Since the emergence of YouTube in 2005, the prevalence and impact of video marketing has exploded.
YouTube changed the game by allowing ordinary users to upload, publish and market their video content directly to the search engine.
Today, more than 2.6 billion people use the platform.
And YouTube isn’t the only player in town.
Vimeo, TikTok, Facebook and Instagram all have powerful video marketing capabilities to help businesses find each other.
Local businesses can use video marketing to drive traffic, reach more customers, and grow online.
Here are four strategies to build your local video marketing strategy.
The Value of Video Marketing for Local Businesses
Video is a powerful medium for local businesses.
While many might assume that video marketing is more the domain of online businesses, video marketing has many advantages in the local industry.
Benefits of local video marketing
- Website traffic: Publishing online videos and optimizing for clicks can bring more users directly to your website.
- Revenue increase: Video marketing can influence purchasing decisions and increase income for your local business.
- Brand awareness: Video exposes your business to more users on a wider range of platforms, which helps increase your business visibility
- Trust and authority: Publishing valuable content can build trust with your audience and lend authority to your business.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Embedding videos in your web pages and articles can help your site show up in Google’s organic or image search.
- Back links: Videos can add value to your content and encourage other websites to link to your website, which is good for SEO and referral traffic.
- Advertising by e-mail: Videos are great additions to your email marketing campaigns, driving more engagement and clicks.
- Advertisement: Many video platforms offer paid advertising opportunities to drive even more clicks and revenue for your business.
- Local presence: Posting videos about your community or local events can help you attract more customers to your area, even if you advertise online.
- Relevance: Creating relevant and engaging videos can further support your existing marketing campaigns, educate users about your business, and improve your digital footprint.
How to win with local video marketing
Recent studies show that 70% of viewers have purchased from a brand after seeing their video content on YouTube.
The opportunity is ripe for video marketing, even for local businesses.
Here are some ways to make video work for your local business.
1. Generate traffic with educational videos
Many small businesses struggle to drive organic traffic to their website due to their limited resources and reach. Your local business can potentially attract more visitors through SEO with educational video content.
Users actively search for information online.
If you can publish and market educational content tailored to their interests, you can use the power of search engines like Google and YouTube to increase your website traffic.
Tools such as Semrush and TubeBuddy allow you to search for the keywords that users search for on Google and YouTube.
Depending on the volume of terms and the level of competition, you can create videos targeting these topics.
Let’s say, for example, that you are a small law firm.
You can create educational videos around:
- “tips for hiring a divorce lawyer” (260 searches per month).
- “Tips and Tricks for Divorce Mediation” (170 searches per month).
- “Adoption Laws” for your state (390 searches per month).
You’ll want to optimize your YouTube video’s title, description, and tags for the target keywords you hope to rank for.
You can then post your video to YouTube and embed the video on your website.
This can help drive organic traffic to your website and increase your website’s authority within your industry.
2. Build trust with featured products
Consumers today are becoming increasingly skeptical of “scams” and false advertising claims.
Educated consumers are more likely to invest in brands they know and trust.
Video marketing can be a great way to build trust in your brand.
Product demos and tutorials allow you to demonstrate the benefits and features of your products.
You can show potential customers how they might enjoy your product, use specific features, and apply it to their daily lives. Sometimes showing is better than telling!
When webpage copy or blog posts aren’t enough, adding product showcase videos can encourage customers to buy from you.
So, if someone visits your store and later checks out your website, a helpful video might be enough to entice them to make a purchase.
Also, if you can find keywords to target in your video, you may be able to rank your video on Google and YouTube.
If you have e-commerce functionality, this can be a great way to generate online sales.
3. Repurpose video content on social media
Local small businesses face unique marketing challenges.
Often the market is smaller and local competition can be fierce.
Add to that the fact that many small businesses lack marketing resources, and it’s even more important to get the best value for money.
This is where content redirection comes in.
You can essentially “reuse” your video content across multiple platforms rather than creating unique video assets with reuse.
Here is an example of how it works:
- You conduct a Facebook Live video session through your local business Facebook page.
- You then download the Facebook Live video to your computer to later upload to YouTube.
- You edit your video and post it to YouTube while recording individual video clips on social media.
- You share these video clips again on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
- Once live, you embed your YouTube video in your latest blog post.
- You then link your blog post to your email marketing campaign.
In this case, you turn a single video into multiple pieces of content for use on seven different platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, website, and email).
You can see what a big time (and money) saver this is to your video marketing efforts.
4. Increase connection with company bios and testimonials
Customers often want to feel a close connection to the brand they hope to buy from.
This can be especially true for local businesses closer to their local community.
Video content can help nurture that connection.
There are several types of video ideas for building relationships with your customers:
Team Biographies
Ask your company’s team members to share interesting facts about their passions, experience, and hobbies to connect users with your company.
Testimonials
Ask existing customers if they would like to offer video testimonials about your products or services. This can help build trust with potential customers.
Interviews
Organize a [profressional]so that potential customers can learn more about your industry, your offerings, and/or your business.
Tutorials
Show your service or product in action with expert-led tours (can be live or pre-recorded)
Event Summary
If there’s a popular event in your area, consider recording your experience and adding your comment for a post-event recap. The event can be searched on Google or YouTube based on its popularity.
Community involvement
Does your company host volunteer events, scholarships, or otherwise get involved in your local community? Show your team in action by saving your work and showcasing it on your Community Initiatives page on your website.
facebook live
Facebook Live offers the real-time engagement you can’t get on many other platforms. This allows users to comment, ask questions, and engage with you in a live digital setting.
Video content adds a personal touch to your marketing.
Nurture that connection with potential customers and it can inspire a visit to your local business or online store.
Use video marketing to reach more local customers
Video marketing is not just the domain of online businesses.
Local businesses can also benefit from video in unique ways.
Although the goal isn’t to sell online, video marketing can foster connection, trust, and engagement with potential customers.
There are many creative ways to use video marketing in your local business.
Whether through educational videos, team bios, Facebook Live or other media, video is a great way to build your online and local presence.
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