One of the toughest startup challenges you’ll face is working with a low budget. Marketing is necessary to build and connect with your audience. While there are a wide range of marketing strategies available, video marketing has proven to be a worthwhile investment.
According to Oberlo, 87% of marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool, while 74% of marketers say video has a better return on investment than static imagery (Biteable).
As video marketing becomes a more viable and cost-effective strategy, the ability to create high-quality video content is essential. In this guide, we’ll discuss how you can produce high-quality video content for little to no budget.
Video marketing strategy for a startup
To create great business video content, you need to achieve three goals:
- Know your target audience.
- Gain enough helpful insight and ideas on content.
- Produce your video using good video editing software.
For a more detailed action plan, refer to the following steps:
1. Develop a plan
To engage your viewers, your videos shouldn’t only promote your product or services. They need to tell a story. Plan how you’ll make the video content in a way that you can educate, entertain, and encourage your target market. Conduct research to generate more ideas for a coherent concept that fits your brand.
Include every resource you need to make a video: storyboards, business equipment, outfits, tools, venue, etc. This will aid you in planning your budget. For example, you can buy some from government auctions.
Additionally, making the script or creating the plot for the production before shooting is vital to use your time efficiently. This way, you can adequately develop good content that will showcase your message and your brand.
2. Gather a team
Even if you think you can do the video content alone, it’s still better to have a team to accompany you in doing the video production. Since it’s expensive to hire big and professional teams, you can gather people on your own.
You can look for small-time production groups or freelancers who will fit your budget. What’s important is you have these people in your team:
- Cameraman or main videographer
- Writer or director
- Sound tech
- Video editor
- Actors
3. Produce the video
Be at the shoot. This is mandatory if you’re part of the central production team. If not, you still need to go so you can monitor how the production is going. Provide humble insights and comments, especially if you want to suggest something and talk when they ask you for your opinion. Trust your team and work professionally with everyone.
You can create video content like:
- Product or service demonstrations
- Interviews with experts
- Slideshows of images with captions
- Instructional videos
- Behind the scenes of your business operation
After the shoot, continue to edit the video. Include only the best parts and edit out unnecessary details like background noise. You can also add effects and use a filter to set a mood for your video.
4. Promote your content
Post and promote your content on various channels to reach more audiences. Try the following strategies for promotion:
- Take advantage of social media platforms – Make sure to use big social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and more. This is an effective strategy to drive traffic to your official accounts while promoting your brand. Moreover, you can reach more people on these platforms since users can share your content.
- Learn about search engines optimization – SEO is an excellent tool for promotion. Let Google know what your video content is all about by using SEO-friendly descriptions, tags, and titles. This way, your video has a higher chance of appearing first on search results based on your included keywords and tags.
- Leverage paid search and influencer marketing – If you have an extra budget for promotion, you can also opt for paid advertising through Google ads or collaborating with influencers. For example, you can showcase and promote your content on Youtube by paying actual views.
Best video editing software
Since editing requires great video software, you need to pay for a subscription plan most of the time. But with a limited budget, you can try these excellent options for free:
Shotcut
Shotcut is a free video open-source software that’s available for download on your Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Shotcut has a straightforward and user-friendly interface and supports a wide range of video formats. You can even make videos of up to 4k resolution.
Lightworks (LWKS)
Lightworks (LWKS) is a popular professional video editing software with amazing effects and features. It’s available for free but has in-app subscription plans you can purchase for a pro account and other benefits. This is a widely used software for Youtube videos, cinema films, and others. More importantly, you can export to any video format after.
Movavi Video Editor Plus
It has a simple interface with powerful features. You can use this to make and convert vlogs, slideshows, and other types of video content. Movavi also processes videos to up to 4k and in full HD resolution.
iMovie
iMovie for PC is a free application created by Apple exclusively for macOS and iOS. It has notable storyboard-based movie-making and media organization tools.
FXhome
FXhome is a professional editor that’s beginner-friendly. It has versatile pro editing tools to make different content like Youtube videos, feature films, and more. It offers over 800 effects and preset tools. You can download its apps like HitFilm Express, Pro, and others for free.
Conclusion
Video marketing is one of the widely used marketing strategies because it’s effective and engaging. Even if you’re only starting your business and have a limited budget for this type of marketing, it’s not impossible to do. As long as you know how to produce your content and have the right tools to use, you can still create high-quality videos for your brand promotion.
Jeremy Biberdorf is a long-time internet marketing pro turned online entrepreneur and blogger. Check out his investing blog at Modest Money.
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