I often experience that companies underestimate how large a role video plays in the way we consume content online today.
Whether people are scrolling through social media, searching for guides online, or researching products before making a purchase, video is often a central part of the user experience.
For many brands, this means that video marketing is increasingly becoming an important discipline in the digital toolbox.
Video can create awareness, explain complex messages, and help build a stronger relationship with the target audience.
But does that mean every brand should invest heavily in video marketing?
Not necessarily.
In practice, it almost always depends on the company’s goals, target audience, and available resources.
In this post, we will therefore take a closer look at what video marketing actually is, which advantages and challenges come with it, and how to evaluate whether video should be a central part of your marketing strategy.
What is video marketing?
Video marketing refers to the use of video content as part of a company’s marketing strategy.
The purpose can vary, but video is typically used to inform, engage, or persuade a target audience.
Video marketing can take place on many different platforms and in many different formats.
However, which types of video work best often depends on whether you are working with B2B or B2C marketing.
In B2B marketing, the audience is often more information driven and the decision making processes are longer.
Here, video is typically used to explain solutions, share knowledge, or document results.
Typical B2B video formats:
- Thought leadership videos on platforms such as LinkedIn
- Product demonstrations and walkthroughs
- Customer cases and testimonials from companies
- Explainer videos on YouTube
- Tutorials and how-to videos for onboarding or knowledge sharing
- Webinars and professional presentations
In B2C marketing, the goal is often to create awareness, engagement, and faster purchase decisions.
Here, shorter and more entertaining video formats often perform better.
Typical B2C video formats:
- Short videos for social media
- Product videos or highlights
- Behind the scenes content
- Influencer or UGC inspired content
- Customer testimonials
- Storytelling about the brand or the lifestyle around the product
What all formats have in common is that video makes it possible to combine visuals, sound, and storytelling in a way that often makes the message easier to understand and more engaging for the viewer.
In practice, video is therefore often used as an integrated part of a broader digital strategy where it is combined with activities such as content marketing, SEO, social media, and email marketing.
Why video has become so popular
There are several reasons why video today plays such a large role in digital marketing.
One of the things I often discuss with companies is how user media habits have changed in recent years.
Many people today prefer content that is quick and easy to understand. In fact, around 66 percent of consumers highlight video as the most engaging content format.
Video fits perfectly into this development because it combines images, sound, and storytelling in one format.
At the same time, many digital platforms are designed to highlight video content.
On social media, algorithms often prioritize video over static posts, which naturally makes the format even more attractive.
Video can make complex messages easier to understand
Many products and services can be difficult to explain through text alone, especially when dealing with technical solutions, digital platforms, or processes that involve several steps.
I often find that companies underestimate how much clarity a simple product demo or screen recording can create.
A short video clip of 60 to 90 seconds can in many cases explain more than a longer text page, simply because the user can see the solution with their own eyes.
Video often creates higher engagement
Video generally tends to create more engagement than static content.
When users encounter a video in their feed or on a website, there is a greater chance that they will pause and spend more time with the content.
Video plays a particularly central role on social media.
Many platforms prioritize video in their algorithms, which means that video content often receives greater reach and more interactions in the form of likes, comments, and shares.
Video can strengthen brand credibility
Video can also be a powerful tool for building trust.
When people see and hear others talk about a product, a company, or an experience, it often feels more authentic than a traditional marketing message.
For this reason, many companies use video to provide a more honest and human insight into their work.
This can be done through interviews with employees, small behind the scenes glimpses, or customer stories from real projects.
This type of content can make the brand feel more relatable and credible.
Instead of simply telling the audience what the company does, viewers are able to see it in practice and hear experiences from people who have worked with the solution.
Video can strengthen your SEO efforts
Video can also play a role in search engine optimization.
Although video alone does not automatically lead to better rankings in Google, it can indirectly influence several factors that matter for SEO.
First, video can increase the amount of time users spend on a page.
If a visitor watches a video on a landing page or within a blog post, they will often stay on the page longer.
This can be a positive signal for search engines because it indicates that the content is relevant.
In addition, video can also create extra visibility in search results.
Videos may appear in Google’s video results or in searches on platforms such as YouTube, which in practice functions as the world’s second largest search engine.
When video is combined with strong written content, it can therefore help strengthen a website’s overall visibility in search engines.
Which types of video work well in marketing?
There are many different types of videos that companies can use in their marketing strategies.
Which ones work best depends largely on the audience and the purpose of the video.
Let us look at some of the most commonly used formats.
Explainer videos
Explainer videos are short videos that explain a product, a service, or a concept.
They are often used on websites or landing pages where they help visitors quickly understand what the company offers.
A typical example could be a SaaS company explaining its platform through a short animation or a screen recording.
The advantages of explainer videos include the ability to:
- Explain complex solutions quickly
- Increase understanding of the product’s value
- Reduce uncertainty among potential customers
Tutorials and guides
Videos that teach the audience something are among the most popular types of content online.
Guides and tutorials can show:
- How to use a product
- How to solve a specific task
- Tips and tricks within a particular industry
This type of content can be especially effective in a content marketing strategy because it both creates value for users and positions the company as an expert in the field.
Customer cases og testimonials
Customer stories are an effective way to build credibility.
When potential customers can hear other companies or users talk about their experiences, it often has a stronger impact than traditional advertising messages.
Video testimonials can be used to show:
- How a customer solved a problem
- Which results they achieved
- What the collaboration with the company was like
This type of video can be particularly effective in B2B marketing.
Brand storytelling
Some companies use video to tell the story of their brand.
This can include stories about the company’s values, mission, or background.
This type of content is often less sales oriented and focuses more on creating an emotional connection with the audience.
Brand storytelling may include:
- The story behind the company
- Interviews with founders or employees
- Insights into the company culture
Over time, this type of content can help strengthen brand identity.
How to evaluate whether video marketing makes sense for your brand
Although video marketing plays an increasingly large role in the digital world, it does not necessarily mean that every company should invest equally in the format.
In practice, it often comes down to evaluating whether video makes sense in relation to the company’s audience, messages, and resources.
If you are considering working more strategically with video, it can be helpful to start with a few fundamental questions.
Who is your target audience?
First and foremost, you should examine how your audience prefers to consume content.
Some audiences are highly active on video based platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram, while others primarily engage with articles, reports, or newsletters.
The better you understand your audience’s media habits, the easier it becomes to determine the role video should play in your communication.
What message do you want to communicate?
Video is particularly well suited for visual or complex messages.
If your product or service involves processes, functions, or results that are easier to show than to explain, video can be a powerful complement to written content.
What resources do you have available?
Although video marketing does not necessarily require large productions, it still requires planning and time.
It is therefore important to consider how video fits into the company’s existing marketing work.
For example, ask yourself:
- Who will produce the content?
- How often does it make sense to publish videos?
- Which platforms should the videos be distributed on?
How to get started with video marketing
If you want to test video marketing, you do not need to start with a large scale production.
It is often beneficial to begin with small steps and learn along the way.
Here are a few simple steps you can take.
1. Define the goal of the video
The first step is to clarify what the video should achieve.
Video should not be produced simply because the format is popular. It should always support a specific marketing objective.
Depending on where in the customer journey the video will be used, the goal may vary.
Some videos primarily aim to create awareness around the brand, while others aim to explain a product or motivate a potential customer to take the next step.
This could include goals such as:
- Increased brand awareness
- Explaining a product or service
- Lead generation
- Engagement on social media
When the goal is clear from the beginning, it becomes easier to plan the content and measure whether the video actually creates value.
2. Choose the right platform
An important part of video marketing is selecting the platform where the content makes the most sense.
Video performs differently depending on the context and the platform where it is published.
It can therefore be useful to consider:
- Where your audience is already active
- Which types of video content perform well on the platform
- How the video fits into your existing content strategy
By adapting the format to the platform, you increase the likelihood that the video will actually be seen and engage the audience.
3. Focus on value for the audience
Regardless of platform or format, the most important factor for successful video marketing is still the relevance of the content for the audience.
If the video does not provide clear value to the viewer, it will rarely generate much engagement.
Video should therefore always start from the audience’s needs, questions, or challenges.
This could involve explaining something complex, offering practical advice, or demonstrating concrete solutions in practice.
Ask yourself:
What does the viewer gain from watching this video?
The clearer the value is for the viewer, the greater the likelihood that the video will be watched to the end, shared, or lead to a desired action.
4. Test and optimize
Like all other forms of digital marketing, video marketing is a discipline that should evolve through testing and analysis.
The first videos will rarely be perfect, but they can provide valuable insights into what works and what can be improved.
By analyzing data, you can gradually optimize both the content, format, and distribution.
It may be useful to examine factors such as:
- Watch time (how long users watch the video)
- Engagement (likes, comments, and shares)
- Click through rate
- Conversions
These data points can provide a clearer picture of which types of videos resonate best with your audience and where in the customer journey video creates the most value.
The future of video marketing
Everything indicates that video will play an even greater role in digital marketing in the coming years.
Platforms continue to invest heavily in video formats, and user media habits are moving toward more visual content.
At the same time, new AI based technologies make it easier than ever to produce and edit video.
This also means that video is no longer limited to companies with large marketing budgets.
Today, many brands can achieve strong results with relatively simple productions as long as the content is relevant and targeted.
For many companies, video will therefore increasingly become a natural supplement to other forms of content marketing.
A strategic supplement
Video marketing has without doubt become a central part of the digital marketing landscape.
For many companies, video can be an effective way to communicate messages, engage the target audience, and strengthen brand visibility online.
However, this does not necessarily mean that all brands should produce large amounts of video content.
The most important thing is to start from the company’s goals, target audience, and resources. In some cases, a few well produced videos can create far more value than a large amount of content without a clear strategy.
As a digital marketing consultant, I often see companies achieve the best results when video is used as a strategic supplement to other marketing efforts rather than as an isolated discipline.
When video is used correctly, it can become a powerful tool for creating visibility, engagement, and stronger relationships with the target audience.
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