How to videos are among the most popular types of video. Audiences love them because they vividly show exactly how to do something, breaking the process into easy-to-follow steps. For marketers, the large audience for how-to videos is an opportunity worth exploring.
You will learn how to create awesome content ideas, build videos for different audiences, and use YouTube’s massive audience to achieve your goals. We will cover the best video marketing strategies to get you the most bang for your marketing budget.
Let’s dig right in.
Understanding How To Videos
How-to videos teach audiences how a process, concept, or product works in real-world use cases. These videos can take many forms, such as lectures, tutorials, or any other format that appeals to the target market.
Besides being educational, these videos are usually fun and easy to make, requiring minimal input in resources and editing. There are many reasons why you would want to make YouTuber how to videos as part of your marketing campaign.
Regardless, your goal should be to get clients to engage more with your content and brand. You can create a personal spin that creatively sends your message using how-to videos.
With more than 65% of people identifying as visual learners and 82% of people saying they use YouTube to learn, creating how to videos can help you tap into this audience.
How-to videos can help you communicate with customers by addressing their most urgent concerns and needs. Some of the reasons why you should consider using YouTube how-to videos today are:
They Can Boost Your SEO
Google, the leading search engine, prioritizes high-quality and engaging content. For instance, when a visitor comes to your site and lingers for five minutes or more watching engaging and informative content, Google views that as a reason to boost organic traffic.
Simplify Complicated Concepts For Your Audience
When you develop and launch a new product or service, you want to be sure your target market knows exactly how it works. Using how videos can help to demystify it for them and drive up your sales numbers.
Increase Engagement
A how to video is a great way to engage audiences compared to text-based content. They capture viewers’ attention and help them retain information for long periods. Creating YouTube how to videos can grow engagement and improve customer relationships.
A Cost-Effective Marketing Tool
A video tutorial costs much less than other marketing content types. Best of all, it can be embedded into future content, thus keeping costs low for generating traffic.
Boost Learning Outcomes
One study found that people learn better when they watch videos. Videos also allow you to cater to various learning styles, helping people understand information more effectively. Over time, these people can share their knowledge with others, helping to grow the visibility of your product.
Maximizing YouTube for How To Videos
YouTube how to videos can have a huge impact on the success of your marketing campaign. The video-based platform is the second largest search engine worldwide after Google. It is a great tool for communicating with a broad audience.
While YouTube is a great video platform, not all videos enjoy the same success. You can use these video marketing strategies on YouTube to maximize their effectiveness. A good example of a great how to video is this one by SundaySky.
Research Your Keywords
When using YouTube, remember it is a social media platform and a search engine. As with any search engine, you must focus on SEO. When your target audience types in a keyword, your video should appear in the results. That means you need to know what your audience is looking for and the words they use to find it. Once you know which words they use, you can sprinkle them into the descriptions, tags, and video titles.
Research The YouTube Algorithm
If you are unfamiliar with the YouTube algorithm, now is the time to study how it works. Knowing what type of content the algorithm shows audiences is the key to marketing success. On YouTube, viewers see new recommendations based on their search history, the channels they visit, and other metrics. Once you understand what your target market might search on YouTube, you can tailor the content to suit their needs.
Organize Content Into Playlists
Playlists ensure viewers who watch your instructional video do not move to another channel. With playlists, the next video in the list loads once a video ends. One way to utilize this feature is to break down the content into parts so users can view it as part of a series. Here is a great example of a playlist on how to use sundaySky to create videos.
Analyze Your Performance Metrics
YouTube’s powerful analytics can tell you a lot about your audience. The most important of these is audience retention. The metrics can show you where audience attention spans drop off. You can use this moment to pop up another video card to ensure your audience does not leave your channel altogether.
Use Other Channels To Drive Traffic To Your Videos
You can leverage all your available channels, including social media platforms and your website, to drive views to your YouTube how-to videos. This is especially true if you already have an audience on these other platforms. However, avoid using the same content format when cross-posting.
This is because other platforms want to keep viewers on their platforms. As such, they will downgrade links that encourage users to leave. Consider posting the whole video on platforms like X and Facebook to get the most reach.
Crafting Effective Instructional Videos
Creating successful instructional videos can be complex for inexperienced marketing teams. Most of the time, business owners say they do not know how to get started. Creating successful marketing videos can be a streamlined process despite how challenging it might seem. Here are some of the steps you should consider.
Decide Who Will Create The Content
The first step to making great YouTube videos is to decide whether to do it in-house or hire an outside team. The decision should be based on the cost, the current expertise of your team, and past experiences.
One great tool you can use is the SundaySky enterprise video platform. It simplifies creating professional marketing videos for enterprises and allows for easy personalization of videos using AI.
Set A Clear Goal
Before you begin working on your videos, it is important to have clear metrics to measure success.
Define The Audience
All successful video marketing strategies have a defined audience. You must create a target persona and see how best to address their needs. It will also mean defining a specific niche for the target audience. While YouTube has millions of viewers, users have only a narrow band of interests.
Create Your Message
Once you know the why and the who, developing a message for the video content takes time; your message must be consistent throughout your videos and remain focused on what will benefit the defined audience when they use your products.
Plan The Video Shoot
Your video’s visual aids and location will be important to your message. Plan each scene carefully to include only what your audience finds useful. Decide on the best angles and cues to help them understand. As part of the process, you can include animation, graphics, and live footage into the content.
Come Up With A Script
When you create a script, you can take your time and optimize it to make it memorable and engaging. Using the AI-powered SundaySky platform can help you speed up the script-making process.
Your script should contain only enough words to cover your main ideas. For example, when creating short videos of 30 seconds, keep the word count below 100. This lets you read at a natural pace while maintaining inflections and emphasizing important points.
Within the script, ensure that you use storytelling techniques. These techniques include funny, nostalgic, or sentimental stories that help your audience remember your video. At the end of the script, ensure you add a call to action that prompts your audience to take a step in the marketing funnel.
Pick Your Music Carefully
Good music and sound effects can make your video more entertaining and increase audience retention. Ensure that your music score is relatable to the tone of the script. For example, if you are trying to convey a serious message but use an upbeat, happy tone, it will distract from the core message.
Test The Message
Once you have created your video, it is time to test and refine it. Try it on a small section of your target audience and use their feedback to make tweaks. Carefully analyze everything they say; it could make or break your strategy.
Avoid Being Overly Promotional
When people click on your video, their goal is to learn something. When they feel that their attention is being used to push a product on them overtly, they will skip to a new video.
Avoid Poor Branding
When you want to avoid being overtly promotional, you also want to promote your brand properly. That means the video’s colors, themes, and visuals must reflect your brand identity well. A good example is this video by SundaySky introducing their brand.
Avoid Lengthy Videos
The best how to videos should be two minutes or less unless you are creating educational content. If you take too long to reach the point, you will see a sudden drop in attention.
Avoid Overloading Your Audience With Information
When creating YouTube how to videos, it can be tempting to include every detail of your product. However, that strategy will backfire. Instead, do short videos that cover specific aspects of a product if it is too complex. Otherwise, only include information that will directly benefit your target audience.
Creative How To Video Ideas for Businesses
While the types of how to videos you can find are endless, there are some common formats used by most people. Here are some of the common how to video ideas you can use:
Product Demos
If you are looking for easy how to videos ideas, you cannot go wrong with the product. These videos are a chance to show your audience how your product works and how it can benefit them. The videos should ideally be about two minutes long and show only the most important features. A great example is this demo video created by SundaySky.
Explainer Videos
Explainer videos such as this one are a way to tell your audience about a particular product and how it works. The video was created for T. Rowe Price using SundaySky, the AI-powered enterprise video platform.
The goal is to introduce the service or product in a clear, easy-to-understand format with useful graphics. Explainers are great instructional video ideas if you launch a new product and need to get your audience up to speed.
Lecture-Type Videos
These videos are often from recorded classes. They can sometimes be an hour or even five hours long. For instance, you could find an instructional video on how to open a small business. These types of videos are often exhaustive and cover all pain points.
Tutorial-Type Videos
These videos are often formatted as steps. Each step comes with instructions and visuals to help you understand a concept. For instance, you could find a tutorial on installing and configuring a piece of software on your computer. One of the best instructional video examples
is a tutorial video that provides all the necessary facts without overtly pushing the product.
Training-Style Videos
These videos explain complex topics and help viewers develop skills. Training videos often feature a talking head who points out various things during the video. For instance, it could be an instructional video on how to develop fine art skills.
Screencast Videos
These are another popular format for how-to videos. With a screencast video, you get a prerecorded computer screen that shows you which button to click to navigate a forum, for instance.
Micro Video Format
The micro instructional video format is usually brief videos of less than 2 minutes long. For instance, these videos could show you how to position yourself properly for a physical exercise.
Infographic Format Videos
These videos rely heavily on visuals to explain a concept to the viewer. This format is popular, especially with business concepts where complex financial matters must be broken down. Here is an example of a great infographic video that fulfills this description.
Video Marketing Strategies for How To Content
If you want to create excellent how-to content, you will need the best tools. A recent report by SundaySky found that business leaders were dissatisfied with existing video production tools. Once you have found the best tools, the next step is to utilize the strategies below to supercharge your campaign.
Repurpose Your Content
Repurposing your content can help you appeal to audiences’ emotions better. You must understand their problems, work on ideas, and write engaging scripts for your instructional video ideas.
Incorporate User-Generate Content Into Your Campaign
Adding user-generated content to marketing campaigns can help you connect with your audience authentically. If the content comes from fellow users, it can also help boost trust in your brand.
Start Using Vertical Videos
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube shorts are primarily known for their vertical videos. When creating how to content, consider formatting it vertically to appeal to audiences on these platforms.
Personalize Your Videos
To increase your appeal, use personalized videos targeted directly at specific persons. With SundaySky, AI-powered video personalization is now possible and easier than ever.
Supercharge You How Video Content Strategy Today
When talking about video content marketing, capitalizing on trends and getting eyeballs for your content is essential. Using how to videos helps you establish your brand and demonstrate unique aspects of your service.
However, not all videos will help you win over clients. A good video takes time, effort, and the right tools to achieve your marketing goals.
Find out the best video content marketing practices to help you win over loyal customers and boost your brand identity.
