Integrating video content into email, social media and other digital channels can pay off big for marketers. Not only are more people engaging with video, but these video interactions are helping drive increased revenue:

• More people watching: Video views on Facebook doubled from 4 billion in April 2015 to 8 billion in November 2015.
• Mobile explodes: “Watch time” on mobile devices doubled from 2014 to 2015; it grew 60 percent overall in that same time.
• Higher subject line CTR: Emails with “video” in the subject line generated an average 65 percent higher click-through rate.
• Video content outperforms: Email campaigns with video content can drive up to a 200-percent higher CTR that similar campaigns without video.

Video is also a low-barrier program. All you need at first is a smartphone that shoots good-quality video, although top-quality equipment will make your messages look polished and professional. More importantly, if you want to build a video-marketing program that drives awareness, engagement and revenue, you’ll need a well-thought-out plan that integrates with your company’s interests and business goals.

The 10 tips below will get you on the right path, whether you just shot your first video with your iPhone or have a library of videos on YouTube already.

1. Map the customer journey first

Mapping your customer journey will help you understand the stages in your customer relationships, including research, consideration, purchase, postpurchase and loyalty. Along the way you’ll identify touch points where your customers come in contact with your company and brands, as well as uncovering obstacles that prevent them from moving forward in their journey.

Look for opportunities where different messaging sources – email, video, website, social media, direct mail – can move your customer down the path to purchase.

2. Identify how video can enhance the customer journey.

As you identify touch points, you’ll begin to see where video can tell a story, answer questions or create excitement. You might find gaps in messaging that a well-timed demonstration or behindthe-scenes video (live action or animation) could fill better than an email message or straight web copy. Similarly, you might discover places in the journey where contacts frequently stall – perhaps a strategically positioned video might help nudge them along more effectively than your existing touch point?

3.Set specific goals for your program and videos.

You don’t have to spend a year in meetings or scribbling on whiteboards. But you must hash out some thoughts on what you want your video program to achieve and to make sure that your marketing team is on board as well. Remember two things as you work up goals for your video program:

• Be customer-centric. It isn’t just what you want to say to your customers; what do you want them to take away from your video, and how does your video help them?
• Decide what you want your viewers to do with your video. Your videos need calls to action, just like your emails. Setting a goal for your video will shape the action and the content supporting it.

4. Create a video promotion rollout plan that meshes with other channel planning and processes.

We know what you’re thinking: “I haven’t shot even one frame of a video yet, and already you want me to think about promotion?” Yes, because your video can drive greater results when you seed it across other communication channels, such as social media, email messaging, mobile apps and offline sources (in-store displays, training programs, white papers, etc.).

Also, optimize the platforms where your videos will display, especially third-party sources such as YouTube, where you can house all your videos on your own channel. Promote your platforms (YouTube channel, Facebook/Instagram pages, Snapchat user name) in cross-channel promotions, too.

5. Audit your video content and related assets.

Look around and find what other departments have produced, such as product or service demos, training videos, even animated slideshows and screencasts. What can you improve or expand on? Where are the gaps in your video story?

Review print sources (digital and paper) for content you can repurpose for video, such as customer-service training scripts that could double as troubleshooting videos or buying guides showing products in use.

6. Shine the spotlight on employees and customers.

Instead of having the same old talking heads, bring in people who are naturally engaging or newsworthy or who have strong connections to the material. Product designers, buyers and merchandisers know the ins and outs of your products better than anybody. Ask the authors of popular white papers to highlight or expand on the material in brief videos.

Don’t overlook your natural cheerleaders and evangelizers, such as happy customers or enthusiastic employees who use your products away from work.

7.Choose your hosting platforms.

Where you host your videos will affect your strategy and goals. Besides your own websites, you’ll also want to host on third-party platforms for greater exposure and sharing.

YouTube is the 600-pound gorilla among hosting platforms and better suited for a video library and long-form videos. Short-form Instagram video benefits from its Facebook integration but doesn’t lend itself to YouTube-style browsing. Snapchat, Periscope and Vine cater to niche audiences and real-time captures in brief video bursts.

At some point, you might want to host high-value video on your website, where you can gate the content. With the right integrations in place, you can capture more behaviors (and act on them) than you’d be able to on a third-party platform. (For more on this, see Tip #9.)

8. Get your gear and set up your studio.

Once you’re ready to move on from your smartphone recorder, invest in equipment that will make your videos look more professional. Essentials include:

• A good camera — either a quality video camera or a digital SLR that also shoots stills and video
• A tripod to get rid of the shakes
• A microphone to hook into your camera (bad sound can ruin otherwise good content)
• A microphone to hook into your camera (bad sound can ruin otherwise good content)
• A location with a door you can close to shut out ambient noise and distractions

Client Success Story: evo

Evo, an outdoor lifestyle retailer, wanted to improve the customer experience for buyers by offering useful content relevant to the product they purchased. Realizing that there was some confusion over how to properly fit and best enjoy its ski boots – especially among beginners — evo decided to launch an automated post-purchase campaign. The three-part series was designed to educate customers about getting the most out of their purchase (the first two emails) and gently encourage them to purchase related products that would further enhance their experience (the final email).

• Message #1: Guide to trying on your new ski boots (sent the day after the item ships)
• Message #2: Guide to making your boots fit better (sent four days after the order is placed)
• Message #3: Keep your feet happy with technical socks (sent six days after order is placed)

Rather than create all-new content for this series, evo repurposed content that already existed on its website, including videos that visually demonstrate the proper way to try on ski boots, with tips on what socks to wear, how to adjust the power strap, what order to do the buckles in, and more. It had created numerous videos and text guides about properly using its products and enjoying outdoor activities to the fullest, so it was just a matter of finding a few that were related to ski boots and then linking out to this helpful content.

“By getting more personalized and delivering content that helped our customers have a better experience, we were able to drive some amazing results,” says Nathan Decker, ecommerce manager, Evolution Innovations. “Even better, by repurposing existing content we achieved these goals without overtaxing our resources.”

The good news is that there are plenty of options for a wide variety of budgets, so you can gradually upgrade your gear.

9. Use video behaviors to trigger other messaging.

Your videos on public platforms like YouTube or Facebook should direct viewers to your website, where you can put up a simple lead-generation form that collects identifying information to unlock premium content.

There are a couple of ways to achieve this. A basic method would involve placing a link in the video description (or an unlinked URL at the end of the video) directing viewers to a landing page on your site. For example, a video on content marketing could include a link in the description to a landing page on your website with an offer to download a related white paper.

A more sophisticated approach might involve integrating with a video marketing solution and linking from a shorter video on YouTube to a longer gated version on your website. This method would typically give you access to a deeper set of video-viewing metrics.

Either way, you can use this data to launch a drip campaign to these viewers. Track their video viewing choices for indications that they’re moving closer to buying, and change your messaging approach accordingly

10. Determine your success metrics and monitor results.

Video views are like email open rates: Everybody counts them, but they don’t tell the whole story. More meaningful metrics include measuring leads or sales generated from video views, fewer calls to your call center, fewer returned products, or increases in upgrades to premium, paid or enterprise-level products.

You should be able to make basic data integrations between your web analytics program and your ecommerce and email databases. But, at some point, you might need to move from a basic video platform to an enterprise-level program that provides more data management and integration with your marketing automation program.

Ready to Start Shooting?

Customers and prospects are hungry for branded videos. Smartphones and Wi-Fi everywhere have taken down many barriers to viewing. Adding video to your marketing mix can help you move the needle on acquisition, engagement and revenue.