By now I hope you have learned that online video marketing is a growing, critical discipline for businesses of all sizes. From the solo entrepreneur just starting their business to the large, well-established business introducing a new product, online video marketing can be the tool that takes your business to the next level.

Yes, we are all busy. Our to-do lists are long. They get longer every day. 

That said, online video marketing is an investment. You may not see results right away. But even though the content creation and production process do take some time, that time invested often pays off in spades. It just takes commitment, hard work, and the ability to develop awesome video content for your audience. 

The following tips don’t fall into a distinct bucket; rather, they are applicable throughout your video marketing experience. Whether you are a new video marketer or have been doing this for some time, I urge you to consider some of the advice below. Doing so will help you more quickly accomplish your video marketing goals. 

The Complexity of Data

One of the best things about online video marketing is that it provides you with a wealth of data. You simply don’t get as granular of data if you were running a print or television ad. With online video marketing, however, you can gain unique insights about what your audience likes (and dislikes). 

Let’s take YouTube, for instance. If you post some of your video marketing content to YouTube, you’ll be able to see views, average view duration, watch time, click-through rates, and more for every video. Along with this, you can access detailed information about age, gender, and top countries viewing your videos. 

As another example, if you chose to work with Dubb for your video marketing needs, you can immediately access Dubb’s detailed analytics dashboard. Upon sending a video email, for instance, you will be able to see the call to action click rates, email click rates, watch rates, reaction rates, and the average watch percentage of your video.

This data is extremely valuable. By combining A/B testing and detailed analytics, you can gain an intimate, objective look at what is and isn’t working. For example, you may discover that the awesome product walkthrough isn’t converting as much as you’d like. You can drill down and discover when your audience is dropping off and perhaps make an updated video that corrects the mistake. The ultimate benefit of discrete data is that it allows you to course-correct and create better, more relevant content for your audience.

There is a key caveat here, though. Data can be extremely powerful, but you do not want to blindly follow it. For instance, if you are just starting, your data may be misleading you.  A small sample size may be giving you a false impression of what your audience wants. You may be led astray by the opinions of just a few passionate people.

Ultimately, there is a fine line here. You certainly have to account for the data that you are receiving, but you also need to follow your intuition. You’ll need to make some judgment calls. This is never easy, but it has to be done. Fortunately, with more experience, you tend to get better at making these decisions. 

Documenting and Reflecting

Mistakes are inevitable in online video marketing. I have made my fair share of them and will probably make more mistakes in the future. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, you will make mistakes. There is no way around this. 

Nevertheless, there is one critical point here. The key to succeeding in online video marketing (or anything, for that matter) is to avoid making the same mistakes. By making the same mistakes, you will be running in place. You won’t get any closer to achieving your video marketing goals. If one of those mistakes is creating poor, irrelevant content for your audience, you will find it extremely difficult to accomplish your video marketing goals. 

The best way to avoid these repeat mistakes is to document and reflect on your work. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or formal. Instead, you can simply document what happened, what you thought before making that mistake, and what you will do in the future to prevent that mistake. Once you have reflected on and documented the mistake, make sure that you keep returning to your “mistake journal” so that you are reminded of some prior traps to avoid.  

You can do the same thing with your successes. Reflect on what has been working with your video marketing campaigns. It could be a particular style of video or some call to action that has drastically outperformed the others. Whatever it is, take note of what is working and double down on it.

This is all a nonstop, evolutionary process. It does take time to sit down and reflect on what is truly working and not working. By doing this, however, you will find that your video marketing campaigns will be more effective, whether your goal is conversions, stronger brand equity, or something else.

Finding Your Tribe

Throughout this blog, I have emphasized that all video marketers need to identify and understand their audience. Without having a deep understanding of your audience’s wants, needs, and desires, it becomes monumentally more difficult to create targeted, compelling video content.

Many video marketers, however, have a bias for making their audience as broad as possible. This makes intuitive sense. A larger audience means more potential conversions. Even if you slice off one percent of a hundred million person audience, the thinking goes, you still have an audience of one million people.

While it is tempting to adopt this mentality, I recommend that you think twice. Especially if you are starting, it is much more effective to focus on depth, not breadth. 

One of the most long-standing, yet still relevant, essays on this topic is called “1,000 True Fans” by Kevin Kelly. Kelly is one of the most recognized thinkers in technology, having founded Wired magazine. In this seminal essay, Kelly argues that creators are incentivized to cater to 1,000 raving, passionate fans instead of a larger group of less passionate fans. While the 1,000 number isn’t necessarily fixed, the bottom line is that creators can find success by embracing the long tail and creating high-quality content for a narrow group of people.

Ever since he posted the essay in 2008, Kelly’s essay has inspired all types of creators, from the solo entrepreneur working in her garage to the social media influencer on Instagram. Even if you work with a large organization with hundreds of thousands of Facebook fans, the point still stands. You’ll be more successful as an online video marketer if you zero in on your tribe and deliver compelling content to them. Your tribe could be vastly different than what you (or your competitors) expect. 

So there’s no need to feel anxious if you feel like you’re targeting “too small” of an audience. On the contrary, you can be on to something big. Whether you are trying to attract 1000 true fans (or even more), ensure that you are delivering the best, most relevant content that you can. If you can execute well, you will quickly attract some raving and enthusiastic fans. 

Good Luck!

We at Dubb love online video marketing. We think about it all the time. All of the time, effort, and investment are worth it because my team and I have seen it work—both with our clients and ourselves. 

As I discussed at the beginning of this blog, video content is becoming even more prevalent on the Internet. Your audience—no matter who they are—want to view compelling, high-quality video content. The beauty of the Internet is that you have every opportunity to deliver it to them. It requires you to take action, be persistent, avoid the same mistakes, and be laser-focused on your audience.

It is practically impossible to include every single detail that I have learned about this online video marketing. Moreover, the discipline is constantly changing and evolving. What works today may not necessarily work in several months. And lest we forget large social media platforms who, by changing a couple of lines of code, can turn the online marketing world upside down.

But this is what makes online video marketing so exciting. It offers countless opportunities to experiment. Along with this, the Internet has made it extremely cheap and easy to experiment. It’s in your interest to tinker with your video marketing campaign to see what truly works.

Even though I have presented some of my best insights and tips to get the most out of video marketing, the best way to learn is to simply get started. It will undoubtedly take time and energy on your part, but the juice is certainly worth the squeeze.

Finally, don’t hesitate to contact me! I love talking about video marketing with my followers and fans. To get in touch, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn or visit dubb.com.

I can’t wait to see what you create.