How to Make Video Marketing Work for Local Businesses

---

Consumers' online presence and engagement have finally triggered local businesses to explore online marketing options. Video marketing holds the strongest position among marketing tactics to gain consumer traction.
Hubspot Marketing Report states that 87% of video marketers have increased website traffic.
At the same time, 80% of video marketers have increased their sales directly via videos. So, if local businesses invest in video marketing, they will find a firm footing in the online and offline market.

8 Tips for Making Video Marketing Work for Your Local Business

---

Any small business can get a much-needed boost if they implement video marketing tactics mentioned here:

1. Be Clear About Your Goals

Before pinning down the video-making process, you will have to be clear about your goals. What are you trying to achieve from this marketing effort? Who is your audience? How will you measure your work results? Here are a few common goals you must include:

• To spread brand awareness
• To engage viewers
• To establish a rapport of your business among locals
• To demand generation and conversion
• To increase consumer value
• To grow and maintain leadership in the local business

Once your goals are clear, you need to figure out tools to help you take video marketing ahead. Here are some tools to rely on:

• Agorapulse: Reach out to your target audience, get content suggestions, and much more.
• Vidyard: Generate leads, train employees and get integrated Hubspot tool to keep track of leads
• Filmora: Go strong with your video editing game just like professionals

Here's what Filmora's user interface looks like:

2. Focus on Video Type

After defining video marketing goals for your local business, you'll have to switch to content ideation. Focus on the types of videos you want to create. Choose the format, platforms, and monetary aspect of video creation. Video suggestions for your local business:

• Create Brand/ product related videos
• Show BTS. Behind the Scenes will allow your consumers to know the process followed to reach the result
• Give information and instructions. Educate your audience with the relevant information
• Upload testimonials and team details.
• Collaborate with other local businesses and expand your horizon

To get content ideas, you can use the following tools:

• Google Trends: Spot what is trending and get your next big idea
• Forekast: Get a list of upcoming events a month in advance
• BuzzSumo: Just type your keyword and filter topics for your locality instantly

Here's a screenshot of Google Trends displaying what is currently popular in search:
Read: YouTube SEO Techniques to Get Increasing Video Views

3. Don't Neglect Technical Requirements

Local businesses hesitate to get into video marketing. They fear the extensive cost and equipment required. But we all know how easy it has become to shoot a video from your phone, like professionals. But if you can, get a professional camera, lighting equipment, microphone, etc.
Here are a few tips for shooting your videos:

• Always shoot using a tripod. You could be using your phone or a camera, but a tripod should be consistent
• Get a microphone. Don't rely on audio equipment in your phone or camera.
• Get professional lights or go out to find the right spot to shoot videos
• Adjust your frame according to the platform you're planning to post the video
• Understand features of your phone camera or professional camera before shooting

A tripod stabilizes any pictures or videos you want to capture:

4. Follow a Script

Video making may look like a cakewalk, but it's not. Your local business cannot rely on half-hearted efforts. If you are serious about video marketing, you cannot ignore a script. Before shooting, you must have a script ready and approved.
Here's how having a script will help you:

• A clear idea of video expectations
• Pre-approved budget hence no monetary requirements at the last minute
• Ample time for performers to prepare for the video
• Easier to set and meet production requirements
• Stick to timelines and helps in better organization

The following tools will help first-time scriptwriters in local businesses:

• Studio Binder: Your destination to write a script, record scene-by-scene requirements, and much more.
• Final Draft: Trusted by 95% of Film and TV productions for advanced brainstorming.
• Celtx: A cloud-based script writing app that helps you create better content with actionable insights.

Here's a screenshot of Celtx:

5. Edit Like a Pro

This is one of the most critical factors for video marketing. The quality editing and knowledge of the platforms you're posting the videos on are crucial. You can add panache and create magic while editing videos. Just keep in mind your target audience.
Here are a couple of tips to help you edit your videos:

• Choose the right software to edit your videos
• Watch complete footage before editing
• Throw in a few bloopers
• Finalize on the right music
• Please don't overdo it

A couple of video editing tools that will help you are:

• iMovie: If you've shot your video on iPhone, this is your go-to app
• Pinnacle Studio: If you're a beginner, this is an excellent software to start with
• Adobe Premiere Pro: The most popular video editing software among professionals

Here's what Adobe Premiere Pro's user interface looks like:

6. Optimize Your Videos for Better Reach

Besides editing, you will have to optimize your videos with the right keywords. These keywords go in the title and description of the video. If you want your videos to perform on search engines and other platforms, you cannot rule out Video SEO.
Here are some tips to optimize your videos for local businesses:

• Take advantage of geotagging for your local business
• Add a good description with the right keywords
• Use relevant hashtags
• Add CTA in the video and description

Take note of the tools mentioned here to get the right keywords for local business video marketing:

• Keywordtool.io: This tool will give you the right keywords for your location and choice of the video platform
• VidIQ: If you're optimizing your video for YouTube, this should be your go-to keyword research tool
• Ahrefs: If Facebook, Netflix, and Uber trust it, you can too.

Here's an example of a brand using relevant hashtags for a product video:

7. Promote Your Videos Across All Channels

No matter how good your video turns out, it will not perform the best without promotion. One of the most important things in video marketing is video promotion. You will have to develop a strategy to promote videos and reach the right target audience.
You can use the following tips to promote your videos:

• Put out a teaser video
• Add an exciting thumbnail to your video
• Use all the channels for promotion, including social media, email, search engines, paid advertisements, etc.
• Schedule your video for publishing

Here are a couple of tools that will enable video compatibility for different platforms:

• Promo: Partnered with Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, Promo lets you adjust your videos for every platform easily.
• Movavi Video Editor: Export the video for all platforms instantly
• Shakr: Customize your video for different social media platforms for promotion easily.

Here's a screenshot of Promo's workflow:

8. Decide KPIs and Analyze Results

No marketing efforts are worth anything if you don't measure them correctly. You must check if the strategy you built has brought any positive results or not. Although the market research states that video marketing boosts businesses and audience traction, you need to track that for your local business.
A couple of metrics mentioned below must be included while deciding KPIs

• Observe the play rate and watch time of the video
• Check the audience engagement rate via likes, shares, and comments
• Analyze the ROI of your video marketing efforts
• Focus on viewer demographics. These are important insights for local businesses.

To measure the results of your video marketing efforts, you can rely on the following tools:

• Google Analytics: One of the best ways to track the performance of all your online marketing efforts.
• Tube Buddy: If you are diligently working on YouTube, this tool is just for you.
• Viralstat: This tool will help you analyze data across different social media platforms.

YouTube's channel analytics provides deep insights into the performance of your videos on the platform:
Read: Which SEO KPIs You Should Measure (And Why)?

Key Takeaways

---

• Zero down on your goals.
• Create a variety of video content for different platforms
• Be technically equipped
• Prepare a script beforehand
• Edit your videos professionally for all platforms
• Optimize the video across video platforms for better results
• Promote your video content on every channel
• Make a list of KPIs to measure the performance of video marketing efforts for your local business