Written by Lidia Vijga, co-founder & CEO at DeckLinks
Recently I wrote about marketing for b2b startups and how to execute with no advertising budget. As an example, I shared a video marketing campaign where I interviewed b2b sales leaders and influencers to show the human side of sales professionals. But in this article, I’d love to dive deeper into video marketing strategies for startups and why it’s crucial to get into video content creation.
Why start video marketing as a startup?
As a startup founder, it can be difficult to get your name out there and attract attention from potential customers. When approached right, a well-thought video marketing strategy can offer an affordable and effective way to reach your target audience and create a lasting impression. With video marketing, you can tell your startup success stories in a compelling and engaging way, build trust and customer loyalty, and establish yourself as an authority in your industry. In addition, video content marketing is highly scalable, so your videos have the potential to reach a wide audience through social media marketing channels and word-of-mouth.
According to Smaato (a global in-app advertising platform), the average CTR (click-through rate) of video ads is 7.5x higher than display banners. Video format certainly has a way of catching people’s attention!
The primary goals of video marketing for startups are:
- Engage your target audience.
- Educate your key audience about the problem and your solution.
- Convince your prospective buyers that your solution is best for them.
- Convert prospects to generate sales.
What video content should startups create?
Keep in mind that there are many video categories that you should try and test to decide which ones get you the best results.
Brand story videos
A brand story video allows your potential customers to get to know your startup on a deeper level. It tells them about your startup history, what you stand for, and what makes you different from other companies in your industry. These videos are personal and help create a deeper connection with viewers.
I’d encourage you to hire a specialized agency in your city to share the story behind your startup. If you are a local business from Toronto, I’d recommend to get in touch with InHouse Creative. Their team has a remarkable way of documenting and uncovering the most human side of your business and will make you feel very comfortable on camera.
Presentation videos
Presentation videos are a great way to share in-depth information about your products with prospective customers. A well-crafted presentation video can show prospects exactly how your product works and what it can do for them. In addition, presentation videos are an effective way to build trust with new customers. By sharing your knowledge and expertise in a video, you can demonstrate that you are an authority in your field. As a result, prospects will be more likely to do business with you. Finally, presentation videos are a great way to stay top of mind with potential customers. By sending them periodic updates about your products or services, you can keep them engaged and interested in what you have to offer.
Learn more about different video presentation types, and how you can create video presentations without any video editing skills.
User-generated content and customer testimonials
This is one of the best types of video content that startups can leverage in their strategy.
When prospects see your happy clients using your product, it helps create social proof and increase conversion rates. Real customer videos come across as more authentic than traditional advertising, so they’re a great way to build trust with prospective customers. And the best part is that many customers are excited to share their positive experiences with your startup, so you can easily get great video testimonials by simply asking for them! And you can collect early-stage feedback too while making video footage!
When SalesHookup reached out to me asking for a video testimonial, I was excited to create this video for them. I had a great experience with their community and met incredible sales professionals that are now part of my network. If you are in sales, you should absolutely join SalesHookup community.
Tutorial videos and How To videos
There are several reasons why Tutorials and How To videos can be a great fit for an audience further down the sales funnel, but they are also essential for innovative startups. You must educate your audience if you’ve developed a new product type or a new type of services. And tutorial videos are by far the most engaging and effective medium to do that.
Inderly, a family-owned firm that provides a wide range of IT services across Ontario, has done a great job driving awareness by creating engaging tutorial videos to educate clients in the different verticals.
Behind-the-scenes videos
Creating videos that give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at your startup can be an effective way to generate interest and build buzz. These videos can help humanize your brand and give prospective customers a glimpse of the hard work and dedication that goes into running your startup. When done well, behind-the-scenes videos can be an engaging and informative way to promote your startup.
A popular CPG brand Mid-Day Squares has made one of the best behind-the-scenes videos. It takes courage to show the true side of entrepreneurship and what it really takes to build a brand.
Brand Videos
A brand video is a short video that helps startups share their core values and show the unique positioning in the market. With brand videos, you can get creative and focus on demonstrating your value proposition. Brand videos give you an opportunity to differentiate your startup from others and show the personality of your brand.
Here is one of my favourite examples of a short branded video by a film maker and my friend Rob Comeau for Lavender.
Also read: How to Create Video Ads that Convert: The Guide by CinemAds
Announcement videos
A well-crafted announcement video can be a powerful marketing tool for a startup. By sharing announcement videos on social media, startups can reach a wide audience and generate interest in their product or service. In addition, announcement videos can help to build brand awareness and establish the startup’s credibility. To maximize the impact of the video, it should be informative and entertaining, and it should share the unique value proposition of the startup. With a little creativity and planning, an announcement video can be an effective way to attract new clients and increase brand awareness.
Interviews with influencers
As a startup, it’s important to get your name out there and build authority in your industry. One way to do this is to interview influencers in your niche and post the video interviews consistently on social media. By interviewing well-known and respected influencers in your industry, you’ll be able to gain practical insights, and create valuable video content for your audience. So if you’re looking for a way to stand out from the competition, consider influencer marketing or start conducting influencer interviews and sharing them with your key audience. It’s a great way to promote your startup and build authority in your industry!
Here is my interview with James “Saywhatsales” Buckley from Sell Better by JB Sales. The goal of my rapid-fire interviews was not just to ask b2b sales influencers to share their best tips but also to show the human side of sales professionals, which is why we built DeckLinks. I strongly believe that the best marketing execution is the one that aligns perfectly with your core brand values.
How do you measure success of your video content?
To evaluate the success of your video, you must track its progress with data. These are the most crucial KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to monitor:
- The overall effectiveness of your video is measured by play rate.
- The number of unique views indicates how many people watched your video.
- Measuring social media performance and social shares indicates how popular your video content is on those social media platforms.
- Conversion rates will give you an idea of how many leads your video marketing campaign has generated.
How startups should distribute video content?
If you got the budget for paid advertising, there are different options for running video marketing campaigns to grow your startup. Once you know where your target audiences are consuming online content, you can look into the following social platforms and find the best distribution channels to drive awareness for your brand. Each social platform could become a powerful tool if you consistently deliver highly relevant and visual content for your key audience and address objections from different customer personas.
YouTube
Out of all the platforms available, YouTube is most likely the first that comes to mind. With Google being in the lead, YouTube has rapidly grown to become the second largest search engine worldwide. Furthermore, you have more freedom with the length of your YouTube video compared to other platforms, like Twitter and TikTok.
YouTube boasts over 2.4 Billion Active Users Worldwide, according to Statista.
Age of internet users who consume content on YouTube
81% of people ages 15-25
71% of people ages 26-35
67% of people ages 36-45
66% of people ages 46-55
58% of people that are 56+
Growing a YouTube channel is ideal for a wide range of startups, however, for the most part, B2C startups have the highest success rate on YouTube.
Facebook is another important platform. Your startup definitely needs to consider posting your marketing videos in relevant Facebook groups. Short, punchy videos can do a great deal to build brand recognition and incite curiosity about what your startup offers. This can be an effective way to reach a wider audience and get your message out there. Keep in mind, however, that you will need to ensure that your videos are high quality and relevant to the group before posting.
Facebook has over 2.9 Billion Active Users Worldwide, according to Statista.
Age of internet users who use Facebook
86% of people ages 18-29
77% of people ages 30-49
51% of people ages 50-65
34% of people that are 65+
Instagram is a great social media platform for startups to share videos. The platform has a highly engaged user base. What’s more, Instagram users are many times more likely to interact with brands on the platform than on any other social media marketing channel. For startups, this presents a great opportunity to reach a large audience with their marketing videos. In addition, Instagram offers a number of features that make it ideal for video marketing. For example, Instagram Stories allow startups to post short, engaging videos that disappear after 24 hours. This makes Stories an ideal way to generate buzz and interest around a product or service, and it should be a part of the video marketing strategy of most D2C brands.
Instagram has over 1.2 Billion Active Users Worldwide, according to Statista.
Age of internet users who are active on Instagram
67% of people ages 18-29
47% of people ages 30-49
23% of people ages 50-64
8% of people that are 65+
Instagram is great for a wide range of startups, however companies in the e-commerce space get more traction than others.
Twitter is a great platform for startups to increase their audience engagement by posting marketing videos. With more than 320 million active users, Twitter provides startups with a large potential audience, and with its “Promote Video” feature you can run a paid video campaign. Promoted Videos are served to users based on their interests and interactions, meaning that they are more likely to be relevant and engaging for viewers. As a result, Twitter is an excellent platform for startup companies looking to market their products or services through video.
Twitter got over 320 Million Active Users Worldwide, according to Statista.
Age of internet users who are active on Twitter
38% of people ages 18-29
26% of people ages 30-49
17% of people ages 50-64
7% of people that are 65+
Twitter is great for a wide range of b2b startups, especially if your company is selling to founders or executives.
LinkedIn is one of my favourite social media marketing channel for promoting B2B startups. LinkedIn users are generally professionals who are interested in B2B products, career advancement and growing their professional network. They are also more likely to be in senior positions, which can be valuable for startups that are trying to reach decision-makers. For these reasons, LinkedIn is an ideal platform for marketing videos that promote B2B products and services. In addition, LinkedIn offers a variety of video formats that can be used to showcase a startup’s products or services. For example, LinkedIn Live allows startups to stream live videos, while Sponsored Content allowed them to create targeted video ads.
LinkedIn users are used to seeing professional content, so your videos should be well-produced and offer valuable information. Keep them short, though – no one wants to watch a long video on LinkedIn. If you can produce engaging and informative short videos, you’ll be able to reach new audiences with your great video content! LinkedIn is a must-have in every B2B video marketing strategy.
LinkedIn reports over 850 Million registered members in 200 countries.
Age of LinkedIn users
21% of people ages 18-24
60% of people ages 25-34
17% of people ages 35-54
3% of people that are 55+
LinkedIn is ideal for b2b startups with a niche audience. By leveraging video content, startups can educate their target audience, build an authority and position themselves as a leader in their business vertical.
TikTok
When it comes to D2C marketing on social media, there’s no doubt that TikTok is one of the first marketing channels to consider. With over 750 million active users, TikTok offers an immense potential audience for startups. What’s more, the platform is highly engaging, with users spending an average of 95 minutes per day on the app!
This means that there’s a good chance that your marketing videos will be seen by a wide range of people. And with TikTok’s short-form format, you can get your message across quickly and effectively. So if you’re looking for a great social media channel for marketing videos, TikTok is definitely worth trying.
TikTok has over 750 Million Active Users Worldwide, according to Statista.
Age of internet users who use TikTok
33% of people ages 10-19
30% of people ages 20-29
16% of people ages 30-39
14% of people that are 40-49
7% of people that are 50+
Snapchat
Snapchat is often overlooked as a social media channel for marketing, but it can be an extremely effective platform for startups. Snapchat is very well-suited for posting marketing videos. The ephemeral nature of the content encourages users to watch videos in real-time, and the AR filters can add an element of fun and engagement. Moreover, Snapchat’s audience is primarily young people, who are more likely to be early adopters of new products and services.
Snapchat got over 490 Million Active Users Worldwide, according to Statista.
Age of internet users who use Snapchat
53% of people ages 15-25
34% of people ages 26-35
18% of people ages 36-45
11% of people ages 46-55
4% of people that are 56+
For startups looking to reach a young and engaged audience, Snapchat should definitely be part of their video marketing strategy.
In the early days of a startup, when resources are tight and every penny counts, it can be tempting to skimp on marketing. However, as any experienced founder knows, this is a mistake. A well-crafted marketing campaign can be the difference between success and failure. Email is a great way for startups to share videos. It allows you to reach a wide audience with your message and can be a cost-effective way to connect with new customers.
According to Forrester, video in email can lead to a 200-300% increase in CTR. You can use email to send out links to your latest marketing videos. And since email is easily accessible from most devices, it’s easy for recipients to view your video regardless of where they are. With a little creativity, you can use email to reach a large audience without breaking the bank. So if you’re looking for a cost-effective way to share your videos, email is definitely worth considering as a part of your video marketing strategy.
Don’t forget to include the word “Video” in the email subject line. This will enhance your open rates.
Before you launch your first video marketing campaign, get to know your key audience
Before creating marketing videos for your startup, it is important to understand your target audience. What are their needs and wants? What do they desire and what are their biggest fears? What are their pain points? By understanding your audience, you can create videos that offer solutions to their problems. In addition, you need to know where your key audience is spending the time and where do they consume content to learn and get inspired. To build the best marketing strategies for startups, you need to truly understand the key target audience and make sure that your marketing videos speak to them directly.
