Marketing With Video In 2019

Its time for all who have been waiting in the wings to finally turn to video marketing to boost their business exposure. If your company does not yet have a marketing video or some form of video marketing you are going to be left behind. You cant ignore the changes, have your business suffer and then say " I don't know what happened." You know exactly what is happening. Video is dominating online marketing and it's time for your business to take the leap. If you don't, you only have yourself to blame.

So to get to the heart to of it, you need to have some videos made and then you need to post them on paid an non paid platforms. They each have their benefits but the paid platforms are more likely to get the results your business needs. The reason for this is that the biggest online platforms like Facebook and YouTube want to make money too so they make sure that the most effective marketing tools are the paid-for ones and not the free ones. They are smart business people so don't expect anything else.
If you are still in the habit of posting social media junk to your social media channels everyday because someone told you that it was a good way to get your business noticed, then you are in a sorry state for sure. Ask yourself, how often do you read other companies posts? How often do you interact with those companies because of the the junk "daily quotes" and " free e-book" offers?
The problem with marketing is that you only seek out a business or service if, and when, you need it. If a plumber constantly posts daily motivation quotes, will you keep them on speed dial for your next geyser leak emergency? No ! When you see water dripping from your ceiling you pick up your phone and begin searching and asking around.
So why would you think your customers would be any different?
There are two ways to advertise. One is to constantly put out marketing so that your brand is recognised and the other is to be where people will search for you.

The brand recognition is all about trust. When people see your brand or company name a lot, they will more likely trust you over an unknown company. If however your company offers a service that nobody knows any of your competitors names or yours, then being found the easiest is key.
So if you are the latter then be sure you are visible on places like Google or other service related search websites. If you want to build your brand recognition, you need videos about your company or service to be seen by as many appropriate eye balls as possible.
That means constant ongoing video marketing using services such as YouTube. These two services can also be used in combination to achieve both brand exposure as well as being findable in a search.
Your video can also help with SEO for Google by providing a backlink to your site and as an embedded video on your site.

The video on your website can, and should, be different to the marketing video that  your potential clients will see on places like YouTube. The video used on YouTube and other marketing platforms, should be the hook to bring the clients to your site. The video on your website should "close the deal" by explaining all they would need to know about your business while leaving them wanting just enough to contact your business. For example, a YouTube video could say "Get this amazing offer etc etc" .Your website video could explain how your service works and how they can take up the amazing offer and providing another hook by saying " This offer is limited so call now..."

There is also an " About Us " video which should be on your "About Us" page. This should not be confused with the marketing video on YouTube or the introductory video on the your websites first page.
The "About US" is really there to build more trust by talking about your company and how your services are well respected and what benefits your customers derive from your business along with some testimonials.

To find out more on how this applies to your small business marketing got to this page: https://www.abav.co.za/marketing-business-online-in-south-africa.html

There is more about YouTube and how to get started using video to market your video.

What Type Of Video to Use for Marketing

There are so many types of video, so which ones should be used for video marketing and when should you use a video production company in Johannesburg to create your video?

While businesses and online marketers are constantly encouraged to make use of video to market themselves, and their businesses, there is often the distinction between professional video and those done on a cell phone as a selfie video. The argument is often between these two types. Many would argue that a video done by a video production company is better than the DIY type of video.Others would argue that because the selfie videos are free to create that they are in fact better. The truth is that both of them can be used to great effect. It is important, though, to know when to use each type.
The reason is that each form of marketing has a different target and a different intention.
If you were marketing your company as a professional operation, the selfie video is a bad idea. If however you wanted to build some hype or want to offer an up to date, latest news sort of marketing then the selfie video can work wonders.

The distinction often comes between business marketers and affiliate marketers. Affiliate marketers often believe in only using the selfie videos because they are cheap or free so are more helpful. Business marketers often believe only high end corporate video will work. Actually there is a place for both in both scenarios. Some very successful affiliate marketers have realised that once they become successful they can no longer only do the selfie video because they need to show a level of successes to bring in a new audience and and new clientele. In the same way, business owners have realised that there are certain instances where a video production crew is either not available or not appropriate such as at an impromptu celebration or achievement. That is where a cell phone can be pulled out and used to capture the moment.

The distinction should not be between what is cheap vs what is not. It should always be about what type of video is appropriate. Both can be beneficial and both can be effective but only if used correctly.
While video production companies are not marketing companies, their experience with creating video for marketing can give you enormous insight into the right use of video at the right time.

There are also different ways video can be done with video production companies such as social media clips versus a full production. Video can be embedded or used as a stand alone advert.A video post can work well as an update on the business activities or to announce specials. Each type of video has it's place. There is no one video type that works in all situations, so be sure to know the differences and how to make the best use of them.

It is also important to know where to use videos for marketing and which rules apply to which video  marketing platform. One question many would-be marketers ask is what technical specs apply to video marketing. There are different video codecs such as MP4, AVI and MOV. There are so many different types of video but the best for most marketers is to stick to the most common and most compatible format which is MP4 (H264)with a bit rate of between 4 and 7 Mb/s should work fine. If your video size needs to be limited then you could go below 4 Mb/s but the video quality would begin to degrade. Keep in mind that broadcast video can be as high as 150 Mb/s. So if you intend to advertise using broadcast video the cameras being used must start by recording at 150 Mb/s or above. For online HD video there is no minimum requirement but quality can begin to degrade below 7 Mb/s.

Most importantly the type of video being used should match the platform and the audience correctly. An advert is not an About Us video. It is not a documentary. It is not a bragging video. It is a message which answers a pain point or need of a customer combined with a strong call to action. The purpose of a marketing video is to get people to buy or at least contact your business in some way. If the video does not achieve this then it is not a marketing video. It might be a branding video but it will certainly not bring buyers.

So to the question "What type of video should I use to market my business", the answer is a targeted, effective, appropriate and of the correct size and quality video. This is why it helps to have professional assistance to create great marketing videos.

Where to use video for marketing.

Video marketing has been accepted as the go-to for business marketing. Businesses understand the power of video to reach an audience and to bring in new business. So successful businesses have high quality videos made and continually market themselves with it. Where many new comers to online and video marketing get stuck is where to use the video. For most businesses who are inexperienced with marketing with video the process is the same.A video is made and it is put on the company YouTube channel and that's about it. The company then hopes that somehow people will find the video and will watch it.

It is important to understand that the video production is only the first step and that the video is only a tool not a solution in it's self. Once a video is ready it should be used in a number of ways to create multiple streams of potential customers. That means posting the video on as many social media sites as possible and used on paid for advertising platforms.

Before this is done though it is very important to know what the requirements are for the video to work on each platform. The most common mistake is to make a 30 second or even up to 2 or 3 minute video and thinking it is a one size fits all type of video. The problem is that not all advertising platforms have the same rules. Facebook for example only allows a video to be 15 seconds long as an advert. If you want to post a video to Facebook on one of your pages, it can be very long but not as a paid for advert. Each platform has a different set of rules regarding the size length and content of the videos. Make sure to check what the rules are for each.The easiest way to do this is to create an ad campaign on the platforms you want to use. In many cases, you will be able to go all the way to the point of uploading the video where the restrictions will become evident.

What is a good ideas is to make different lengths of video for different audiences. It might be better to make completely different videos for each platform as your targeting will be different on each as well.

Once you have had your beautiful adverts made by a professional video production company and you have established what platforms to use, and what specifications are appropriate, it makes sense to link them all together. This is where the SEO of video comes in and where your video can make a difference, not only to being visible, but also boosting your SEO for Google and all the other social media platforms you use.

The linking can be as simple as having a link to your other platforms in the description of the video when it is posted. It is different when you use the video as a paid for advert as there is no description area but when people click on the video in many advertising platforms, such as Facebook, the viewer can be sent to, for example, your website or landing page.

In some cases there is no linking at all, such as on YouTube adverts, so be sure to have a clear and and strong call to action with a memorable destination for the viewer to go to. Where a lot of video marketers make a mistake is to not know that "pop ups" on YouTube do not work on many environments such as XBOX ONE. The YouTube video will play but there is no ability to see or click on a "pop up" or even to click a link in the description. Annotations have also been removed on YouTube so it is much more difficult to get a viewer to click on a link.

With all of this said, your video must be worth viewing.You can go around spreading your video across all platforms but if nobody wants to watch it, you would be wasting your time. Be sure to make your video as high quality and attractive as possible. It is not a good idea to dabble with video production. If it is the first time your company will be making a video, be sure to use a respected video production company and, if possible, get advice from a professional. Local video companies in your areas such as the  video production companies in Johannesburg can walk you through the process and explain the pros and cons to you.This can help you save a lot of money in the short term and provide much greater success with video marketing and the the use of video for marketing in the long run.

Top three mistakes video marketers make.

Marketing with video and has seen an enormous jump recently and video production companies are working together with marketing companies to produce amazing videos for business marketing.
Video production companies in Johannesburg are moving more and more towards online marketing and away from broadcast video adverts. The problem is that many newcomers are taking short cuts and making bad decisions with video.

In this article I am going to look at some of the most common mistakes businesses make with marketing with video.
It is important to understand that there has been a divide between professional and non professional video creation. Many small time marketers like multi level marketers and affiliate marketers have pushed the message of self filming. This has brought a slew of bad ideas and bad productions.
So lets look at the three top ways that video marketing is being done badly.

Video Marketing mistake number 1:

One size fits all:                                 

With many online marketers there is a sense of video being a grudge purchase. Too many people see video as an obstacle to overcome so they want a fix-all solution that has worked for other people so they can do the same.
This approach has not worked in the off line marketing world and will certainly not work online.
Just because a video idea works amazingly for one company does not mean it will work for yours.
Simply copying and pasting ideas from one industry to another often falls flat.Even copying an idea within an industry can end badly because many of your potential customers will think you simply copied your competitor which doesn't say good things about your company.
While there are tried and tested techniques such as the flow of the advert, or marketing video, and a good call to action, simply copying a video verbatim is a really bad idea.This is especially the case where you may go the cheap route and make a cheap knock off of a video done by a professional video production company.
The question you should ask is "what is the problem or pain point that your customer has?"  and "how can you speak to that?" This way your message is targeted and way more effective.

Video Marketing mistake number 2:

Viral video

The myth of viral video has probably done some of the most harm to small businesses compared to anything else. Firstly, viral video will not bring more customers. It will simply bring more viewers from which you will probably gain nothing. The classic funny cat videos, can garner multiple millions of viewers and result in zero sales. This is because the entertainment factor is high and the shareability is high but the business message is exceptionally weak or non existent. The only people who make money from viral videos are content creators who post the videos on platforms like YouTube and make money from YouTube's advertising.
An effective video is not a viral video. An effective video targets your potential clients and gets them to follow through with a call to action. The approach of getting as many views as possible and then praying that it converts to sales is a really bad idea. Effective targeted video is what has helped many businesses grow.


Video Marketing mistake number 3:

Poor quality.

While newcomers are always looking for more cost effective ways to market their business, the short cuts have many pitfalls. The all too common mistake is to buy a camera or even worse grab your cell phone and begin shooting. This idea was possibly birthed by the affiliate and multi level marketing industry where personal interaction is gold. This approach can be very effective in a very specific niche. If you want to convince people that you are real and want them to connect to you personally then a shaky cell phone video can work.
The problem is that many small business think that this approach translates into business marketing. Nothing could be further from the truth. If your potential clients see you doing that sort of thing, their sense may be that you are a fly-by-night sort of a business and there is no trust whatsoever.
The video work, and overcoming being in front of the camera, can result in damage to your company image instead of boosting it. This is money badly spent and even worse, can damage your company in the eye of the viewer.
There is a place and a time for "low quality" video but it does not work in every situation, especially if you have high paying clients who expect quality, value and trust.


While there are many other mistakes that newcomers make with marketing with video, avoiding these three could make a huge difference for you. It is important to remember that there are no guarantees in marketing of any kind, even video. Many people have seen success with their video marketing but that does not guarantee that it will work for you and your business. That is why it is important to get professional advice when embarking on a video marketing campaign.
Online video marketing can be way more affordable compared to the old way of broadcast advertising but that does not mean that it is cheap, free or guaranteed to bring your business any results. Be sure that you understand your industry and get good solid advice on how to market your business.

Marketing With Video

Marketing with video has become the prime focus for many marketing companies and company owners who need to market their small businesses. Many people have heard about the power of video and are convinced that it is the option for them. They have seen the statistics, read about the success stories and so want to do the same for their business. The problem is that most people know very little about video, how to use it and and how to make a success of it.
The result is either blindly doing it themselves with little to no experience in either marketing or video productions or they approach a big expensive video production company and hope to leave it in their hands.
Neither of these approaches are the best idea. Firstly video production companies are mostly not marketing companies and the DIY route is fraught with peril.

It is therefor important to have at least a basic understanding of video production and a basic understanding of marketing. This information is however hard to come by in a format that is easily digestible and easy to implement. That was until now. Absolutely AV video productions in Johannesburg has started to put together a series of eBooks to help small businesses to understand, and to begin using, video for their marketing.

While most video training will go straight to the technical details to be more educational, the amount of information can be very intimidating for most people. What is more import than having tons of technical learning is rather to have an overall understanding of video and how it is best used for marketing your business. This way if you use a video production company in Johannesburg or anywhere else in the world you will at least have enough understanding of the process and, more importantly, the road map to be sure that you make a success of it.

In the same way that you don't need to be able to fly a plane to make use of the airline services more effectively, knowing how it all works, in a way that affects you, will potentially make or break your success in arriving at the final destination.
In this vein, video productions require expertise just like flying an airplane but you don't need to have those skills. You do however need to know how to avoid being overcharged, being misdirected and spending on wasteful video productions and marketing that delivers no returns. Video marketing is not something that should be seen as a throw-away. As much as there are no guarantees in any form of marketing, knowing some basics and having inside knowledge of how the professionals have had success with it, can help you save a lot of money and dramatically improve your chances of success. Return on investment is what it is all about.

Effective marketing becomes self funding because of the impact on your bottom line. Gone are the days when business could see advertising as a tax write-off . Now adverting, and especially combined with the additional expense of video, needs to provide effective measurable results which not only improve your branding but actually bring new clients and make your business more money. The video production company is part of the overall solution.

One of the key take-aways of the eBook is that the video used has to fit the desired result. Many businesses make the mistake of thinking that any video will do as long as it promotes the company. This is very misguided as the vast majority of people simply do not care about your company or what you have to say.They are interested in what they can gain from using your companies products or services. So it is very important that the video not only speaks to the needs and wants of the viewer but that there is a call to action which gets potential buyers to follow through with some some sort of action which could be a purchase or simply some sort of activity that will begin communication between this person and your company. The belief that the video by just being a video is good enough is simply ridiculous. For marketing to be effective it must reach the right people and show those people why using your product or service is not only in their best interest but is in fact a no-brainer.
The belief that simply pumping out a message over and over will bring more sales, is as old as it is pointless. Effective marketing brings result.

The eBook is available for free by contacting Absolutely AV on info@abav.co.za

What should social media video look like and can video production companies do it for me?

For most businesses social media marketing is something they would prefer to pass on to somebody else so social media video should be done by video production companies right?

It is not difficult to find statistics related to video and the impact that is has on the internet as well as its appeal to social media marketers. In the past it was good enough to post a single image like an info graphic or simply a pretty message like a quote of the day. While those days are not completely over they are close to it. Video has taken over due to it's attractiveness to the viewer. The problem is that video is way more difficult and way more expensive than a simple image. This is both a good and a bad thing. While many just see the cost and difficulty, others who are more advanced in things like SEO, see a way to stand out in their marketing. Video productions have certainly exploded across the web, and social media, but are still in the minority. That means that although there are more costs involved, now is the time to be ahead of the pack. There will come a time when it is expected to have video and the additional cost will not give your company any benefit over the competition. It will simply be required that you have a video included in your social media just to not be left behind.

So if your marketing budget is limited and you have been stuck on the path of low return on investment when it comes to social media engagement, what is the answer?
Some have turned to making short selfie style videos using their phones as a video camera. While this is not necessarily bad, it does have some problems. The first is that you have to put in the effort on a constant basis. Most small businesses cant be bothered to even post a message everyday, never mind a video production. With social media in general most small businesses have opted to use a social media management company at an affordable cost to keep them up to date with social media interaction. So the answer can be very much the same but using video. The problem is that many, if not most, social media management companies don't have the slightest idea about video. There are some rare examples of marketing companies who have this in the bag. One of those is a company called webspresso , who provide cost effective video for social media marketing in the same way you would have your normal  social media management handled.

So the big question is what does social media video look like?
Is it a full video production? Is it an info graphic sort of a thing? Is it expensive? How can I get video in my social media campaign and go back to focusing on my business?
The answer is pretty amazing.What social media video is, is a short attractive, cost effective way of getting a message across. In the same way that a picture was used to put a message across and keep you interacting with your client base, so social media videos are now doing the same.

So who is actually doing this video stuff? These are small creations by video production companies. They are wonderful little "finger food" style video productions put together by video production companies in Johannesburg and around the world. They are very short, very attractive, highly effective tools, which will soon completely replace info graphics and image posts.

Here is an example of a social media video put together using one of the fantastic templates created by video production companies as opposed to graphic designers.

There many types and varieties of videos that can be used for social media video productions. They can be as simple as logo animations to very short adverts like those you would see on TV.
Here is an example of a TV style advert which is also a template style but has a broadcast feel to it.

These little gems are the answer to most social media marketers woes. To find out more or to have some video clips made for your business contact one of the best video production companies in Johannesburg: Absolutely AV Video Productions. Call: +27 11 462 7816 or go to https://www.abav.co.za.

Advertising With Video Production Companies in Johannesburg.

For all the types of on line marketing, there is the use of video to boost viewers and attract buyers. With the amount of on line marketing focusing on "free marketing" some have lost sight of the fact that paid for advertising still works.

While social media really does some amazing things to bring in an audience, advertising goes straight to it. The social media and other forms of on line marketing are essentially creating an audience of some kind. This audience is then targeted for sales. There are, however, a large section of your potential buyers/clients who will not become part of your audience. These people can simply be advertised to. It has been seen by many that advertising is "old school" and ineffective. This is not the case. If done wisely can be the most effective way of getting sales.

It is important to remember that it is the ROI (return on investment) that counts. If you spend $1000 on advertising and get $10 000 in sales with a profit margin of 20% Then your profit is $1000 after the advertising costs are factored in. If you spend three weeks doing a social media campaign which results in $10 000 sales your profit is $2 000 but you have to factor in time spent. If over the three weeks you spend 100 hours working on the campaign then the difference of $1 000 is at a rate of $10 per hour. Is it worth working for $10 an hour?

Although you may have paid out less money, the cost in time is important. This is where many people see the difference. Yes you will need the money to start off with, but the difference can be spectacular. There are many who sell on line products who see a 3 to 1 return (ROI). Places like Facebook have shown many on line sellers this kind of return. They invest around $30 000 in adverts and get $90 000 in sales. If you only have a profit margin of 20% then this will not work. That is because 20% of $90 000 is $18 000. So spending $30 000 on advertising means you lost $12 000 after doing all the sales. However many sales on line have an almost 100% profit margin because they are electronic products. These are things like training programs and information. They can be duplicated with no extra cost. The only thing used up is band width which is cheap for most people.

In this way, although going the free route could bring you sales, if you advertised instead you could focus on the sales. The ROI is lower but the time spent is less. It comes down to what you value most.
What is important is to keep in mind that advertising still works. What is also important is to keep in mind that there are production costs to be added to the advertising costs. Going the advertising route and not paying for an advert or commercial to be made is a bit strange. You are going the route of spending money, over that of time, so D.I.Y. is not the most brilliant choice. Advertising is more expensive so needs to be more effective. The quality of the commercial can affect the response rate to it. With all the money spent on the advertising, it makes sense to use a professional video production company to make the video. The cost factor is minimal in big advertising budgets. A good quality advert or commercial can cost as low as $1000 or $2000 if you find the right company. There are video production companies who charge over $10 000 and even $100 000 for a commercial but they are not needed in this case. Unless you are trying to launch a new soda drink into the market, these are an over-kill.

Most targeted advertising just need to be good, not the best. This is where most corporate video production companies come in. They may not be winning awards for their production work but that is not what matters. What matters is the quality of work they can supply. At this point it is also good to mention that a good voice over artist can go along way to making your video pop.
It is important to remember though, that video production companies are not marketing companies.

The marketing companies or online marketing companies come up with the concept for the advertising campaign and the video production companies create the advert. Some marketing companies even work out the best platform, and repetition rate etc, for the most effective use of the advert. The marketing company however ads more cost of investment. That means lower ROI. Or does it? If your advertising is not effective it may cost you more than you get back. Using a marketing company, can in many cases, not only improve your chances of being effective with your marketing campaign but can often help it not to be a total failure. Many people are working on the idea that all advertising campaigns are effective and its just about being the most effective.This is not always the case.Many advertising campaigns fall flat and have next to no return.This can result in all the advertising spend resulting in just about no return.That is just like throwing the money away.

Unless you don't have any money to invest in a proper marketing campaign it helps to get the experts in. At the same time it is also important to remember that even the experts get it wrong sometimes. There have been advertising companies who have got it spectacularly wrong at times. These campaigns have not only not resulted in more sales but have damaged the brand in the process. There are some well known soda commercials that come to mind. Some companies have even been boycotted after a marketing campaign. These spectacular failures by marketing companies are not the norm though. The marketing companies would not be in business for long if their campaigns were always failing.

So where to begin? First figure out how much you can spend and comfortably effort to lose without any return. Advertising. although not as addictive is still a gamble but in the case of business a very necessary one.
Then if your budget affords, chose a marketing and branding company. If that is not in the budget find the best video production company you can afford. If that is not in the budget, begin a campaign of prayer. If that doesn't suit you just go with wishful thinking. Jokes aside. Marketing is serious business and should have have the money spent on it.

If you seriously want to market your business you need to get over the idea that it is cheap and easy.
The most successful businesses have the best marketing campaigns. It's a simple as that. So you need to choose. Is it a risk worth taking? Only you can decide that.