There are more than 500 hours of videos uploaded to YouTube every minute. The fastest-growing app, TikTok, is basically a video-sharing platform. From viral videos to competing entertainment, the noise will drown you if you don’t understand some video marketing tactics.
The video craze makes every savvy marketer jump into the video marketing bandwagon. Now more than 86% of them use video as a marketing tool.
The thing is, a video marketing strategy is so much more than creating a video and posting it. An endless sea of video content grows continually. Even your most brilliant videos can get buried way too easily.
If you want to go the extra mile, it takes extra effort.
In this article, we’ll dive into some unconventional video marketing tactics to next-level your video marketing strategy.
1) Ditch the Script
A great video comes from a great script. But this doesn’t mean that you focus only on creating scripted videos.
Instead of planning out everything you’re going to say, you allow yourself to speak more freely and naturally. Act as if you are having a conversation with someone.
The idea behind ditching the script is to create a more authentic and engaging experience for your viewers. When you speak off the cuff, your personality and unique perspective shine through. This can make your content more relatable and memorable.
Keep in mind that ditching the script doesn’t mean you should completely wing it. You should still have a general structure and plan for your video, but leave room for improvisation and spontaneity.
For example, here’s an iconic marketing video from Dollar Shave Club. Their video marketing tactic was to appear as authentic and spontaneous as possible. Of course, they planned it to look that way. The result, however, raised the fun and entertainment value for viewers.
2) Think Outside the Box
Whether it’s explainer videos, social videos, or silent videos – any marketing videos don’t have to be hard-selling and desperate. Marketing pitches bombard your viewers and target audience all day long. So taking a different approach to appeal to them makes your videos stand out.
Here are a few ways you can think outside the box in your video marketing efforts:
Collaborate with unexpected partners
Partnering with other businesses or influencers can be a great way to expand your reach. Why not think outside the box and collaborate with someone unexpected?
For example, if you sell kitchen appliances, you could team up with a fashion blogger to create a video about how to style your kitchen for entertaining.
Use humor or surprise to grab attention
People remember marketing messages that stand out in the midst of what they already expect.
Using humor or surprise in your videos can help you cut through the noise and grab your audience’s attention.
Experiment with different storytelling techniques
Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with your audience and create a memorable video. But instead of sticking to traditional narrative structures, why not experiment with different techniques?
For example, you could tell a story through the lens of a documentary or create a video that uses animation to tell a story.
3) Embrace Imperfection
User-generated content and Stories have been gaining a lot of traction. While polished and professional-looking videos have their place, embracing imperfection can actually bring value as a video marketing tactic.
One reason for this trend is the desire for authenticity and relatability. Raw and unfiltered content can feel more genuine, which can help build trust with your audience.
Another reason is the desire for real-time content. Stories, in particular, are a popular format for sharing in-the-moment experiences with your audience. They allow you to share behind-the-scenes glimpses, quick updates, and spontaneous moments, all without the pressure of creating a perfectly edited video.
Embracing imperfection also allows you to be more agile and responsive. Traditional video production can be time-consuming and costly, but raw and unpolished content can be created quickly and easily. This means you can capitalize on trends or events in real-time without the need for a large production team.
4) Use Humor to Your Advantage
Using humor in your video marketing can be an effective tactic to grab your audience’s attention and make your content more memorable. One brand that has done an excellent job of using humor in its video marketing is Old Spice.
Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign is a perfect example of how humor can be used to create memorable and effective video content.
One of the reasons that Old Spice’s campaign was so successful is that it used humor to make an emotional connection with its audience.
The videos were entertaining, but they also tapped into deeper emotions and desires, such as the desire to be confident and attractive to others.
By using humor to explore these emotions in a lighthearted way, Old Spice was able to create a strong emotional connection with its audience.
5) Use Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly become an integral part of the video marketing landscape, providing a range of powerful tools and technologies that can help businesses create more personalized, effective, and engaging video content.
One way AI is being used as a video marketing tactic is through data analysis. By using AI-powered algorithms to analyze data from social media, website analytics, and other sources, businesses can gain valuable insights into their audience’s behavior and preferences.
This data can then be used to create more targeted and relevant video content that resonates with viewers and drives conversions.
Another way AI is being used in video marketing is through content creation. AI-powered video creation tools can help businesses automate the video production process, from script writing to editing and post-production.
This allows businesses to create more videos in less time and at a lower cost without sacrificing quality.
Remember that AI is only a tool. Make sure you review all the results with human editors to personalize them and make sure that everything doesn’t sound too robotic and artificial.
Conclusion
By taking a creative and strategic approach to video marketing, businesses can create video content that resonates with their target audience, drives conversions, and ultimately contributes to the success of their brand.
So, whether you’re a small business owner or a marketing professional, remember to think outside the box and experiment with new and unconventional video marketing tactics to achieve your goals and stay ahead of the competition.
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos.