In the digital marketing world, we’ve witnessed the “the year of mobile” now for about five years. Currently, we’re midway through the same phase for video and content marketing, and for good reason. Video marketing and in particular YouTube, has been really effective for businesses and their online marketing efforts. For SME’s it’s granted them the ability to connect with audiences that they would otherwise not have had the budgets to reach. This has enabled them to launch their success to new heights which previously would have been difficult to achieve.

Businesses and entrepreneurs of all sorts have benefitted tremendously from the reach of such a global media platform. However, that’s not to say that video marketing is easy! It’s a heavily saturated space so to have an impact, you’ll have to bring you’re A-game and execute a strong, well-thought out strategy.

There are many ways to be successful on YouTube. You can be funny, helpful, shocking, to name a few directions your content can take. Below we’ve outlined a couple of stand-out campaigns run by smaller organisations to offer some inspiration and guidance of what works well on YouTube.

Captivate Your Audience

Captivating an audience is key as people are generally bombarded with online content and have short attention spans. We agree with Neil Patel’s rule of thumb: the “Five-second rule”. If your video doesn’t immediately grab a viewer’s attention, you may lose your audience within the first few seconds if you don’t immediately cut to the chase.

The other key to ensuring you captivate your audience is to know your intended demographic. A good example of capturing a key demographic is the US toy company, Rokenbok. These guys operate in a tough market where there is loads of competition – namely Lego. In order to stand apart from the crowd, Rokenbok targeted their younger audience by creating a series of short videos showcasing extreme example of their products in motion. The anti-Lego campaign, with the slogan of “Don’t try this with Lego”, positioned them as being more advanced and cutting-edge than their rivals, therefore appealing to the “techier” end of the market.

Engage With and Showcase Your Customers

GoPro are now obviously a household brand – but you wouldn’t have heard of them five years ago. They’ve achieved their success largely through user generated video content and countless videos of extreme sports professionals doing backflips across canyons.

Whilst we associate GoPro largely with extreme sports, what makes the clip above so special is how it was so closely tied to the mission statement “Be a Hero” and how this relates to people from all walks of life. This is beautifully executed in this video of a fireman saving a kittens life.

This is a great example of how a brand was interacting with its target market and crowdsourced their marketing material. Why shoot a video when your audience are doing it for you?

Whilst GoPro obviously have an advantage in this space, this concept doesn’t just apply to them as a manufacturer of video-capturing devices. YouTube is full of users making video content and there are many opportunities to get your products featured. For example, unboxing videos, review, round ups etc., all offer their own chances to highlight what makes your stock so special.

So if you’re on a budget, see what existing content you can procure and showcase that represents your brand.

Demonstrate Product Value

Many businesses make their mark by simply showcasing their products and services. Retailers like the UK phone cases specialist Case Hut, will upload videos regularly of their new lines such as the new iPhone 7 cases by Adidas. The video features a member of staff at his desk describing the product and whilst they may not sound electrifying, it’s had 3,000+ views and many comments, offering those interested a chance to get their queries answered. If the video converted at just 1%, that’s still 30 cases sold generating around £750 in revenue. Not bad for an hours work.

Demonstrating product value is simple with video content and these types of campaigns are great for those on a budget. All you essentially need is the product and someone to talk about it. Ideally, you’d have a decent script or at least the outlines of one to improvise around. For those more capable with video production, we recommend you cut any superfluous content out in the edits so it’s as punchy as possible. This also helps make up for a less than perfect “performance” by the presenter.

FAQ Content: The Content Marketers Secret Weapon   

One of the most common ways that people interact with search engines is to ask questions. We are a curious bunch! Answering people’s questions via video content is a fantastic way to get ranked in Google and expose your brand to new audiences. This can be especially relevant if you operate in a complex field such as finance, or if you operate in a relatively new market where there are frequent innovations and new products.

Take vaping for example. E-cigarettes have taken the mass market by storm in recent years. But vaping is both a little complex to new comers and is new, unchartered territory for most. As a result, there are many people searching for help getting started.

Recognising this trend, the UK retailer Vape Club started a series of guides first as blogs, then made videos for the most frequent of frequently asked questions. Their beginners guide to vaping has at this moment 1,390,037 views. This success was further capitalised on by the brand by creating a dedicated page for all their guides, hosted on their website itself. After all, why drive all that traffic solely to YouTube?

Pro-tip For Maximising FAQ Content

Check out Answer the Public.

Simply key in your chosen product, from “mortgages” to “sandwiches” and this content marketing weapon will provide you with a surprisingly on-point array of FAQs on the topic. Try for yourself – it’s pretty awesome. Cherry pick the ones that feel the strongest to you and simply answer the question as a YouTube video. Insta-YouTube-views!

For added impact, use Google adwords keyword tool to gather search volume data. Pick the questions with the most searches and refine your video titles to suit.

Thanks for reading and get shooting before someone answers the question first!