from other firms, you can stand out through your content. This is a process that requires both creativity and the potential to see it through, but a commitment to produce quality content will take your firm a long way.
Even by just releasing some tried and true video content formats—customer testimonials, tutorial videos, and demonstration videos, the most effective video forms as reported by Curata—you can make a big difference.
And since Content is King, make sure that the quality of your Content is great:
5 - And “Context is God”
One of GV’s favorite self-quotes, “content is king, but context is god” is a mantra for all video marketers to live by.
When you create videos to market to your audience, you have to realize that they have different expectations from different brands and where they consume your content.
For instance, a customer that has made it to the landing page of your website might have more of a buying mindset.
But a customer scrolling through Twitter may just want to view something of interest to them for knowledge or entertainment.
Meanwhile a Facebook viewer may want something relevant to their lives that they can share with friends and family.
By customizing your videos to the platform and the audience’s mindset when on that platform, you can boost your firm’s reputation within them.
Whatever you create, make sure that it is helping your company connect with consumers in an authentic way.
By doing this, you create value for your customers, which then makes them want to stick around.
It's also important to consider where they are in their "Buyer's Journey".
Here's a handy graph by HubSpot.
Awareness Stage
Are your prospects experience the same pain-points your service or product solves?
Give them content that will help them frame the problem and start exploring out to solve it.
Consiration Stage
Are they trying to learn more about how to solve a particular problem or opportunity?
Provide them with educational content so they can understand what approaches can be used to reach their goal.
Decision Stage
Have your prospects already decided what the solution to their problem is and are they now looking for the best vendor?
Show them why you're the best vendor and guide them through the last step of the Buyer's Journey so they become your customer.
6 - Tell A Story
Being human brings with it many qualities, including our affinity with stories.
A good story brings a genuine reaction from us, whether it be amusement, sympathy, tenderness, anger, or sorrow.
Your goal as a video marketer should be to evoke the emotions you want associated with the brand.
A description or demonstration of your product or service will only do so much, but a well-portrayed story will allow your audience to truly remember and distinguish you.
So how do you tell a good story?
Our very own Mr. Vaynerchuck recounts an anecdote about buying his office flowers on a random non-holiday work-day.
Because it was so unexpected, it evoked significant responses.
This is what you should aim to do—always hack your audience’s expectations (in a good way) to keep them interested.
Another tip is to mix passion with practicality, emotion with logic.
Your story should open up your audience’s eyes as to why they need or want your product without you having to literally spell it out for them.
Therefore, it should not only resonate on an emotional level but also help them create sense for why your product will benefit them.
7 -Hook ‘Em
Watching a movie or play usually requires you to pay for them, and for you to get up and go to a physical location to watch them.
Even if you’re not particularly pleased with how it’s going, you’ll probably still watch it till the end.
But computer screens and the internet is a vastly different landscape, where users don’t always pay for content and have no difficulty scrolling past or clicking the little x button if something doesn’t interest them.
As for pre-roll ads, most viewers skip them after the initial few seconds either way.
So you only have a couple of seconds to make that first—perhaps only—impression on your viewers.
In that short frame, you have to convince them that your content is worth their time.
This is why it helps to have a strong hook in the opening of your video to reel the customers in.
There are many ways to do that, including promising a helpful solution to a problem or offering something unexpected right away.
8 - Less Is (sometimes) More
This may be the golden age of technology, but it definitely isn’t the age of long attention spans. The ease with which we can access technology and the fast-paced virtual world it has created prioritizes one thing above all else: speed.
And in such an environment, customers don’t like you taking too much time.
And you really don’t need to.
Short-form videos, especially among a younger demographic, are what people are inclining towards these days.
And the proof is in the pudding: the sky-high reaches of Snapchat and previously Vine show just how effectively short-form videos can be used to market to a wider audience.
That isn’t to say long-form videos do not have their own benefits—they do, and you should never limit yourself to one exclusive format - remember focus on the quality of your content, not the format.
But short and sweet (or salty, spicy, stale, etc.) is here to stay, and should be a focus in your video marketing strategy.
It's especially useful in the "Attract" stage of your marketing - the likelihood of someone watching a 30-minute video about "Solution X" is minimal if your target audience hasn't even identified their problem properly.
9 - Interact
Technology has made it easier for you to reach your audience, but it has also made it easier for you to reach them.
Whether you’re a one-person business or a large-sized company, your audience wants to know more.
They have questions, concerns, and interests.
Video marketing is not only a way for you to promote your business, it is also a medium of interaction through which you can build trust and transparency with your customer base.
For example, take the #AskGaryVee show where he answers questions about everything from marketing to entrepreneurship from his followers.
This is a fine example of a simple interactive video, but there are lots of ways to put your own spin on it. Including quizzes and mini-games, doing live Q&A’s, using interactive sliders—the possibilities really are endless, if only you make a real effort to reach out to your audience.
10 - Be Consistent, Not Complacent
It is easy to take attention for granted.
After all, you’ve spent all this money—so the customers must be ready to spend theirs, right?
Well, not necessarily: attracting attention is one thing, but you also have to work to hold that attention thereafter.
And the worst thing for you to do would be to sit back convinced that you’ve done your job.
Keep on producing videos, and ensure that your company’s values are well reflected in each new one.
Every video should add to your customer’s understanding about what your firm is and what it does.
Coming up with new content doesn’t have to be hard; by just documenting what is real and relevant, you can keep up the consistency that video marketing requires.