Let’s talk video strategy. It’s a highly effective way to create a relationship between a customer and a company. In fact, 88% of customers say they were convinced to buy a product or service through a video on social media. And in a survey of 500 U.S. marketers, 93% of all brands said they gained a new customer because of a video on social media. This confirms the old rule: Content builds relationships. And these relationships are built on trust. And ultimately, trust drives revenue. Turns out: Video can be one of your most powerful lead generators.

A report by Cisco in 2018 predicted that internet video traffic would increase by about 34% every year. According to an article in Venture Beat, the numbers have been even higher and “Video streaming accounted for 71% of all downstream traffic” in 2022, growing about 70% when compared to 2019. On YouTube alone, more than one billion hours of video are watched on the platform every day.

Viewers want to see and experience a story that touches them emotionally and makes them laugh, cry, think or empathize. The videos that are talked about the most, that we remember years later, are the ones with a strong story or statement. That’s your challenge—create those goosebump moments. I want to reveal what I see as the key focus points for a successful video strategy going into the future.

Stop the autopilot

Break your habits and rethink video content. Look at the video mega-trends and ask yourself if your strategy is up-to-date or simply the organic evolution of the last few years. Do you just fill your channels or do you have a clear message and goal defined for each video on each platform? Does the approach fit the platform and the target audience? Are you credible and do you convey consistent brand values. Or are you contradictory? And most importantly, would you watch your own videos yourself?

Build your content universe

Become your own broadcaster. A landing page or blog should be at the center. Videos on landing pages increase conversion rates to more than 80%. Blogs have on average 434% more indexed pages and 55% more visitors than websites without a blog.

Use social networks as effective satellites. Whether it’s LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook or YouTube, each platform has its own DNA. “One size fits all” is over. Define a clear persona for each platform and focus on platform-relevant content. Build customer relations and focus on loyalty instead of endless expansion.

And don’t forget that things like verticals, reels, stories, shorts or posts are just appetizers. The attention span in social networks is decreasing more and more, so use these platforms as teasers. I believe the home for your hero content should be your landing page or blog.

Think the thumb

You may be thinking to yourself now, “thumbnail, seriously?” But as social feeds are getting crowded and short-lived, they are becoming your fast lane to the customer. Before users even see your video, they see the thumbnail. It’s like your shop window, movie poster or book cover. An inviting cover gets more attention in the bookstore than a boring one. Create a stop-scrolling moment. Even before the video runs, the thumbnail should grab attention and motivate users in a feed to stop and click.

Can you feel the silence?

We watch videos everywhere. In the subway, in the waiting room or in the bathroom. So it’s hardly surprising that 8 out of ten users feel disturbed by autoplay videos with sound. This also fits with a study by Meta that users on Facebook and Instagram watch about 85% of videos without sound. That’s why subtitles are elementary.

You put so much effort into making a good video—you should put at least as much energy into the audio transcription. But be creative. It doesn’t always have to be Times New Roman on a black bar at the bottom of the screen. Besides a higher click-through rate and better visibility, subtitles also have another huge advantage in that they help the video rise in search engine rankings since subtitles and keywords can be indexed better.

Hack the algorithm with your video strategy

Each of us is exposed to up to 10,000 advertising messages every day, whether consciously or unconsciously. You can use live streaming to “hack” the social media algorithm. This is the noise-to-signal principle. Live videos get you out of the noise and in pole position since live videos are prioritized in the feed or timeline on all social media platforms. It’s the keyhole effect. People are curious and want to know what’s happening right now. It’s exclusive and has the potential to be authentic, captivating and exciting.

Conclusion

Besides all our trends and strategies, the most important thing is to create emotions, memories and what I call wow moments or mental micro explosions. In a nutshell, your task is to find what affects your target group. Tell stories that trigger something. Look to get goosebumps, emotions or discussions.

Now all that’s left to ask yourself is: What is your corporate video strategy? What is your story?

Still have a few questions about adding video to your marketing strategy?

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