Creating an app can open infinite new opportunities for your business, but you’ve probably already found out (or soon will!) how much of a competitive arena an app store can be.

Thankfully, video content is the perfect tool to give your audience a closer look into what your app is all about!

Today, we’re going go over what the best production companies out there can teach you about promoting your app through video – walking you through the process of drafting your script, choosing the right type of video, and more!

Video Content for Your App: Where to Start?

Just like every app, every video starts with an idea you’ll condense into a script. There’s just no two ways about it! By fleshing out your script, you’re making sure your video won’t lack coverage of an app’s essential features and benefits.

More importantly, scripting is a crucial stage in every preproduction process, as it will help you establish the nature of your message. A compelling and effective script must be clever about what aspects of your app you want to stand out, and what would be best to leave for some other medium.

As you work on your script, you should start by answering these simple, but highly revealing questions:

1) Who is my target audience?

If you haven’t thought about it by now, then this is a great moment to figure out who your video is for. Take the time to think back upon your audience. What are their interests? What motivates them? What style of content do they prefer the most?

[bctt tweet=”Your video must talk directly – almost personally – to them.” username=”relevance”]

They must feel like you are addressing their specific problems, as to keep them interested in finding what your app can do for them. And on that note…

2) What are the benefits of using my app?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, apps are more than an icon on your phone: they are a tool to improve your work, be used as a hobby, help you study, or just improve your day. The benefits that your app brings to the table should be the main focus of your video. After all, it’s the reason people will use it in the first place!

Making a list of the most attractive features of your app can be useful, but you’ll need to go deeper. Your script must explain how these features are going to improve your audience’s experience. Video gives you the opportunity to show (rather than tell) the practical benefits of your app.

3) Why is my app better than the competitions’?

Remember the old saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”? Well, your competition isn’t necessary “your enemy,” but it is important to learn about them to understand what makes your app a better solution.

Now, keep in mind that your video doesn’t need to explicitly mention your competitors or your target audience. These are just questions you should keep in mind as you write your script, to help guide the video’s content.

Choosing a Type of Video that Suits Your Message

Due to their flexible nature, there are countless types of videos at your disposal that can help you achieve different marketing goals. But today, we’re going to focus on the three most effective styles for apps: Explainer Videos, Product videos, and Customer Testimonials.

Explainer videos

Let’s start with one of the most popular types of branded video content out there: explainer videos. These short, animated pieces use the power of storytelling to communicate the essential features and benefits of your product. Explainer videos usually begin introducing a problem your audience can relate to, in a way they can easily understand – all while showing how and why your app is the best option to solve it.

When should you use an explainer video? If you’ve just developed a new app, an explainer video can perfectly illustrate how your creation works, and how it can benefit your potential audience. Also, because they are great at translating an elaborate idea into a simple and engaging message, explainer videos work perfectly for complex apps that could be harder to understand with other videos.

Product videos

Product videos are very popular in eCommerce marketing, which explains why they’re being used in-app promotion as well. In this context, product videos give you a great platform to list your app’s features and uses.

It’s a very direct and easy to understand style. But, if you’re not careful, there’s also the risk of coming off either too bland or too forward. To avoid ending up with just a boring piece of advertisement – or one that sounds like an informercial – you should look for new angles or play with the expectations.

Plus, product videos can be great if you’re launching a new version of your app and list the new features and improvements you’ve worked so hard for.

Customer testimonials

People trust other people; it’s as simple as that. And having happy customers sharing their experience can have a huge impact on your downloads. Customer testimonials are just that: videos that take the spotlight away from the seller and let your customers do the talking.

These videos are perfect for apps that have been in the market for a while. So that you can conduct as many interviews as you can for your video. Moreover, you can also include app reviews and reactions to show the real-life benefits of your app.

Maximizing Effectiveness with Pro-level Production Tips

Regardless of the type of video you end up choosing, there are some rules and advice you need to follow if you want to get it right. While every video is unique in its own way, we’ve seen too many videos gone wrong to know that some rules are just not meant to be broken.

Length and tone

The best advice I can give you in this regard is to keep your video as short and straightforward as possible. Nobody has the time to sit through a long app video, not even you, and you’ve actually made the thing! The perfect total length of branded video content is 90 seconds. This means you need to get to the point as quickly as possible to grab your audience’s attention.

And by simple, I don’t mean that you have to dilute your message, but that you need to simplify it. This goes hand in hand with keeping your video short: don’t say in 5 minutes what you can say in 30 seconds.

Branding

Your video should feel like an extension of your app. This means you should follow the same esthetic guidelines that you used when crafting your app. Typography, color palette, logo, sounds, all the design resources of your app are going to come alive in your video.

Entertaining

Viewers are more likely to share your video with their friends if it’s entertaining. You don’t need to overdo it; just a small laugh will do! People react better to things that make them feel something; this is the difference between less-known videos and most videos gone viral.

Show your product in action

Video is the closest thing your audience will get next to actually downloading your app. So, you’ll want to help them visualize what your app looks like! Give viewers a sneak peek of your product to make your video more interesting to watch.

Summing Up!

Most developers think that once their app is live, their work is done. They couldn’t be more wrong! Promotion is one of the biggest steps you need to take to make a successful app.

Video content provides the best way to tell the story of your app and motivate your audience to download your product. However, as we’ve seen in this article, there are a couple of things you need to get right if you want to make the right impact. Harness the power of video marketing, and you’ll be surprised with the results.

The post Promoting Your Apps with Video Content: The Right Way appeared first on Relevance.

Yes, in a perfect world… and an inbound-marketing world too!

Inbound marketing and SEO content marketing are all about attracting customers by using the right type of content. Instead of going out there to try and get their attention (a classic outbound marketing strategy), you create awesome, optimized content that brings them to your business.

And as most marketers know well by now, content may be king, but video is definitely its crown.

An inbound marketing strategy powered by video can be unstoppable, but only if it’s done right. As most skilled video companies will tell you, you need to tailor your pieces to match specific stages of the buyer’s journey!

Do it right, and you’ll discover that that “perfect world” is not actually a myth, but just a strategic move.

Awareness Stage

During the awareness stage of a Buyer’s Journey, your future customers are starting the process of understanding that they have a “need” that needs solving. That solution will be your product or service, of course, it’s just that they don’t know it yet!

However, your job at this stage is not to tell them. Not yet, at least. You need to be cunning and smart: instead of trying to make a direct sale so soon, the ideal move now is to provide your audience with the information they need.

They’ll be searching for ways to put a name on this need that they have – and you’ll have your videos ready to answer all their questions – putting your brand in front of their eyes.

Which videos? Educational ones, of course!

Educational Videos

As your audience is researching to get a better understanding of their problem, your job is to provide information through educational videos. Luckily for everyone, these are videos that are fun and attractive, and also highly shareable!

The fact is that people like to learn visually, and looking at interesting graphics and animated content is much more appealing than reading a long, boring text about something.

How-To Videos

Another way to educate your audience is with a reliable “how-to” video. When people are looking for specific bits of information about a process, they usually do it with a how-to formula: “How to buy a boat,” “how to build an igloo,” and so on…

Creating How-to content around your products and services will have potential customers naturally bumping into your brand. By giving them bite-sized information shaped in the form that they’re looking for, you’ll be getting ahead in the inbound race for sure.

Consideration Stage

The second key moment of any buyer’s path is the consideration stage. In this part of the journey, your potential clients have identified their needs, and they’re determined to find a solution to it.

Your content helped them in the process of putting a name to their problem, and now your videos will help them understand the possible solutions to it. As they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat — And through your videos, your prospects will find that your way is the best way! Ugh… you know what I mean!

While they’re considering these possible roads to follow, your job is to let them know why the solution that you offer to them is the absolute best. And, as you know, a well-made video is a very powerful persuader.

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Explainer Videos

Sometimes, the biggest challenge of your marketing strategy is conveying what your product is all about in a compelling way – especially at this stage of a buyer’s journey! That’s where explainer videos like whiteboard animations come in. Explainers are short animated videos that easily summarize complex information.

By using the power of narrative, you can transform your message into a story that will resonate with your audience’s pain points and moves them closer to a purchase decision.

These are the favorite video pieces of most marketers nowadays because they definitely work wonders. And while they come in different flavors, like live-action, regular animation, and whiteboard videos, they all introduce your solution as the best solution.

Product Videos

When prospects are considering their options, they’ll love to have a chance to try a product before they buy it – Easily done if you were selling in a store. However, when it comes to an eCommerce equivalent, the next best thing to a hands-on experience is a detailed product video.

A good product video puts whatever you are offering front and center, and goes through the list of its attributes and benefits. It’s important to either show the product in use, or at least detail how it works, letting the audience know exactly what makes it special.

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Decision Stage

This is it – the moment of truth! Right now, your leads are a step away from becoming actual customers.

You’ve led them all the way from the moment they found out they had a problem, to the moment that they decided that your solution was the best way to solve it. Now that they’re almost ready to make the purchase, they’ve found that there’s more than one option in the market, and they’re evaluating the best one for them.

So, this is your moment to shine. What makes your brand special? What sets you apart from others? Why would your customers prefer doing business with your company instead of the competition?

Testimonial Videos

One of the best answers to those questions is “people”. At the end of the day, people trust other people, and even most importantly: customers trust other customers.

There’s something very moving about listening to success stories told by real people. A written testimonial or review will never feel as personal as someone speaking to a camera, explaining how they used to have a problem, and how they solved it successfully by using your product.

These videos are a compelling way to drive sales and make your audience feel like your brand understands their needs. When they listen to their peers – people they can identify with – saying how much your company helped them, it gives them that little push in the right direction.

FAQ Videos

Another way of letting your audience know that you understand their needs better than others is to get a step ahead and answer their questions before they even ask.

By having a series of videos tackling customers’ most frequent questions, you’ll let your audience know that you’re there for them, present, and ready to address whatever query that might arise.

Let’s sum it up!

Videos are an extremely versatile tool that can be implemented in your marketing strategy in a million ways. However, their effectiveness is directly related to the way that you use them and how you tailor them to meet specific goals.

Best way to go about it? Identify each crucial step that your customers take during the buyer’s journey, learn where you might use some help, and choose tailored pieces that bring them to your brand.

Then, you can produce these video types that we discussed to boost your inbound marketing strategy through the roof!

But enough talk! Time to attract some new and shiny customers with some fantastic video content. Let’s get to work!

The post How to Build an Inbound Marketing Strategy Powered by Video appeared first on Relevance.

[bctt tweet=”Creating the perfect #Instagram video for your business is easier than you might think. Read on for some Insta tips, tricks, and tactics and let us know how you’ve used Instagram video to share branded content.” username=”relevance”]

Elements that will be analyzed and explained:

What video types work the best?

There are specific requirements that you must consider before making a successful Instagram video. The first step is understanding which video types are available. When you go to your Facebook Ad Manager to define your ad video format there are two options: Feed and Stories. In the first case, you must use a 1:1 video format (this corresponds to a 1080*1080px size video). While stories must have a 16:9 format (this corresponds to a 1920*1080ox size video).

Prioritizing the use of one video style over another is directly related to your commercial purposes. Instagram Stories work best for building loyalty over current customers, while Feed Videos work best for reaching new audiences and making them part of your social community.

What should the average video duration be?

The first thing you should know is that the average video upload time spans from 3 seconds to 60 seconds. There are even pages where you can look up the average video length from top publishers. But this doesn’t mean that you should use the same strategy. It all depends on what you want to say and how. Another interesting statistic from the HubSpot team showed that the most commented on videos had an average time of 26 to 30 seconds. This is because humans can process visuals (images or video) faster than any text. Your video must have a hook, show your band’s qualities, and finish with a call to action, in an average time of 30 seconds.

If you need to upload a video that’s longer than 60 seconds, you can do so with a third-party app. However, you should consider breaking it up into short 15 seconds clips. Some examples are: Continual for Instagram and Story Splitter..

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What audiovisual resources and techniques should be used

First Step is Planning Ahead: For a better understanding of what audiovisual resources and techniques should be used, you must start by defining your strategy. A strong strategy means an effective understanding and selections of your communication tactics and actions to achieve your business goals. Defining your consumer profile with demographic and psychographic information is a must. You can understand your target audience and make the most successful communication to attract and achieve customer loyalty.

• Boomerang: Making GIFS is now easier than ever with the Boomerang App. A boomerang is a short style video that plays itself forward and backward (again and again) as a loop. This type of video does not include audio. It’s great for showing something quick back and forward. In the following video, you can get inspired by other users ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikOzd9GROiY
• Slow motion: The slow motion technique has been used for decades. Think about those amazing movie scenes that we all remember, like those in Reservoir Dogs or the Shining. The main goal is to create an emotional impact and keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Most brands use slow motion for food videos or fashion videos.
• Hyperlapse: Hyperlapse is a fast motion video technique. It is a great strategy to show a long-term project in a matter of seconds. Here’s an example:
  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf9FxfbFkoI/?taken-by=cj_hendry
• Superzoom: Since last year, Instagram added the Superzoom. You can record your Superzoom through your Instagram account on your stories. It has a 3-second length and it’s based on zooming over an object with dramatic music. Superzoom is used for creating something dramatic but funny so that your users can relate to your sense of humor.
• Layout: This is another Instagram app that allows you to make different designs by mixing phone images and making a composition. In one image you can have different photo combinations.
• Face Filters, Stickers & Gifs on Instagram Stories: Face Filters are one of Snapchats’ best features. Later, Instagram added their own version to their users stories. They can be used with the camera formats “Live”, “Hands-free”, “Rewind” and “Boomerang”. Some face filters work with two faces at once.

You can add Stickers and Gifs, to your stories. Once you have your video or picture, use the option on the top right that looks like a smiley sticker to add as many stickers and gifs as you like. Once you click on the smiley sticker, the sticker section will appear below and through it, you’re going to find the gift option. In the case of gifs you can browse or search by name. You also have the drawing and writing option just aside the smiley sticker.

How to optimize an Instagram video for better reach and engagement

• Hashtags: Using innovative and relevant hashtags can improve organic reach and boost your video promotion. You can even search for hashtag trends to help you select the most effective keywords. Another important aspect is that users can follow hashtags. You can make this work in your favor by doing research on potential hashtags that you can use. This will also help you understand your audience and competition behavior on the use of the potential hashtag.
• Engagement Content: The key aspect is to communicate who you are as a brand and be willing to teach and ask your audience’s opinion. For example, making a post asking your users how they are using your product is a great opportunity to have your consumer’s opinion and experiences.
• Scheduling Posts: You can reach your potential audience by understanding when the best time to post is. There are many studies that show the most effective time to post, but it actually all depends on your brand and user identity. Remember that every audience is unique, so when scheduling your posts, you must understand your potential users’ activity. You can use Instagram Analytics to review follower metrics.
• Instagram ads: If you’re in need of a visibility boost, you can use Instagram ads to increase users’ views. It’s important for you to know that this is not organic and it costs money, so be clever when choosing which video ads have more visual and communication impact.

Timeline Videos vs. Story Videos, what’s the difference?

Using Instagram Stories represents a great opportunity to reach your audience in a whole new way. It’s all about showing your brands spontaneous and unique side, and most of all, it helps by showing your product/service personality. Instagram Stories are essentially a carbon copy of Snapchat Stories so you can even add gifs, hashtags, write and draw on your stories!

So, this is about the spur-of-the-moment and letting your audience have a peak into your brand’s day-to-day life. These have a lifespan of 24 hours, so you don’t have to worry about deleting content. There’s also an amazing stories link feature that allows you to include a link in your post. This means that if your goal is to increase traffic to your landing page or e-commerce page, this is an excellent way to achieve that purpose.

While Timeline Videos, are used for increasing visibility. It’s all about reaching new audiences so that you can have more followers and as a result, more clients. There’s a key aspect that changed on the Instagram feed based on its algorithm. Instead of showing what’s recently been posted on your feed, Instagram is now showing photos and videos that the users would rather see. This means that content is adapting to users preferences, so it’s more important than ever to create high quality video and image content.

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Final Thoughts

The use of audiovisual resources and techniques depends directly on your brand’s identity, target audience, goals, and business strategy. Dare to be creative in your Instagram efforts and use your resources wisely. Use Instagram video stories to build loyalty and Instagram Timeline videos to gain visibility. Also, never forget to interact with your audience to boost engagement by letting them know that their opinions and comments are relevant for you.

The post How to Create the Perfect Instagram Video for Your Business appeared first on Relevance.