Making Money On-line: How CMOs Can Leverage Video Marketing

In the mid 2000s, the emergence of online video transformed how marketers reached their target audience. In a time where both video production technology and video streaming technology were rapidly evolving, corporations and their CMOs had to quickly adapt their understanding and approach to video marketing.

Gone are the days of creating one big television commercial a year and running it on broadcast, only to do it again the next year. Today’s CMO must be nimble and quick in creating strategies around and also executing on the production of marketing videos.

Here are four things CMOs should consider when looking to win with video marketing:

In-House Video vs. Outsourced

If a marketing department has multichannel video needs, supports sales with video content, and creates video for internal communications, the demand for video can become very high. And with expanding needs, comes ever-increasing costs.

It’s critical to identify the type of videos that can be done internally and those that need the help of an outside video production company. In general, the critical assets (e.g., top of the funnel Facebook ads, television commercials, and brand videos) should be outsourced to a professional agency.

Consistent needs — Instagram stories, Facebook Live, ecommerce product videos, day-to-day Facebook video content, smaller product launches, etc. — can all be done in-house.

When thinking about executing his production, Adam Boalt, CEO of Passport Renewal said, “It’s clear when you need to outsource and when it’s easily done in-house. I found it’s worth the investment to outsource things like our main company explainer video, but things like our product demos are fine [when done] internally.”

Staffing your internal video team really depends on the video demand internally and the allocated budget. On the small side, you can hire a one-man band who can shoot, edit, write, do motion graphics, and produce the final product. However, more realistically you’ll want to plan for staffing a producer/director, a writer, and an editor with motion graphics skills.

Non-Product Branded YouTube Channel

Video content can be a form of advertising and customer acquisition, and if done right, can be a profit center within itself, particularly when it comes to YouTube marketing. Consider creating a YouTube channel in your niche to educate and entertain your audience. Build it outside of your brand, and through investment and talent, build a following within that community.

If your product serves a market that has a content audience on YouTube, then you’ll have an easier time building a following. If there is little to no traffic on YouTube surrounding the types of products you offer, you’ll need to provide more cross-channel promotion.

In addition to a production team, you’ll need:

A host with an engaging personality.
A writer who is an expert in the niche.
A digital marketer.

Here are a few examples of non-product branded channels around product niches that could spark some inspiration:

LaurDIY: A channel on crafts with an engaging host who gives tips and insights on cool DIYs for a primarily female, teen audience.
Teddy Baldassarre: A channel on watches and watch reviews that discusses trends and topics in the watch community.
Pocket Full of Primary: A channel for teachers by a teacher that shows the day in the life of a teacher, gives best practices tips, and talks about current issues.

These are great examples of channels that could be highly leveraged to drive audience awareness to your products. The channel can be costly, but it can be an asset you own with an audience that is loyal and engaged.

Improve Already Successful Funnels

Video doesn’t always have to be a standalone marketing effort that is independently providing ROI, often it’s a way to augment channels that are already working. Every CMO has one or a handful of successful platforms that are keeping the business alive. Ideally, each platform and marketing channel should have its own established customer acquisition cost. Identify those and integrate video into all parts of those successful funnels.

PPC: If paid search is a proven tactic for you, integrate videos into your landing pages. Test which work and which don’t, and try to drive down your acquisition cost through video.

Facebook: If Facebook ads are driving awareness and conversions, test video ads vs. photo ads in a one-on-one test.

Traditional sales: If your marketing department is primarily supporting your sales organization, and you acquire customers primarily through sales, then identify ways to integrate video into your sales channels.

A/B Test Creative

When creating videos, brands often create just one and hope that the creative approach they chose is going to work. When building out individual videos, create two or three versions of them allowing you to A/B test different intros and creative approaches. Doing this will not add too much budget to the project, either.

This is particularly important for advertising uses on paid search landing pages, YouTube pre-roll, Instagram or Facebook ads. These use-cases allow you to quickly test what’s working and what’s not. If you only make videos with one creative approach, you’ll never be able to understand what creative resonates and what doesn’t.

Integrate these things and you’ll be better set to see success in video marketing moving forward.