It’s not a coincidence that video is quickly becoming the most popular marketing tool. Producing a video wasn’t always a cheap affair but today you can choose from a whole plethora of online video-creation platforms that are affordable and easy to use. The expansion of video is the next revolution in marketing and business owners who were used to blogs, direct mail, search ads and print are now discovering that video is an effective way to engage with potential customers and clients.

No, you don’t need some expensive video production company to create good-looking and, most of all, effective videos for your marketing campaign. Once again we have come up with some tips that will help you to get started in video marketing.

1. Remember those old school videos with a simple one way narrative style where people just watch passively? Well, things have changed. Videos can be highly interactive, unbelievably creative, and really short. Think outside of the box.
2. You can divide videos that you make into three categories: show-off, hard work and long-tail. Show-off videos are flashy and you can use them to represent your business. Hard work videos explain your top of the line products and/or services. With long-tail videos you can dive into special topics. Learn the ancient art of divide and conquer.
3. And while we’re at it, don’t spend your whole budget on a few flashy, eye candy videos. Here you should focus on one special video which will grab the attention on your website, or maybe you will play it in your trade show booth. Either way, you should consider hiring a video production specialist for this particular piece.
4. Your “hard work” videos must have a clear message and they should target a well-defined audience. A good “hard work” video is authoritative and informative because those are the videos that people like to share and that is your main goal. They must be clear, focused and true to your brand.
5. Let’s look at the “long-tail” video category. These kind of videos are just perfect for answering frequently asked questions, you can use them to provide detailed pieces of information or invite other employees as experts on some specific subject that might be of interest. The golden rule here is to talk about customer needs and problem solutions. By dipping deeper into these subjects you’re creating a stronger bond with your audience.
6. Try not to overload a video with too much information, produce bit-sized pieces instead. Brake up your video into a series of mini segments that tackle one shot topic at a time.
7. Build up a visual identity. Best way to achieve this is to come up with a template that you can use to create short 60- or 90-second videos which will showcase your individual products. Once you get the hang of it you will feel more comfortable and you will save time and money.
8. When you think of videos your thinking about moving images, but that isn’t a prerogative because videos can include text and still images. There are many effective and useful videos out there that consist of a simple series of PowerPoint type slides with text, photos and an audio track. As a matter of fact, PowerPoint 2013 has this feature already built-in.

Before we wrap it up here’s another great tip – use a call to action! They are really essential to any marketing campaign and here you can try with surveys, interactive polls, live forms or other techniques.