7 Common Misconceptions about Video Marketing

Video is more popular than ever and yet video marketing still gets a bit of a bad rap from brands and bigger companies and because of this scarcity mindset creators and brands alike continue to miss out on the opportunity provided by online video.

But here are 8 things you don’t know about video marketing that just might help you overcome your own bias or educate someone holding you back.

1. Most brands creating content or having content created for them, are playing it safe.

Now, let me clarify that. 

Sure, they know how to manage budgets and revenue and strategy, but most brands that I see creating and publishing content online are doing so out of a position of fear rather than abundance.

By that I mean they aren’t willing to take risks. 

They’re doing what other brands are doing and hoping to see the same or marginally better success. They have quotas to hit and the content reflects that. It’s SAFE.

That’s fine, but they have no vision, ambition, and strategy to go beyond their boundaries. They’re going to stay within the confines of their box because it costs X amount and delivers X amount in revenue.

That approach can get average results. I’ve seen it happen first hand.

But it will never get AMAZING results that have you scratching your head wondering why you didn’t do this earlier.

The extent of the risk they’re willing to take is increasing the budget allocated for an external video agency to take and waste on a silly video that actually has minimal tangible value for your target audience.

2. It doesn’t cost as much as you might think

Video marketing does not have to cost millions of dollars or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I’ve been hired to do video marketing as the only video person at the company before. I researched, wrote, shot, edited, optimized, and promoted the content I was making entirely in house.

Including my salary and a few pieces of equipment, the total investment for a year’s worth of content was less than $60,000.

And in a 1-year time frame, I delivered over 100 videos. 

Is there a learning curve? Of course

Could the quality be better? Of course!

But if you want to not just establish your video marketing presence, but set it up for long-term success then paying $600 per video for your employee to learn and grow and make each video better than the last all while building and cultivating an audience and community around your brand that can drive conversions and revenue, then this is an absolute steal

3. Video is forgiving

To be honest, video is unforgiving too in that a mistake you make online can last an eternity. BUT, people forget and move on which is what makes video such a forgiving medium.

If your last video was a total dud, it does not matter. Learn from what went wrong and could have been done better and move on. 

If your next video is amazing, no one will remember the flop.

This goes for the video quality too. If your video quality isn’t great, but the audio is solid and the value provided is tangible and actually helps people…it doesn’t really matter if your visuals are out of focus or color balanced improperly, or whatever the issue is.

Value provided is the true measure of success.

4. The goal is not to go viral.

I know that seems counterintuitive because for so many video creators these days that is the goal.

MrBeast seems to have the formula to doing it. Ryan Trahan is blowing us all out of the water right now with his series on getting across america with a penny.

And the list goes on.

But for the vast majority of us, going viral is not and should not be the goal.

Can it be a nice complement to the video work you’re doing? Of course!

But going viral can also mean a lot of cheap, untargeted, and unhelpful traffic.

Video marketing is about using content to reach and engage with specific people and that doesn’t always mesh well with virality.

Instead, the goal of video marketing is to show up and provide value to your audience consistently.

Whether you like Gary Vaynerchuk or not, his jab jab jab right hook methodology is right on the money. Give, give, give, and when the time is right…ask.

5. You need to include a CTA in EVERY video

Are you confused yet?

I know I just told you to give, give, give, and then ask. 

Which is still true, but you also need to include a call to action in every video you publish.

The key here is that a call to action doesn’t always have to serve you as the creator of the video.

You can use a call to action to continue providing value to the viewer.

You can do this by calling them to watch another video you’ve created that adds value. 

If they got value out of the video they’re watching, then what’s the next logical video for them to watch after this one? How can you best serve them next?

Maybe it’s not even your own video you send people to, but it provides them value and that’s what matters most here.

Or a call to action can be to get people involved and engaged in your community by getting them to comment on a video.

That’s not a big ask. You can ask them questions or you can invite them to ask you as a subject matter expert, any question they want. Then follow up and deliver value by answering those questions and keeping the conversation going.

Show them you’re invested in providing them as much value as you can.

That way, when it comes time to ask them to buy something or subscribe to an email list or download a free resource, they’re already primed and prepared and hungry for that offer.

Not all CTAs need to be about and for you, more often than not they should be about serving your viewers in some way, but do NOT neglect the CTA!

6. You don’t have to do it all yourself

Hire someone to do this for your brand full-time.

Hire a freelancer on upwork or fiverr to help you part time.

Collaborate with other creators.

The possibilities are endless. You’re only limited by your own creativity and strategy.

Sometimes it’s as simple as going live on YouTube for 20 minutes using your smartphone and teaching or talking about a topic and then turning that into a bunch of short-form clips to be shared across social media.

It doesn’t always have to be high-end, high budget productions that take weeks or months to bring to life.

7. YouTube is still King

YouTube is still unmatched in the opportunity it provides for video marketing.

I know the TikTok stans are going to come for me, but YouTube has staying power. For more than a decade the platform has enabled ANYONE to start a channel, grow an audience (without paying to do so), and earn money from their viewers in the process.

75% of views on YouTube come from recommended or suggested videos which means anyone can get their content seen.

The algorithm is designed to keep people on the platform as long as possible. So if you make content that people want to watch and provide them value, you have the opportunity to succeed.

And while the adsense dollars are a nice perk and incentive, YouTube’s true opportunity lies in connecting with an audience and leveraging that attention into off-platform opportunities. But that’s a topic for another time.

Now it’s your turn. What did I miss? Do you agree with me on all of these or do you take issue somewhere?

Let me know in the comments because I love this conversation and making sure more people know just have valuable video marketing is for anyone who wants to use it!