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For businesses with a robust content marketing strategy, it is impossible to ignore video marketing. Interactive and dynamic content have become highly effective ways to engage customers, demo products and encourage community building. But for those starting out, navigating the marketplace can be difficult.

As a general introduction and reference for this topic, we are happy to present a detailed infographic shared with us by Filmora which examines the best solutions for video content, and the platforms where it counts.

Video has many advantages as a format, and some of them are obvious. First, people enjoy watching them. Second, they serve as a simple way to introduce your products or services. However, some benefits of using video — as opposed to infographics or text articles — are easy to overlook. For instance,

• Videos can augment existing content like landing pages, and don’t have to stand alone
• Videos are a tremendous boost to your SEO, not only because of SERP incentives, but also because videos reduce bounce rate by keeping visitors on a page for longer periods of time
• Videos raise social engagement and organic advertising because prospects are more likely to share videos than any other content

Going into your video marketing efforts, having the right expectations is important. You already know that whitepapers, infographics and blog posts have to provide value for prospects, and “salesy” language doesn’t tend to make an impact. The same is certainly true for video; the content you produce is a way to build your brand image, and increase awareness for potential customers, rather than selling directly.

That being said, videos may come in at different levels of your sales funnel, and your strategy has to adjust accordingly.

1. Customer testimonials employ the power of storytelling to build the appeal of your brand or product. It’s fine to share these on social media sites, but they are most at home on your landing/product pages.
2. Demo videos which showcase the features of a product are open to a nearly limitless range of creativity, and they can be used at any stage of your funnel. Look at the way brands like Purple Mattress have turned product demos into a viral art form.
3. Explainers are an excellent customer retention strategy. When your clients need support, a video is 100 times more helpful than a FAQ. Use explainers to solve common problems, or reveal features that are sometimes overlooked.

While optimal video length can vary across audiences and platforms, generally the sweet spot is under 3 minutes. As attention spans shorten across the board, it is imperative for businesses to deliver a message quickly and effectively.

That being said, sometimes long-form video content is the best way to go, especially when you are sharing a panel, podcast, webinar, or interview. In that case, some platforms work better than others. We’ll look at a few.

Facebook has emerged in recent years as a platform for video sharing, making it one of the few platforms that can seriously compete with its better known competitor YouTube.

Facebook has some great advantages as a place to share videos. For instance.

• The community element encourages prospects to ask questions, so you can answer them.
• Facebook’s advertising platform allows well-targeted videos to reach your ideal audience effectively.
• Sharing options can send a video spiraling across the platform, causing good content to spread organically.

All that being said, Facebook isn’t ideal for evergreen content since the timeline feature tends to reduce exposure quickly. It is also difficult to share Facebook videos outside the platform; in this respect, Facebook is a walled garden when it comes to video content.

For years, YouTube has been the obvious choice for both brands and individuals alike. But even as competitors step up to bat, YouTube remains a solid choice for sharing promotional content.

The most obvious advantages of YouTube are,

• It has a tremendous userbase
• Because the platform is owned by Google, YouTube videos earn a higher place in SERPs
• YouTube content is very easy to share off site

However, YouTube’s strengths are also its downfall. The site is engineered to keep users entertained, meaning that related content is always available for viewing. This reduces the chance that prospects will ever leave the site or visit yours.

Given the problem with user attention spans mentioned earlier, it isn’t surprising that micro-video services have exploded into popularity. A presence on these platforms is largely new territory for digital marketers, but there’s plenty of room for experimentation.

The most important thing to recognize about different short-form video platforms is style of content and typical demographic, which are more different here than they are between Facebook and YouTube. Here’s a breakdown.

Instagram is about young adults. The content on this platform is generally aesthetically pleasing, and has some artistic merit. Sharing product images and videos isn’t a bad idea, but pay special attention to presentation.

Snapchat has the distinction of being the best place to reach Generation Z. Content on the platform varies in style, but in general it is used to share brief snapshots of an individual’s daily life. Consider using the platform for casual, process-oriented sharing.

Twitter’s audience is widely diverse, and its video sharing functions are limited by the lifespan of a tweet (hint: it’s not very long). That being said, Twitter’s Periscope service makes it a great platform for sharing live video feeds of events and talks that will live on the platform as archived content for future followers.

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