It doesn't matter who you are or how proficient you are at video marketing: one thing everyone agrees on is that there is always scope for improvement and optimization to wring out the last drop of returns from your strategy. As a video marketer, you're different from a filmmaker: your priority is to create content that is not only viewed, but also prompts the audience to take action. That is what helps you achieve your goals, whether it is closing deals or building and expanding a sales pipeline.

Almost everyone in the marketing industry knows that video, especially scalable video, is the next big thing. Insiders know that video is already here, and even more experienced professionals are investing time and money to become experts before everyone else catches up. Even so, we find that very few companies make full use of video marketing and most strategies look half-baked at best.

Which is why we, at StoryXpress , decided to write an article on how to refine and improve your video marketing strategy. Don't worry, if you're new to the game and are only starting out, you can first learn about developing a successful product video as well as check out some of the best campaigns of 2018 for some inspiration.

Optimize And Integrate

Once you have your video content, you need to continuously experiment around with it to see what combinations work with your ideal audience. Very few, if at all, organizations engage in A/B split testing to select the right thumbnails, the right calls-to-action, or collecting the right data from the viewers.

This does not stop at the videos either: the next step is to optimize the delivery channels. Be it your own website and analytics, or social platforms with targeting options and SEO, your task is to nail down the right audience and then show them exactly what they want to see, so much so that they are left to ask for more once your video ends and willingly part with valuable information that can fuel your march towards your business goals.

Knowing what combinations are most likely to yield results makes life easy for everyone.

The second part of this step is to integrate your video marketing strategy with your overall marketing machine. Most companies use a marketing or sales CRM and it contains troves of valuable data waiting to be harnessed by your video content. On the other hand, integrating your video analytics with your master CRM system can also unearth correlations that can prove to be instrumental in create potent, masterstroke video strategies.

Identify And Plug Weak Spots In Your Video Marketing Strategy

First things first, understand who you are creating your videos for. A deep understanding of buyer personas and buyer journey will help you create content that is relevant, serves a purpose, and incites meaningful reactions from your audience. Lay out your buyer journey and work on identifying weak spots from a content perspective. This could include stages where most buyers drop out of your process, which once identified can be plugged with informational video content that helps your prospects stay on a little longer and close the sale.

While producing content, optimize for decision-makers first. However, don't neglect other audiences, as while they may not meet you for a sale, lead generation is an important role often served by those who are not decision-makers themselves.

Make Different Departments Align Their Functions

In the recent years, marketing has turned into a game where both marketing as well as the sales departments need to collude for the most effective strategies. From customer acquisition in the form of account-based marketing, to video marketing strategies created with input from the sales units which, admittedly, are often the people who know the customers best, the idea is to get all hands on deck to ensure a complete experience for a prospect or customer.

All your departments are in this together, and your video marketing strategy should reflect that.

Sales reps are also an excellent delivery mechanism for your video content, and if personalized, such content can be a potent tool to turn qualified leads into customers. As we previously stressed in The 3 Big Obstacles Video Marketers Face - And How To Overcome Them, videos created with the goals of multiple departments in mind will do better than those created with a singular aim dictated by the marketing folks.

With these 3 steps, you can enhance your video marketing game to the next level. It's a nifty trick, really, but getting your departments to work together with data you already have in your systems but aren't utilizing well, is all there is to it. Use the content created this way to plug the weakest spots in your buyer journey, and voila, you have yourself a winning video marketing strategy!

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