Marketing video production (2022) – The Ultimate Guide for a successful video marketing

Introduction – Getting Started with Online Video Marketing 

A picture is worth a thousand words, have you ever wondered how much worth a video might carry? This is a common question you may have encountered on your marketing video production journey. And indeed the answer to this question proves that videos are a highly effective tool for marketing. 

Today, a lot of brands are moving from static forms of content marketing like texts and images to video production and distribution. This is because; video content has gained more relevance and has dominated the internet and especially, on social media websites. Also, consumers have upgraded their way of sourcing information from the old version of reading boring & lengthy texts to watching fun and interactive videos.

“According to a Google study, over 90% of YouTube viewers say they discover new brands or products on YouTube, and over 40% of global shoppers say they’ve purchased products they discovered on YouTube.”

This shows that videos are no longer just for mere entertainment. They act as a source of information and even help many consumers make a purchasing decision. 

So, to succeed in this competitive business world, implementing video marketing in your business strategy is highly important.

If you are a complete beginner in this field of marketing, getting started shouldn’t be difficult or expensive as people thought. We have prepared this guide to assist you with everything you need to know about video marketing. In this guide you will learn; what video marketing is, video marketing benefits, different types of video marketing and examples, the best video marketing agency, video marketing statistics and strategies… etc.

If you already have experience with this topic, please do use the table of content to navigate to your specific section of interest. 

Video Marketing Definition – What is video marketing?

Video marketing is a marketing strategy that consists of the use of video content to promote your product, service, idea, or brand to your target audience. In fact, any use of marketing video in your customer acquisition strategy can be called video marketing.

Video marketing includes;

• Creating institutional videos for brand awareness.
• Vlogs (video blogs)
• Creating advertising videos (whether online or on TV) to promote a product or service
• Creating explainer videos to explain how your product and service work
• Video interviews
• Creating educational or walkthrough videos to guide your users on how to use your product
• Creating successful case studies and customer testimonial videos to increase brand trust
• Creating video presentation or product demo videos 
• And much more.

Benefits & Statistics of Video marketing

For most businesses, video marketing is a great means of interacting with your target audience and increasing your brand awareness. If you are still wondering whether or not marketing video production is for you, here are some important benefits of video marketing and the reasons why you should use it now.

1. Video makes complex ideas simple.

According to a study by Wyzowl, 95% of video marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service. This shows that many consumers are moving from reading complex, boring and lengthy text to watching engaging videos.

At the beginning of this video marketing guide, I asked, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, have you ever wondered how much worth a video might carry? According to Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research, One minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. 

What! 1.8 million words? This may sound a bit exaggerated but it’s not. Here’s the breakdown. The average number of pictures (frames) contained in one second video is 30 frames.  So, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a one-second video is worth 30,000 words (i.e. 30 frames x 1000 words). Therefore a video of 60 seconds (i.e. 1 minute video) is worth 60 x 30,000 = 1.8 million words.

Marketing video content is very powerful. It is characterized by colorful visuals, sound elements, and motion, which makes it easier to process complex messages 60,000 times faster in the brain than texts. This is the reason why major brands are going into marketing video production at a fast pace; and the sole reason why you should implement video marketing at the center of your overall digital marketing strategy and effort.

2. Rank Higher on Search engines and drive traffic to your website.

Having a video on your website can help reduce one of the major problems of webmasters, “bounce rates” and it can equally improve your website’s ranking on the search engine results pages (SERPs).

According to Backlinko, the number of time visitors spends on your website can affect your position on the search engine result pages.

Study shows that website visitors tend to spend longer time on a website with videos than on websites with just texts and images. This claim is supported by Mist Media research, that the average internet user spends 88% more time on a website that contains a video.

Aside from adding videos to your website to reduce bounce rate and increase dwell time, you can also increase your ranking on search engines by optimizing your videos for Search engines.

Optimizing your video content for the search engines is a free and easy way to get your video ranking on the search engine result pages for some relevant keywords.

Several ways you can optimize your video for search engines include:

• Finding the right keywords that best describe your video,
• Using an engaging thumbnail,
• Adding the right title and descriptions to your video,
• Using a good hosting platform and
• many more.

3. Huge Return on investment (ROI).

ROI is a performance measure that is used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of several investments. ROI calculates the profit or loss of an investment in relation to the amount of money invested.

When it comes to content marketing, video marketing generates the highest return on investment (ROI). A study conducted by Aberdeen Group found that companies that invest in marketing video production as part of their marketing strategy get 66% more qualified leads per year and a 54% increase in Brand Awareness than companies that don’t use video.

Unbounce claims that adding video on a landing page can increase conversion by up to 80%. Furthermore, according to Wyzowl’s research, 83 percent of organizations believe that using videos generates a high ROI. 

Marketers who use video in their marketing grow their company revenue 49% faster yearly than those who don’t, according to Aberdeen Group.

All these show that video plays a significant role in producing huge ROI, increase in sales, and generating qualified leads.

4. Videos are easy to produce.

Producing a marketing video is a very easy task. However, most small business owners find it difficult to adopt the use of videos in their marketing strategy.

Depending on the type of video you want to produce, you may need special video equipment, programs, and some video editing skills.

If you are interested in creating an explainer video or whiteboard video for your business, you will need some illustrating and editing skills. You can achieve this easily by the use of explainer video software or animation programs. 

If you don’t have the time, though, you can engage a professional explainer video agency. If, on the other hand, you want to make a live video, you may simply do it by using your smartphone or computer with a camera, or by contacting a professional video company.

Live videos are becoming increasingly popular these days and the good news is you don’t need sophisticated cameras, microphones, a professional studio, or even hire a specialized team to create one.

5. Consumers are more likely to buy from landing pages with video.

Videos on your websites or landing pages help simplify your message, product, or service in a way people can understand.

According to Google, More than 55 percent of buyers worldwide state that they watch online videos when shopping in stores. 84% of people say that they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video, and 96% of consumers have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service.

Today more consumers are going to YouTube to learn about a product and to be entertained. Some consumers go to YouTube before making a buying decision. 93% of brands got a new customer because of a video on social media, according to Animoto.

Aside from publishing your videos on social media to attract buyers, product videos embedded into the actual product pages on your website work great at explaining the product and convincing your potential buyers to act.

Almost 50% of internet users look for product-related videos before purchasing and four out of five consumers say product demos are helpful.

6. Videos are easily shared.

Videos are more widely shared than any other type of marketing content. As a result, several viral videos have emerged on the internet.

For instance, what was the last viral content you received from your family or friends? I bet it’s video, right? This is because; videos are more engaging and attractive than texts and images.

Social media video generates 1,200% more shares than text and images combined, according to Small Business Trends.

One great benefit of producing a viral video is that you never have to worry about spending money promoting it again.

If your brand creates a viral video, then it’s more likely to get more shares on social media.

According to HubSpot, 83% of consumers say they would consider sharing engaging video content with their family and friends. Imagine if thousands of your prospective customers promoted your video content for you, how cool will that be :)?

7. Videos are responsive to all devices

You don’t have to worry about responsiveness since videos can be optimized to show on almost all devices with little or no settings.

This means that your customers can watch a video on almost any device with internet access, such as TVs, notebooks, tablets, and smartphones.

There are millions of devices connected to the internet today. And mobile devices are becoming an increasingly popular device used by users to surf the internet.

According to a study, only 1% of consumers say they watch all their video content on a desktop, which implies the other 99% have access to other kinds of devices that play video content.

If you are going to invest in a marketing video, please ensure your videos are compatible with different devices and screen sizes. Because, if your potential customers find out that your video content isn’t compatible with their device, the chances of them leaving your website are very high.

8. Video helps increase brand awareness, trust, and authority

As mentioned earlier, 95% of video marketers say video has helped increase users’ understanding of their product or service.

People often watch videos to get information and learn something new. Hence, when you create relevant video content that provides answers to your viewers, you create a personal, holistic and engaging connection with them.

Live videos, testimonial videos, employee interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage are great ways of showing the human side of your business. These videos can build engagement and a relationship between your business and potential customers.

In addition, when your video content is produced with care and attention, it increases the trust your audience has in your business.

9. Videos are easily tracked

One great thing about video marketing content is that you can easily measure them and see their performance in real-time. Unlike other content types which may take up to 24 hours to show their tracked results.

By using video hosting websites like YouTube, Vimeo, and others with inbuilt analytic software, you can easily track your video’s performance on your website, social media, and anywhere it’s embedded.

With real-time data and long-term reporting, you can learn exactly how people are watching your videos and when they’re dropping off.

Finally, the information obtained from the analytic software can help you make informed decisions in your marketing.  Hence, you will be producing more engaging video content for your viewers.

10. Video improves email CTR

A lot of email marketers are struggling with low CTR. Studies show that using video in an email increases Open Rates by 19% and Click-Through Rates by about 50%!

Also, including the word ‘Video’ in your email subject line can increase your open rate by 20%!

So, if you want to increase your email open rates and click-through rates, you should consider adding video in your next newsletters and emails.

Video marketing strategy | Best video marketing tips

Video marketing production takes a lot of time and effort, especially when it comes to developing video content for a marketing campaign. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility. 

A video marketing strategy is a strategy or set of plans designed to guide you through the video creation process. It’s also a strategy that will help you effectively promote your marketing video so that it gets the attention and the desired outcome intended.

Like every other project, video marketing should be thoroughly planned in order for the process to flow efficiently. Several factors that need to be considered in your strategy include; 

• Goal, 
• Budget, 
• Concept, 
• Script, 
• Storyboard, 
• Production, 
• Facilities, and 
• many others.

The purpose of a video marketing plan is to ensure that your goal of creating the video is met. The majority of methods are developed by trial and error and are constantly refined to perfection.

Here are a few steps you may take to improve your video marketing strategy.

1. Set your video goals.

Before you embark on the journey of creating the perfect video for your business, you need to first ascertain the purpose or goal of making that video. This goal could be creating a video – to increase sales, increase brand awareness, educate your audience, or even drive traffic to your website.

Identifying your target audience and the style of video that will be most appealing to them is critical to the success of your marketing video project. An explainer film is a better option than a customer testimonial video if your goal is to educate your audience about your product or service.

In order to create an effective marketing plan, you must first define your goals. However, failing to take this step could result in a loss of time and money.

2. Plan your video according to the sales funnel.

To execute this step effectively, you need to understand what a sales funnel is. A sales funnel is the different stages that potential customers move through, before buying your product or service.

There are four major stages of a sales funnel, which include; Awareness stage, Interest stage, Decision stage, and Action stage. These four stages represent your potential customer’s mindset.

This is why you, as a video marketer, need to take a different approach at each stage of the sales funnel. You don’t want to send the wrong message to people at the wrong time.

Not taking this step in your video marketing strategy could cost you a lot of customers. When you make a video without thinking about the different stages of the sales funnel, you end up losing some of your potential buyers.

By understanding these different stages and implementing them in your video strategy, you can easily nurture a huge percentage of your traffic across the different stages of the sales funnel and ultimately convert them into sales.

In the coming section, we will discuss more on the different video styles that are suitable to each of the stages in the sales funnel. 

3. Know your target audience.

Creating a video without knowing who your target audience is could result in a massive failure. For a successful video marketing strategy, you should target the right audience.

Your audience wants to listen to what they are familiar with. So create content they understand. This is because creating video content according to the audience’s tastes, interests, demographics, and behavior will not only be engaging to them but will also make them respond easily to the purpose the video is made.

To help you understand who your target audience is, here are a few questions you need to answer.

• What is the purpose of your video?
• What stage of the sales funnel is your video targeting?
• What are the interests of the audience you want to reach?
• What is the problem they are dealing with now?
• What product/service have they used in the past?
• Which social media network (or other channels) do they access most often?
• What is their demographic or ethnicity?
• Are they male, or female?
• What is their age group? Etc

By answering these questions, you will not only understand who and where your target audience is, but you will also be able to create a video that will convert well.

4. Set a budget.

Like other marketing strategies, you need to set the right budget before you start creating your video. Without a proper budget, it may be difficult to get the right video for your marketing.

To get started with this step, you need to ask yourself some questions. 

Questions like:

• What video style are you interested in?
• How long is the video going to be (Video length)?

These questions and many others will assist you to set the right budget for your project. In case you are not sure about the production cost, you can always contact your video production company for clarification.

Also, ensure you contact different companies, that way you will have many options to choose from.

Again, if you have a limited budget, you should choose a video production company that can work effectively with your budget.

However, if you cannot afford the video production companies, but have the time and skills, then hiring freelancers or outsourcing some of the services is a good option.

Whichever way, you need to set an accurate budget for successful video production.

5. Have a clear roadmap:

With your goal and budget in place, it’s time to get things on the calendar. 

Having a clear roadmap of your entire video production process is very crucial.  Without a clear and realistic roadmap of target dates, it’s easy to lose focus or get distracted.

Choosing a clear roadmap may seem to be difficult. However, it doesn’t have to be. 

The idea here is to get some dates on the calendar that will help keep you and your team on track. If possible, you should have multiple roadmaps for each stage of the production.

For instance, you can create a roadmap for the production stage, a different one for the distribution stage, another for the marketing stage, and more.

Your roadmap should serve as a guide for you and every member of your team. It should keep you aware of how much you’ve done and what’s left to do.

Types of Video Content for Every Stage of the Sales Funnel.

We have discussed what marketing video production is, the benefits & statistics of video marketing, and its strategy. Now, let’s talk about the different stages of the sales funnel and the right marketing videos for each stage.

As explained earlier, a sales funnel is the path that your potential customers follow when they want to purchase your product or service. This journey shows the different types of interactions your customers will have with your brand.

There are three major stages of a sales funnel, and they are; Awareness stage, the consideration stage, and the Decision stage.

If you’re going to make a video for your company, you should make it for the right stage of the sales funnel. For instance, if you wish to target a potential customer in the decision stage of the sales funnel, then a testimonial video is the right video type to use.

While some marketing video styles are quite popular, there are more video styles out there than you probably think. Moreover, some styles may work great for your brand and for a specific stage in the sales funnel, while others may not fit at all.

Below are the different stages of the sales funnel and the appropriate video style for every stage.

1. Top of the funnel: Awareness Stage

At the very top of the funnel is the awareness stage.  At this stage, consumers identify their problems and decide whether or not they should seek out a solution.

The type of video you use at this stage should show you clearly understand your potential customer’s problems. This video type should equally convince your potential buyers that your product or service is capable of solving their problems.

The primary goal of this stage is to establish rapport with potential consumers, increase brand recognition, and start collecting leads.

During the awareness stage, your goal is to bring your audiences’ attention to your brand and not to push them to buy your product or service. In this stage, you should focus on sharing ideas, solutions, or advice that will benefit your potential buyers.

The different types of videos you can use in the awareness stage are brand videos, educational or tutorial videos, animation videos, leadership videos, social videos, and more.

The video styles used in the awareness stage of the video sales funnel can help you:

• Increase your brand awareness.
• Boost web traffic.
• Attract more potential customers to your brand
• Reduce marketing costs
• Increase visitors engagement
• Direct viewers through the next stage of the sales funnel.

2. Middle of the funnel: Consideration stage

At the consideration stage of the sales funnel, your audiences are fully aware of their problems and are ready to find the solutions to their problems.

At this stage, your main aim is to inform your potential customers about your product or service and give them reasons why your product or service is the best solution to their problems.  

The following types of video content are perfect for this stage. Explainer videos, product videos, and more

The video styles used here will help you:

• Increase conversions.
• Take care of your leads.
• Improve the user experience.
• Enhance your site’s SEO.
• Drive users down your sales funnel. 

3. Bottom of the funnel: Decision Stage

The third stage of the funnel is the “decision stage“. As the name implies, your prospects will make their final purchasing decision here.

You have managed to guide your prospect through the top and middle stage of the sales funnel, now is the time to convert them to sales.

At this stage, your prospect has concluded that you are indeed the best choice among your competitors. Therefore your goal here is to guide them to buy your product or service effortlessly.

The perfect way to do this is to create a video showing proof of previous customer satisfaction. The best video styles to use at this stage are; video testimonials, case study videos, review videos, about us videos, culture videos, product demos, personalized videos, and more.

Some of the advantages of decision stage videos include:

• Building brand trust.
• Speeding up the buying cycle.
• Increasing sales & conversion rates.
• Building more loyal customers.

4. Beyond the funnel: “Delight Stage”

Congratulations if your prospect made it through the “decision stage” of the sales funnel. Your prospect is now a new customer. They have purchased your product or service and have begun using it. However, you still have a role to play. 

To keep your relationship with your customers fresh and intact, you need to update your new buyers with fresh video content. These can be onboarding videos, FAQ videos, and more.

These video styles will keep your customers updated on how they can use your product or service. In addition, the type of videos used in this stage will encourage your customers to embrace your brand and become brand evangelists.

Some of the video styles you can use in this stage are; thank you videos, onboarding videos, FAQ videos, instructional videos, product training videos, webinars, and more.   

Benefits of using video at this stage include:

• Increase customer satisfaction and experience.
• Increase brand awareness
• Instruct your customers on how to use your product or service
• Answers frequently asked questions.

A successful video sales funnel requires some work. However, using the right video style in your video sales funnel will help you generate more leads, increase conversions, and boost your ROI.

In summary, if you want to attract a new set of customers to your brand, you should create an “awareness stage video“. If you want to engage your audience, you’ll want a “consideration stage video“. If you’re closing the sale and need to nurture your prospects, you should create a “decision stage video“. You can also create a video to delight those who have already purchased from you, or an internal video to help motivate your team or recruit new employees.

Types of Marketing video (Video marketing examples)

There are several types of marketing videos you can use to explain your product, build brand awareness and keep your target audiences engaged. Regardless of these various video styles, certain types of videos are better suited to meet your marketing goals.

Below are the different video contents you can use in your marketing.

A. Explainer video.

Just as the name implies, explainer videos are marketing videos used to explain or teach your audience about your company, brand, product, or service.

If your business offers a service or product that is difficult to understand, an explainer video on your homepage or landing page is just what you need.

One major feature of explainer videos is that they address four major key points:

1. The problem your potential customers are facing,
2. The solution (i.e. your product or service),
3. The features & benefits of your product or service, and
4. A call-to-action.

Explainer videos can be used for all types of businesses and they work great at the middle or consideration stage of the sales funnel.

Keep in mind that explainer videos should always answer four main questions:

1. What’s your audience’s problem?
2. How will your product or service solve their problem?
3. Why should your audience choose you? And
4. What action would you like your audience to take after watching your video (i.e. call-to-action)?

B. Animation videos.

When it comes to reaching out to your target audience, animated videos are one of the most successful ways to do it. Animation videos are engaging because of their dynamic character, and they allow you to condense your message in less than a minute or less.

Animation videos play a significant role in the “awareness stage” of the video sales funnel. Animation provides visual and emotional stimulation, as well as the “wow” factor that makes your video content memorable.

Your main goal in the awareness stage is to provide information about your product or service to your audience. With Animation videos, you can easily convey your message in a simple and fun way.

C. Tutorial videos.

A tutorial video is aimed at creating video content that’s focused on providing information about how to use your product or service and less focus on promotion.

Nowadays, a lot of people surfing the internet are looking for information. And a great way to introduce them to your brand is to offer them real value using your tutorial videos.

A tutorial video is an easy way for a brand to build trust. And most importantly, they are mainly for informational purposes and therefore you must not promote your product or service otherwise you might risk losing your potential customers.

D. Brand Videos

Brand videos are basically used to promote brands. The main purpose of brand videos is to communicate your company’s values, visions, and missions to your audience.

Using brand videos in your marketing can help you get your brand messages across to your audience in a way that would be impossible through any other content strategy.

E. Product videos

A product video is a video that effectively demonstrates the benefits of a product. Product videos play important roles in the middle part of the sales funnel. 

The main purpose of the product video at this stage is to communicate how amazing your product is, how it works, and how effectively it solves a problem.

When creating a product video, have in mind that your visitors have a lot of options to choose between your product and that of your competitors. To win them over, you want your product video to be memorable and more helpful than whatever your competitors have.

Product videos can also come as animation videos or live videos.

F. Demo Videos.

If you have a product and want to showcase its features and benefits, then a demo video is your best choice. The main purpose of a demo video is to showcase your product or service to your audience.

Demo videos provide step-by-step instructions about how a customer can use a product or software. They’re usually used to educate new customers on how they can use a product. They are also used to inform existing customers about any recent updates.

A product video differs from an explainer video in the sense that you’re not explaining how your product works, rather you are showing off the features, and benefits of your product to your customers.

G. Testimonial video.

If you are looking for the best way to increase trust among potential customers, then you definitely need a testimonial or case study video.

This marketing video style is mostly used at the bottom part of the sales funnel where your prospects are making the final decisions whether or not to buy your product or service.

The best way to increase their trust in your product or service is to show your past or current satisfied customers talking about their positive experience with your product or service.

The most important thing to keep in mind while making a testimonial video is, to be honest. Using a fake testimonial video can put your product or service in danger.

H. Company culture video.

Company culture videos allow you to show the human side of your company. This type of video captures the employee experience. 

Company culture videos give real insight about your company to candidates looking for employment in your company or potential customers on what to expect in your company.

This video helps potential customers and candidates make better, and more informed decisions.

Examples of activities you can find in company culture videos include birthday parties, employee interviews, bloopers, pranks, and more.

I. Live Videos.

A Live video is a video that presents your company, product, or service in a positive way, normally in commercial form.

One important advantage of live video is that it allows you to create more authentic connections with customers, and it can give you meaningful insights into what customers really want.

With live videos, you can get longer streams and higher engagement rates with your audience.

Best video marketing production companies

Producing a marketing video for your company can be really helpful when done correctly. However, with thousands of professional video marketing companies to pick from, finding the right one might be difficult.

So, how do you choose one? In this section, we have provided a list of 5 video marketing production companies from across the world to assist you in making an informed decision with less effort.

1. Ideaexplainers.com:

Ideaexplainers is considered one of the best video marketing agencies on the market. If you work in finance, healthcare, technology, or have a complicated product or service to market, Ideaexplainers is a wonderful solid solution. Their ability to take complicated ideas and explain them in a simple and engaging way has propelled them to the forefront of the industry. 

2. Wyzowl

Wyzowl’s team has a lot of experience to back them up, and I mean a lot. Since 2011, they’ve produced over 2,000 videos in every business field. They also allow unlimited revisions with their packages, so if you suspect you’ll be changing your mind frequently, they could be a great option for you.

3. Demo Duck

DemoDuck has been around since 2011. DemoDuck believes that the script is the most important stage in the video production process. Their capabilities are vast when it comes to style. They not only offer animation videos but also live videos and traditional commercial videos. You can find any style you want on their portfolio. More than that, they fully understand the qualities that good marketing videos possess which are creativity and clarity. 

4. Epipheo

Epipheo is another marketing video production company that has been around since the early days of explainer videos. In fact, Epipheo has been around for over 10 years and they are based in Ohio. Their studio is made up of a wide variety of professionals, from 3d animators to writers to strategic thinkers who collaborate from the very beginning of your project through completion. They specialize in different kinds of marketing videos. They have worked for large businesses like Google, Intel, Deloitte, Epson, Mercedes, and Motorola.

5. Ydraw

Ydraw is an amazing whiteboard video animation firm. You’ve probably seen a lot of whiteboard videos, but none like theirs. This is due to the fact that they employ incredibly great cartoon artists to make intricate, beautiful, next-level whiteboard drawings that are as entertaining to watch as they are informative.

Video Hosting Platforms

Now, you’ve succeeded in creating your video and are ready to publish. But, which video hosting platform is right for you?

Before we get into listing the different video hosting platforms, let’s discuss briefly what video hosting is, and why a video hosting platform is important in your video marketing.

What is video hosting?

Video hosting allows users to upload, convert, store, and playback video content on the Internet. It also makes video distribution on the internet easy. 

Why are video hosting platforms important?

1. Video files are large and hosting them on your website could use up your website’s storage space. The best way to eliminate this problem is by using a video hosting platform. 
2. Hosting your video on your website could decrease your site’s speed. This is bad for SEO and can negatively impact your page speed.
3. Videos hosted on your website may not be optimized for mobile devices.
4. Using a dedicated hosting platform like YouTube can save you more storage space on your website and can improve your ranking on search engines.
5. You can save money on video hosting platforms since some of them come free of charge.
6. Most of the video hosting platforms give you access to analytics. This means you can easily track your video performance.

Best Marketing Video Hosting Platforms

There are numerous video hosting platforms available online. However, I’m only going to list the top five.

1. YouTube:

YouTube is a free video-hosting website and the second largest search engine in the world. If you are a small business owner and don’t have extra money to spend on video hosting, then you should try YouTube. YouTube also gives you access to the analytic tool to track your video performance. 

2. Vimeo:

Vimeo is another popular video hosting platform after YouTube. Unlike YouTube, this video hosting platform is mainly used by creators, freelancers, and business owners. Vimeo comes with both free and premium plans. It also has embedded analytical tools for tracking.

3. Dailymotion:

Dailymotion is perhaps the most apparent YouTube competitor on this list. This video hosting website aims to be another video-sharing platform. Dailymotion has over 300 million unique visitors. Users have the opportunity to build an audience with less competition. You also have the option to make videos private and even password-protected. 

4. Wistia:

Wistia is a video hosting platform specifically for business owners. Wistia offers a free account with limited video uploads. Additionally, it has one of the most advanced video analytics tools available for tracking.

5. Vidyard:

Vidyard is not just a video hosting platform, it also allows you to create, host, and share videos with customers and colleagues. With Vidyard, you can easily record videos for free, record your screen or webcam and even share your videos easily on social media and other video hosting platforms.

Video Analytics: The Video marketing Metrics That Matter.

Video analytics help you to monitor the performance of your video. With video analytic tools, you can track some video metrics like play rates, engagement, and more. 

These video metrics can help you understand your audience and also help you make informed decisions that will better improve the performance of your subsequent videos.

Whenever video analytics is mentioned, “video views” is what comes to mind. Views aren’t the only way to measure the performance of your videos. There are other video metrics that can play a significant impact on your business. 

They include:

1. Number of views:

Video views are the most basic metric you can use to analyze your video’s performance. View count is the number of times people have viewed your videos. If your goal is to get many people to view your video, then “the number of views” is the right video metric to measure your success.

2. Play rate:

Play rate is the ratio of the number of plays your video receives divided by the number of times your video is shown. This can help you measure the effectiveness of your video Title, Description, and Thumbnail. It also determines how relevant your video is to your target audience.

3. Watch time:

This video metric shows you the total amount of time that viewers spend watching your video. This will help you determine the number of users that watch your entire video and those that stop halfway. 

4. Number of social shares:

This metric shows you the number of times your video is shared on social media platforms. Social shares also let you know the engagement rate of your audience. High social shares mean your video is doing great while low social share implies that your video needs more improvement. 

5. Likes & Comments:

The number of likes and comments is a good video metric for measuring user engagement. A high number of likes and positive comments show that your video is helpful and relevant to your audience. 

6. Completion rate:

Completion rate is the ratio of the number of people who completed your video to the number of people who played it. If you have a lower completion rate, it implies that some of your users dropped at certain points in your video and didn’t make it to the end. This means that your video content isn’t helpful to them.

7. Click-through rate (CTR):

Most videos used in video marketing have a purpose ( also called Call-To-Action). This purpose or CTA is what you want your viewers to do after viewing your video. CTR is the number of clicks that the call-to-action (CTA) in your video receives divided by the number of times it is viewed. A high CTR is a good indication that users find your video helpful and that they perform the action in your CTA.

8. Conversion rate: 

The conversion rate is the metric that shows you the number of customers you acquired through your video. This could be the number of customers that perform certain actions like purchasing your product or signing up for a free trial.

Conclusion

Did you see how video marketing can transform your business? With over 71% of consumers watching videos online than they were a year ago, brands can no longer ignore the growing popularity of videos. Thankfully, with the advances in technology and the popularization of the internet, making videos has become easier and more accessible. 

So, do not waste time, follow the tips in this guide and kick-start your video marketing strategy!