86 percent of businesses use video marketing.

If your business is yet to jump on the video bandwagon, it’s leaving money on the table. Video has quickly become the most preferred content format for consumers.

For rookies, video advertising might sound as easy as shooting a video and posting it on various social media platforms. That’s not the case. There’s a lot of planning and thought that goes into running an effective video advertising campaign.

To help you run effective campaigns, we’re sharing errors in video advertising you must avoid.

Failing to Understand Your Target Audience

If you’ve been in business for a while, you certainly know your target customers. But how well do you know them and what’s that got to do with video advertising?

Different people consume video content differently. These differences can be categorized according to generational groups. For instance, the kind of video content that Gen Xers love is different from the kind of video content that Gen Zers love.

So, when you have done detailed profiling of your target audience, it’s easier to know their content consumption preferences. As such, you’ll be in a better position to create videos ads that match their video consumption preferences.

Running a Video Advertising Campaign Without a Proper Strategy

Video advertising isn’t something you just wake up one day and do. Well, technically, you can do that if you want, but there’s a high chance you won’t achieve the best results.

Running a video advertising campaign requires you to craft a proper strategy. This involves identifying the goals of the campaign, selecting the platforms on which you’ll run the ads, and establishing how to measure the results.

Crafting a video marketing strategy takes time and requires expertise, which is why you’d find some business owners opting to run videos ads without one. Don’t make this mistake.

Using Amateur Footage in the Ads

There are instances when it makes sense to use amateur footage. For example, if you’re a humanitarian organization, using raw footage showing the problem you’re trying to solve is an effective way to spread awareness.

In business, though, amateur footage will not only deliver poor sales but also hurt your brand. Keep in mind that amateur footage doesn’t only mean poorly shot videos. It can also extend to high-resolution videos that have been shot by somebody who isn’t a professional videographer.

Consumers can easily point out videos that lack professional-grade quality. This can affect how they interact with your videos. The solution here is to ensure you’re using a professional to shoot your advertising videos.

Failing to Use Different Types of Video Content

There are different types of video content you can use in your marketing. They include brand films, education videos, company culture videos, and product videos. Others include testimonials, explainer videos, and video PSAs.

Don’t stick to one or a few of these videos just because they’re delivering the results you want. Experiment with other forms as well. For example, you can throw in some animations and GIFs. Use this GIF maker from video to convert your own videos into killer GIFs.

Avoid These Errors in Video Advertising

Some of these errors in video advertising can make you question the effectiveness of video. The truth is video marketing is super-effective, but only if you’re doing it right. Avoid these errors and you’ll start seeing great results.

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