5 Innovative Ways to Make Your Video Go Further

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, where people's attention is becoming much more selective, it's vital to be smart about where you are focussing your marketing efforts. And the most powerful tool at your disposal? A well-crafted, mega-engaging marketing video.

But the question is, how can you really make it go the distance and get the best bang for your buck?

To save you the hassle, we've broken it down into simple and actionable ways that you can make your marketing video go further. It's time to think about how just one piece of branded video content could last you a whole campaign - which we know it can! Keep reading as we delve into actionable strategies that will help you extend the lifespan of your marketing video, allowing it to shine throughout your marketing strategy.

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Resizing for Different Platforms:

The first step in optimising your marketing video's reach is adapting it to suit your social platforms. Each social media platform has varying aspect ratio requirements, and understanding these nuances can greatly impact your video's effectiveness. For instance, the standard 16:9 ratio works well for websites and YouTube, while a 9:16 (vertical), 4:5 ('portrait') or 1:1 (square) ratio is better suited for platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. By repurposing your video to match these ratios, your content appears professional and visually appealing on all platforms. Plus, if you're going to put spend behind your video, this will ensure they're optimised for all the ad placements!

Mind you, if you asked us a year ago, our answer to what ratios work best where would've been quite different, so it's good to be aware of what other creators, platform experts, or even the platforms themselves are saying work best. Staying current with platform trends ensures your content remains visually engaging and doesn't get lost in the sea of ever-changing algorithms. If you want a hand staying in-the-know, check out Wordstream or Sprout Social's blogs!

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Creating Different Video Lengths:

We all know people's attention spans aren't what they used to be. The research shows that these attention spans aren't shrinking as much as they are becoming more selective - meaning it's harder to keep people engaged unless it's something they are really interested in. This is where crafting shorter versions of your marketing video comes into play. By editing your video into shorter segments (we call them cut-downs), you not only provide fresh content to your audience but also cater to platforms with time constraints, such as YouTube ads, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram Stories.

This strategy has dual benefits: you can maintain the essence of your hero video while appealing to viewers who might not have the time to watch the full-length version. Plus, if you've got a marketing funnel set up, putting cut-downs in the bottom of the funnel gives people who've already seen your hero video (or the first part of it) a fresh taste!

Another reason cut-downs are super useful is that these bite-sized videos can be promoted across platforms, enticing users to explore the complete video on your website or other designated landing pages (great if you're running a traffic campaign).

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Leveraging Stills, Imagery, and GIFs:

A marketing video isn't just about moving images. It's also an opportunity to extract high-quality stills, designed up imagery (e.g. using software like Canva or Adobe to add text-on-screen or branding elements to the imagery), and GIFs that can be repurposed across your social media campaigns. These assets can be used in a multitude of ways, from sharing sneak peeks to complementing blog posts or newsletters. Additionally, incorporating such visuals into your Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising can make your offline campaigns more engaging and cohesive with your digital efforts.

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Strategic Placement:

Once you have your resized, repurposed, and optimised content, it's time to strategise where to place it for maximum impact. Here are some spots that are KEY to consider:

1. Website: Your website should serve as the hub for all your marketing efforts. Embed your video somewhere obvious on relevant landing pages (we recommend above the fold) to captivate visitors and effectively convey your brand message.
2. Newsletters: Videos can significantly boost email engagement. Incorporate a thumbnail image or GIF in your newsletters, linking to the full video.
3. PR: Your public relations efforts can benefit from the video as well. Include it in press releases or distribute it to media outlets to hype up the launch! Let your story be heard far and wide.
4. Organic Social: Share your video across all your social media platforms. Chuck on your copywriter cap and whip up a caption, use relevant hashtags (although, word on the street is that LinkedIn is phasing out hashtags so keep this in mind) and keywords, and encourage interactions (reactions, comments, shares and saves) to increase reach and engagement.
5. Paid Social: Amplify your video's reach with targeted paid promotions on social media. Consider where your target audience is likely to spend time and show up on those platforms! Use demographic and interest-based targeting to ensure your video reaches the right audience, but have a play around in the campaign set-up to fine-tune as you collect data. We recommend a video views objective to target cold audiences and a traffic objective for your retargeting.

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Bonus: Building Anticipation and Launching with Impact

Creating buzz around your marketing video before its official launch can really help boost its impact, especially if you already have an engaged follower base! Here are a three ways you can think about amping up the hype:

1. Teasers: Release short teaser clips, stills, or GIFs from your hero video in the weeks leading up to the launch. This piques curiosity and builds anticipation!
2. BTS Footage: Capture behind-the-scenes moments during the video production process. Sharing these candid glimpses humanises your brand and fosters a sense of connection with your audience. Extra points if you turn these BTS moments into a high-energy reel.
3. Involving Leadership: Encourage senior leadership to get involved. Their endorsement and participation can lend credibility to your video and increase its visibility, especially on platforms like LinkedIn. Encourage them to make their posts personal (not promotional) - this will always get better engagement.

Your marketing video can be a super versatile asset that not only serves its primary promotional purpose but also extends its value throughout your campaign. By resizing, repurposing, strategically placing, and building anticipation, you can be confident that your video content continues to resonate with your audience long after launch, leading to greater brand recognition, engagement, and conversions - how good!

Getting an epic video made for your brand won't have much impact if you only use it once. Use these five tips to get the most out of your investment. Or, ask about out our latest video add-on, The Marketer's Dream, where we create over 100 pieces of content from your singular ODV video so you can run a cohesive and impactful campaign!

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