Marketing can feel a little like running on a treadmill – just when you feel you’ve hit that “Aha!” moment, another new technique pops up to nudge the goal line a little further out.
The only way to gain real ground is to stay up-to-date with the trends your customers are embracing, incorporating bold new venues into your brand storytelling.
Content consumption will always rule the day, but the paths you’re using to deliver it might need an upgrade to make the biggest impact. Video has become a surprising front runner in the quest for minds and eyes, and clips are handily strong-arming their way through the usual marketing noise.
Concerned your video budget isn’t quite on par with your video outreach goals? Here are 7 affordable – or even free – ways to get on board by getting behind the proverbial camera:
YouTube
For brands looking to bump their Google rankings, using Google-owned YouTube is a no-brainer. Through a combination of curated channels, original uploaded content and interaction with your customers and fans, there’s no beating the visibility this site offers.
Whether you choose to upload self-filmed clips of your “behind the scenes” operations, professionally-produced commercials or even interviews with your head honchos, you’ll find a rich cross-linking opportunity in each YouTube url.
The social media giant that cut its teeth on marketing brevity in text has now brought video along to the party. Through its dual-platform phone apps, Twitter has made it possible to record and share 30-second video clips.
This capability has a lot of interesting possibilities for a clever marketer, be they through brand-produced video snippets or calling for fan-produced uploads with a brand or product as the central theme.
Vimeo
Often considered a “runner up” to YouTube, this video sharing site still has a great deal to offer, including a lack of the auto-play ads that precede each video on its competitor’s site.
Depending on a given company’s marketing tactic, this could be a big positive or a potential reason to stick with YouTube – if you’ve already invested time and money producing an ad and submitting it for exposure in those auto-play ads, you’d obviously want them to stick around.
Periscope
If your company has (or wants) a great deal of interaction with your customers or stockholders, Periscope is an excellent alternative to clunky and outdated video conferencing.
This Twitter-owned mobile device app allows you to “go live” at any time, and stores your broadcast for replays for the next 24 hours. If you need longer, simply save your broadcast and post it as you would any other piece of shareable media.
PowToon
Need something a little less…human? PowToon offers both free and paid versions of a DIY animated clip creator, enabling you to cast cartoons for walkthroughs, descriptions and more.
If you aren’t quite ready to launch videos starring your employees or even actors, PowToon is an excellent way to dip your toe into video content creation without needing to cannonball straight in.
Magisto
Not all companies need to break out the big guns for video marketing. Smaller entrepreneurs and brands need smaller, agile solutions that can travel on their mobile devices for video editing on the fly.
Magisto, a dual-platform editing app, is not only affordable, it’s surprisingly feature-rich as well.
In addition to tidying up video clips, it also gives users the capability to add their own soundtrack and even insert still photos from their device’s library – a boon for individuals that need to quickly showcase an in-box product before or after they show it in use.
Trade Shows and Conferences
Apps, programs and websites are all important components to crafting a useful balance of performance and video budget in your marketing, but old-fashioned networking is where the real finishing touches happen.
Attending events like the Content Marketing Conference, an annual Vegas gathering of the best and brightest in content marketing innovation, will let you talk shop with peers that have experience with the techniques you’re considering.
Set to happen May 17th – 19th in the Rio Hotel and Casino, 2016’s Content Marketing Conference already has a roster of marketing experts lined up, with more on the way.
Content marketing experts can be a little tougher to track down “in the wild,” so be sure to hit up every opportunity you have to congregate and learn in your path to video marketing supremacy.