Over the past few years video content consumption has seen a massive upsurge on an unprecedented scale and it's not looking like 2019 is going to be any different.

Consumers simply love video content. There's good reason for that too, video is proven to be more engaging, more memorable & effective. According to WordStream, social video posts generate a staggering 1200% more shares than text & image posts combined.

There's never been a better time to include video in your marketing strategy.

This Venture article is packed with insights, upcoming trends and clever strategies for 2019 to help you plan for success.

Whatever video you're planning for the upcoming year, from corporate video and explainer videos, all the way to TV commercials and viral marketing - we want to help you succeed - why not tell us about your project...

1. Know Your Audience - Research & Insights are Key to Success

Consumers are hungry for video content. Particularly content that is relevant to them. Targeted video that is specific to your audience's questions or needs will drive better outcomes for your business and be more useful to your them.

The video content you create should hinge around who your target customer is and the content they are looking for.

By increasing the usefulness and relevance of your marketing content you'll attract more of the right kinds of people to become part of you tribe. People will align themselves naturally with your brand.

Invest in analytics and metrics, examine past customer data, find and uncover insights about the people that already love your brand.

The more you know about your audience, the easier it is to create a plan to find more people just like them.

Targeted content also has the advantage of encouraging more social activity. According to a study conducted by Wyzowl 83% of the people they asked said they would share a branded video if it contained information that might be of interest to their friends.

Here is an excellent example of this strategy in action.

Tescos used audience insights and searcher intent to create a series of highly relevant and targeted commercials to drive consumers to shop with them over Christmas.

This campaign shows how powerful these insights can be to fuel successful strategies.

2. Tell Stories to Increase Engagement & Drive Results

This ties in nicely with number one. If you know your audience then you'll be able to craft stories that connect with them and their problems. Stories that they can identify with on an emotional level.

We all know that audiences today simply aren't interested in logos plastered all over the place and the hard sell approach.

This is why stories can be so effective. We connect with stories because they are the fabric of society. We are told them throughout our childhood and we continue to use them throughout our lives.

There is rarely an event or happening in our lives that cannot be turned into a story in one form or another. Humans use stories every day to understand everything around them.

Most importantly, stories are by far the easiest way to communicate complex situations.

This is why using them in your marketing strategy is so powerful & engaging. Through your brand and product stories you can effortlessly demonstrate how your services solve problems in a meaningful way.

This is the strategy Superdry used to create a phenomenally successful video marketing campaign. By using the insights gained from their target audience research they created a series of stories to sell their winter jackets.

The campaign achieved a massive 4.8 million video views and a 238% uplift in branded search. In-store purchase rates and footfall tracking also showed great improvements. All this combined to show that the video campaign investment delivered a fourfold return.

3. Video Strategy is Becoming More Essential

So now you know why the videos you create have the potential to be very powerful, but the videos on their own won't be enough. The success of your videos goes hand in hand with the strategy behind it.

All of the most successful campaigns Venture work on start with a powerful video strategy.

According to a recent Cisco study 82% of consumer internet traffic will be video by 2020. VidYard are reporting the average business created  a staggering 33 videos a month in 2018 (up by 83% over previous year).

That is a massive shift towards video content investment. This shift heralds video as an effective method that drives results.

An overarching strategy is necessary to ensure that each video you create drives action and is a piece of the larger whole. Content that informs and reaches your audience at every stage of their journey.

Each video created should be tailored to answer a question, raise brand awareness or support any of the KPIs you choose to measure success.

If you research how people search for your products or services you can create all sorts of useful content that satisfies their needs.

Key performance indicators should be identified as part of your strategy. KPIs also should be identified for each video to ensure that it connects to the strategy and serves its purpose.

Your strategy should also  detail the primary distribution points for the videos, LinkedIn, Instagram, TV, Facebook, YouTube, etc. This allows you to determine the format and optimisation of the videos before you create them.

Strong Strategy + Targeted Videos  = Success.

4. The Changing Shape of the Sales Funnel - Meet the Flywheel

There's a new pattern emerging, today's sales funnel is looking more like a flywheel. More of an ongoing cycle. One that encourages customers to stay engaged and build a relationships with the brands they love.

At Hubspot's annual Inbound conference earlier this year, they unveiled a new approach to the sales funnel called the Flywheel. A different approach to the customer journey designed to focus heavily on the customer experience and harnessing that as the main driver of your business.

Continued nurturing brings previous customers back in to the fold, gives them opportunities to be repeat customers and tell their friends and family about you. It encourages customer success.

The four elements of the flywheel are:

Attract:

Educate visitors with content and eliminate any barriers that may hinder their ability to gather the information they need;

Engage:

Build relationships by engaging with buyers on their terms;

Delight:

Shift resources to help tie your business, success to your customers, success;

Customers:

Placed at the center, businesses will focus on removing friction to help their customers succeed and fuel growth for both themselves and their customers.

When you implement the flywheel technique you're continually giving customers, both new and old, the opportunity to be attracted, engaged and delighted by your brand.

5 Customer Success is the Secret Sauce in 2019

Customer success describes the the ways your business can help a customer get the most from your products and services. It's no longer enough to make the sale then move on to the next one.

Now you've used videos to attract and convert new customers, the next step is to use them to turn your customers into evangelists.

Customers love talking about the good service they have had, or the great value they got from a product. They also like to educate themselves or troubleshoot how to use a product or service.

Video is a fantastic way to encourage all of these activities.

Some companies have drastically reduced help desk requests by creating support, educational, or product training videos to cater to consumers who need to troubleshoot a problem, or for those who prefer self-service or simply want to expand their expertise.

You can use video to encourage reviews by sending thank you or on-boarding videos to get new customers rolling with their new purchase.

When you plan this kind of content with your videos, you create stronger bonds with your customers, brand evangelists and repeat custom.

In conclusion:

2019 looks exciting and promises lots of opportunities for brands harnessing the power of video in their marketing mix. It's essential to thoroughly plan your strategies though as half-hearted campaigns will no longer bring the results your business needs.

The way marketers use these powerful trends will determine the success of their marketing efforts. Business who adapt and use strategies like these, will reap the rewards and stay ahead of the game in 2019.

Why not partner with us? If you would like us to help you create a winning video strategy in 2019 then talk to us  ... Or if you have a specific project in mind that you would like to bring to life then why not get a quote.