Take your small business to the next level with our free video marketing workbook.
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From globally recognized companies to passion-project solopreneurs, everyone who’s selling something online can benefit from video marketing. Effective video ads help your products or services stand out in the crowded online marketplace and bring motivated customers to your website. Video marketing isn’t just a nice-to-have anymore—it’s a requirement for a successful online business.
Learn how to turn your video marketing into a powerful, traffic-boosting tool.
Define your goal
Each video you create should have a specific purpose. Connecting your video marketing to clearly defined goals will make it easy to see the benefits of your efforts and help keep your creativity on track. Before you pick up a camera, ask yourself how the story you’re telling is going to be to attract more traffic:
Are you introducing a new product or collection?
Is there a specific product or service you’re looking to promote?
Does your audience need training and education on some aspect of your business?
Are you updating your community about exciting news?
If you’re ready to get even more granular, consider your desired end result. Your approach to video marketing will change based on the goals you set, whether you’re aiming to boost sales, attract new customers, generate buzz, or deepen your connection with your community. You can use key performance indicators, or KPIs, as metrics to track your progress and assess whether you’re meeting your goals along the way. Setting defined goals will give you a clear direction for your overall strategy, from creative decisions to the platforms where you choose to share your video.
Create brand consistency
Whatever goal you’re setting out to achieve, video marketing is a valuable opportunity to share your branding with the world. Translate your design aesthetic—including a logo, color scheme, and fonts—into video content that represents what your brand is all about.
Well-executed video is emotional, evocative, and memorable. Whether it introduces a new customer to what you do or sparks excitement in a long-time follower, your video should communicate the kind of experience people can expect from your brand. Translating the look and feel of your website into your video marketing will help customers recognize your brand no matter where they encounter it.
Start with a solid foundation
The creative decisions you make about your video are likely to vary depending on the goals you set. No matter what kind of content you create, aim to impress your audience. Because video marketing is everywhere these days, customers have high expectations when it comes to quality. Start with a framework that will help you meet—and even exceed—those expectations.
Here are a few ways you can elevate the quality of your video marketing.
How long is your video? Shorter is always better: 30 seconds to two minutes maximum. Keeping it short will help you focus on what’s really important and ensure that your video holds the viewer’s attention.
Choose an engaging thumbnail: This is the first thing viewers will see, so make sure it’s something clickable. Your thumbnail should convince people to stop scrolling and push play.
Don’t forget a call to action: Without a CTA, the most beautiful video is still just a video. To turn it into a marketing tool, you need to direct viewers to take the next step, whether that’s visiting your website, signing up for your newsletter, or buying now.
You can use tools like the Marketing Kit in the Squarespace iOS app to make sure your content has all the elements needed to succeed. From easy-to-edit templates to automatic resizing for different platforms, you can save time and money on your video content creation.
Find your channel mix
Once your video is complete, it’s time to share it. Hosting it on your website or on a dedicated landing page is a great place to start, but if you’re aiming to increase website traffic you should share your video on other channels as well. If you’re new to this, do some research into your audience. Think about where your target customer already spends their time and where you’ve had success connecting with them. Whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or some combination, sharing your video on the right platforms will help you bring both new and returning customers to your website.
On social media channels, you can post for free or invest your advertising budget to create a sponsored post that will be seen by the people who are most likely to be interested. When you’ve taken the time to create the perfect video, consider using some ad budget so it’s seen and appreciated by as many people as possible.