Why is my video marketing not working? Uncover the reasons and the solutions

Video marketing has exploded over the last few years, with a growing amount of social platforms and user friendly technology allowing anyone to become a video content creator. With this comes a lot of confusion to what “video” we should be making as marketers.  What platforms should we be visible on, and how do we actually get ROI from our video marketing.

This article hopefully will give you some insight into some of the reasons why your video marketing is ineffective and provide some solutions.

1) Weak content and messaging

A common mistake is weak messaging.  This is often a result of pushing out video for the sake of it, rather than having a strategic plan in place.  In todays market, we often think quantity is more important than quality, which is the opposite to what many of us grew up understanding.

It’s really important that each video has a clear message, that will resonate with your audience.  Worth also considering how your message relates and matches up to your wider content, so there is a consistent thread.

Some of the best ways of over coming this is mapping out your video strategy for the next 12 months, even roughly looking at the next 3-5 years.  Understand where you might like to take it, which might better inform you of what you should be doing in the next 3-6 months.

Use storytelling techniques to engage the viewer, because we are all human after all.  Using a narrative will grab attention and resonate with people.

Make sure you have a clear call to action so that the viewer understands what they can do next.  This is of course unless you are a big brand that can just do a gratuitous brand campaign to remind people you exist!

2) Poor targeting and Audience Understanding

It is so important that you truly understand your audience, so that you can produce video content that they will engage with.  We often refer to the Mind the GAP-P theory, in which understanding your audience is an important part.

Undertaking audience insight is a great way of really defining the personas across your audience so that you can carefully plan appropriate video content for each of them.

Always remember that one thing isn’t going to appeal to everyone, but embrace the marmite approach.  It’s better for a small portion of your audience to absolutely love a video, whilst other scroll past without even noticing it, or better still a small amount absolutely hate it.  There is no such thing as bad PR, remember!  As long as you haven’t offended parts of your audience, you will be surprised how out there you can be to appeal to that one persona segment.

3) Incorrect production quality

This isn’t about comparing higher production value commercial filming with low-quality user generated video, because they both have a place in todays marketing collateral. However, it is about understanding what is right for your brand and your audience.  For some businesses a mix of both works well, and in recent years we have seen great results from user generated content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, but for other businesses it can damage the brand putting out content that doesn’t reflect its luxury position, or serious proposition.

It comes back to quality over quantity (or was it the other way?!). What is your audiences perception of the video content you are putting out?  It is worth investing in better equipment and skills in-house, or looking to find a video production supplier, who can be brought in to produce your video.  Some of the best video companies will also be able to offer a more strategic approach to video marketing, guiding you on what will work best.  Tap into that knowledge and you will often invest in better content that gets results.

4) Inconsistent branding

A style, tone, or simply the colour or chosen fonts can indicate to your audience who is speaking.  Having consistency is so crucial to building brand equity and ensuring your video marketing isn’t going to waste.

At times consistency can feel boring, when we want to flex our creative marketing muscles, however, keeping your brand consistent will pay back in dividend over the years.  One thing to consider is how well your brand guidelines covers video as a medium.  I would say 99% of all brand guidelines don’t cover video, at all.

5) Insufficient promotion

Having a fancy video is great, but if you just throw it on to YouTube it is very unlikely to get you results.  You need to determine how best to get it in front of your audience.

Consider a promotion plan, through advertising, email marketing, or playing to dedicated audiences at events.  You don’t necessarily need big numbers for results, but you do need to ensure your target audience is getting the opportunity to engage with your video content.

Hopefully some food for thought, but if you have a burning question, or you would like to pick the brains of one of our video marketing strategists, please do get in touch and we will be happy to jump on a call.