Video Marketing 101 for Local Business

If content is king, then video content is the reigning emperor. By 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic—15 times higher than in 2017. If you want to engage with internet users who make up most of the world’s population, you need compelling, attractive, and engaging video marketing strategies.

Why This Matters for Small Business?

Running a successful business is all about managing operating costs while increasing sales and revenue. To do this, you need to choose strategies that have the highest ROI. Technology has finally caught up video marketing. Now practically everyone has a smartphone in their pocket capable of making movies that could be featured in the Sundance Film Festival.

It doesn’t take much to create an engaging video with nothing more than some decent lighting and a compelling story. This is perfect for smaller businesses that may not have deep pockets for their marketing campaigns but still want to do something relevant.

Local means

There are many types of video content your small business can create, including:

• Introductions
• Explainer videos
• Testimonials from clients
• Behind the scenes
• Demonstration
• FAQs
• Brand stories
• Product reveals or unboxing

With every one of these options, you have the opportunity to feature local-based talent, locations and content to engage your audience with.

Local storytelling improves sales

There was a great study done a while ago featured on the Significant Objects site where the experimenters decided to sell ordinary items they found at thrift stores and add compelling stories written by professional writers and authors. The result was practically a 20X increase in product value on average. Imagine selling a $1.25 item for almost $8,000!

Brand narratives increase brand value. This is a proven fact. If you want to increase the value of your company, tell a story through your video marketing. Personalize your content with local traditions that evoke an emotional reaction by your audience and use supporting data to hammer home those reactions.

A great example of this is High Brew Coffee. Their brand story revolves around the founders, a married couple, drinking bold, cold brew coffee packed with caffeine to stay alert during a six-month rafting adventure through the Caribbean. The copy for that brand story practically writes itself.

Showcase your expertise everywhere

A woodworker named Marc Spagnuolo decided to take his hobby of making quality wood products online in 2006. Little by little, he made videos about how to construct custom bookcases, toy chests, and chairs, and his audience grew. He is currently sitting on 745,000 YouTube subscribers and a growing company that sells membership plans, books, instructional videos, and supports a local charity.

This man is not the best in the world, and he never claims to be. His personable style and authenticity as a local husband and dad showing other people a valuable skill makes his videos highly valuable for customers across the globe. This has transformed his small business into a thriving online community.

What no one talks about is the marketing genius behind this company, the founder’s wife, Nicole. She took his videos and plastered them all over social media, their customized website, in email campaigns, and with any collaborators willing to give them some space. She leveraged the small-town charm of her craftsman husband to build a family business that will probably pay for the college education of their great-grandchildren.

Emotional response

Viral content typically evokes high-arousal emotions. We’re not talking about the “sideways no-pants dance” either. It means feelings that evoke a physical response. Think about those commercials and online videos that ignite something inside of you and triggers an emotional response.

The brand always did a commercial a few years ago using the hashtag #likeagirl. In this commercial, young actors were asked to perform actions “like a girl” including running, throwing, and fighting.  In cases with boys or woman (older than their teens) they would mimic stereotypical actions of flailing around and looking week.

When the director asked the young girls 10-12 years old to perform the same actions. They do them normally, and often with incredible vigor. This creates a brand story that supports teaching a new way of thinking about our society while celebrating woman – Always’ target audience It evokes a feeling of inspiration and hope which makes it relatable and memorable.

While not every business will have a genius marketer like those behind this commercial, the basic principles can be weaved into your local advertising techniques. Evoke a strong emotion when you celebrate your local traditions and the things that make a Mainer a Mainer and a Californian a Californian.

The Three E’s

If nothing else, remember the three E’s of video marketing: engage, educate, and energize. Upload your videos on the platforms where your target audience will be most likely to watch. Next, educate them with compelling copy that is relatable and relevant to them. Finally, energize them with your brand story that includes a CTA worthy of the video.

Video content is a powerful tool that can be utilized by companies both large and small – but it is especially valuable for smaller businesses. It’s initial low-cost, and potential high ROI makes getting noticed over your competition easier than ever before.  It allows you to engage with your audience in ways that just were not possible 10 years go. Leverage your video content across social media, and you will be rewarded with a new stream of targeted traffic that can be tapped into time and time again.