15 Types of Video Content Every Marketer Should Know

The multimedia trend has seen a boom in the last few years and it will soon control every channel. As The New York Times believes, we’re entering a “post-text world” so using only writing to communicate with your audience is quickly going out of style. As a marketer you will have to update or even completely refresh your digital strategy to keep up.

This is where video content comes in. For you or a professional video production company to make a successful video, first identify your objective and try to describe your goal for the film in one sentence. Then figure out what kind of video you want to create. There are three main types:

Awareness: This gets you on your customer’s radar. these videos usually have a high-entertainment value and broad appeal. This attracts as many people as possible.
Engagement: You need to spark a reaction, such as a like, comment or share from viewers. This type of video can play on viewer’s emotions.
Education: You need to teach your audience something. This could mean a customer case study for potential customers or a how-to video for current customers.

Let’s now dive into specific categories of videos under these types of videos.

Awareness

1.Round-Ups
Round-up videos are basically lists that are curated around themes. Some examples are “The Top 5 Best Shampoos for Color-Treated Hair” or “10 Restaurants You Must Try in Cleveland.” The most effective ones are:

• Relatively short: round-ups are usually around 4 minutes or less to keep your audience engaged
• Visual: don’t just talk to the camera; use visuals such as clips or stills of people, products or places you are describing
• Varied: give viewers a variety of options so there’s something for everyone

Here is a great example of a round-up from Travelocity featuring the best restaurants in San Francisco. It’s quick, impactful and entertaining.

 

2.Company Culture/Meet the Team Video
You will want to give your customers a sense of your company’s values, mission and team members. A video highlighting your culture or team members will do just that. These types of videos help strengthen brand loyalty, shows customers why your brand is different from the others, and most importantly, why they should trust you.
Here’s an example of this type of a company culture/meet the team video. “Meet MailChimp: Joanna” features a MailChimp front-end developer explaining what her job is and how she does it.

 

3.Behind The Scenes
We all have seen this infamous photo before: People will always love being in on the “behind the scenes” action. To give customers an exclusive insight into a project, situation or process, make a behind-the-scenes (BTS) video. These types of video are usually less polished than traditional videos and use a lot of raw footage.

An example of this type of video is RIV Now ‘s TYGA “Swap Meet” behind the scenes. This video shows the creative and production progress that went into this hip-hop/rap music video.

The email marketing company ConvertKit’s behind-the-scenes video of their company retreat is another great example.

4. Interview
Interview videos are great for sharing your company’s values and linking yourself with an interesting or inspiring person. These videos usually spotlight one or two people answering questions. The interviewee can be either be someone your audience is already familiar with, such as an author or influencer, or someone they don’t know but would like to hear from.

This Anthropologie video with model and Autism activist Jacquelyn Jablonski is a good example of an Interview video. In this “Women of Character” video, Jablonski’s interview is meant to resonate with and inspire Anthropologie’s central demographic.

Engagement

5. Humorous Video or Skit
Let’s face it, a lot of people watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and most of the commercials are humorous. Getting customers to smile and laugh makes them feel good and makes your brand seem relatable and cool. So why not make a funny video to stand out from the competition.

This parody by Taulia, an invoice and payment management system, riffs on Direct TV’s “Get Rid of Cable” series. This video turns a potentially boring and predictable video into an amusing and memorable one.

Vlog, or “video blog” is a diary-style video that is typically filmed by one person in front of their camera or webcam. Typically this style video has the person describing a personal experience or their thoughts on a specific topic or subject. Vlogging is most popular with influencers but you can also take advantage of this style of video as a marketer. You could possibly ask an employee to take a camera and film a day around the office, an interview with other team members or even an industry event. There are many possibilities.

7. Video Emails
Marketers aren’t the only ones taking advantage of video, so are sales people. To really stand out in the inbox, send a video email with the subject title: “Hey (their name), I made you a video.”

Effective email videos are usually around only 1 minute long. In this quick video, you should introduce yourself and explain why you are reaching out. Then ask if you can speak with them on the phone really quick to talk about their goals and to explain what you can do for them. This is an effective way to stand out and to reel in customers.

Here’s an example of a video email:

You don’t have to make a brand new video for every prospect either. You can make a few to reuse again and again. Just make sure to separate them by customer type. You may make one video about blogging advice for content marketers and another about branded content for advertisers. 

Education

8. How-To/Explainer
A How-To/Explainer video walks viewers through a process or answers a question. This type of video is great for building brand credibility and trust from viewers.

In the following video, a Squarespace employee explains to viewers the difference between a domain and web hosting.

Wondering how to get started with this one? Start by coming up with a list of common questions customers usually have and then pick one and shoot a clip explaining it. It’s as easy as that.

9. Product Review
When you set out to buy something these days, most people check out reviews for the item. This could consulting with friends or looking on the internet or both. A product review video is great for this reason. The buyer feels that they are getting an honest and trustworthy take from another customer or friend in a convenient way.

It’s not really suggested to review your own product. It can be tough to remain biased and customers may not trust you. Turn to influencers or customers for this. Give them a free sample or trial and ask them to share their thoughts and experiences in a video to post.

Here is a good example of a product review video from Blue Apron. This video is from an influencer and it not only give Blue Apron access to her audience but it also taps into her credibility at the same time.

10. Q&A
Question and answer videos are pretty straightforward. There are a couple variations of the Q&A video: you can record someone interviewing another person or you can take questions from your audience and answer them on film. The first is best for B2B companies and the second is best for consumer brands.

A good example of Q&A videos are the Bon Appétit Q&A series. These are a series of entertaining and educating videos of interviews with famous and familiar tastemakers such as Chrissy Teigen and Joel McHale.

The following example is from New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Here, they do a live “In the Studio Q&A” series with artist and instructor Corey D’Augustine who takes questions from the comments section and previous Q&A’s to clarify art for the average person.

11. Announcement Video
Announcement videos are a great way to share big news with your audience. Whether you are launching a new product or opening another store, an announcement video helps you get the message across and build excitement.

NPR’s 2018 Tiny Desk Contest video announcement is a great example. In under 40 seconds, NPR’s video introduces the contest (which is for unsigned musicians), states the rules, the how-to and makes you laugh all at the same time. While your video doesn’t necessarily have to be humorous like this one, it should be attention-grabbing and give the details.

12. Case Study/Testimonial
Case studies and testimonials are great for conversions. This is all due to the psychological phenomenon that causes people to want something when they see other people using it.

To do this type of video, try and find a customer or client who had great results or has a great story to tell. Here’s an example for inspiration:

13. Product Tour
A product tour is great basic overview of how your product works and how it will improve your customers’ lives. Consumers don’t want to scroll through a ton of images or read a bunch of text. That’s too much work for this society that needs instant results. A product tour video will give customers the answers they need quickly. They can see for themselves what your product looks like and does. And if it is convincing enough, they will usually convert.

A good example of this is Basecamp’s 2-minute “how it works” video which demonstrates the product in a friendly and easy-to-watch way.

14. Feature Explainer
A feature explainer is a great way to zoom  in on one aspect or feature of your product. Unlike explaining the main features through a product tour, a feature explainer explains how one thing works, its most common use cases and why it’s so valuable.

“Welcome to the Mobile Editor” from Wix shows viewers how the Wix phone app lets them edit their website while on the go.

These types of video can stay on your website indefinitely. You can also send them at any time to customers who are interested in specific features.

 

15. Live Talks or Presentations
So your team member has to give a speech at a seminar. Why not film it to get a double bang for your marketing buck? You can get a great piece of video content if you film their presentation.

Slack did this at their last conference. “Frontiers by Slack 2017 – Meetings that Don’t Suck” is a video of startup and engineer expert Ken Norton’s presentation on running successful meetings.

Multimedia isn’t going anywhere. Videos can play a valuable role in marketing, from attracting new leads to turning them into paying customers. Marketers should get familiar with these types of video content in order to stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the trends. Hopefully these different types of video inspires you.

For any and all of your video marketing needs, visit us at ultimo-media.com.