How to harness the power of video marketing

Video marketing comes in many forms – whether that’s a short animation to show your charity’s impact, an emotive interview with a service user, or a full-blown creative Christmas campaign with agency input.

 

It’s a direct and impactful way to promote services, raise brand awareness, and increase engagement – as well as inspiring people to donate. And that makes it an increasingly important part of your toolkit.

 

The numbers show that video packs a punch. Adding video to your email can increase click rates by 300% and on Twitter, video is six times more likely to be re-tweeted or liked than other types of media.

 

Video also helps audiences to remember you. According to Forbes: “viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it on video, compared to 10% when reading it in a text.”

 

The great news is that it’s easy to get started. Here are six steps that your charity may want to think about when creating video for the first time.

 

 

How to get started

 

 

Choose the right tools

 

According to HubSpot research, customers and consumers prefer lower quality, ‘authentic’ video over high-quality video that seems artificial – which is a bonus for beginners. Creating unpolished video is especially important for charities now, when during a cost-of-living crisis every donated pound is under scrutiny.

 

To get started, you can pretty much grab your phone out of your pocket. Make sure you have enough storage for a few takes and flip it to Do Not Disturb. Film either landscape or portrait depending on which platform you’re going to post it on. Avoid zooming in too close as it can make the final video pixelated – and don’t wobble. Whatever you do, invest in a tripod. 

 

There’s also lots of great free video software out there – take a look at our run-down. Vimeo top of the list as it’s easy to use if you’ve never created video content before.  

 

If you’re using animation (which can be great for simply explaining complicated messages), try Sparkol VideoScribe, which has drag and drop tools.

 

Find the right platforms

 

If you’ve never used video on any platform, begin with the ones where you already have an established audience. Unsurprisingly, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok are where most people watch video, so these could also be a good first step. 

 

Bear in mind that each platform requires a different video format. So if you’re likely to be repurposing content, it’s worth choosing those that have similar formats. SproutSocial has a useful summary.  

 

 

Pick the right type of video

 

Choose the type of video that sits best alongside your overall goals. Later down the line, when you have a few under your belt, review what’s working best and focus on the type of video that your audiences engage with the most. That might be:

 

Explainers: To inform your viewer about an element of your services or campaigns. These will help to build brand awareness.  

 

Behind-the-scenes: A video of what goes on behind the scenes is a great way to really show what your charity is about. For example, if you run a food bank, showing how food gets from donors to beneficiaries can help your audience understand the work you do, and importantly the impact it has on the people you support – all in an informal, direct way.

 

Case studies: Hearing first hand from your service users is the best way to get across how important and effective your services are. And ultimately, why someone should donate to your charity.

 

 

Write (or don’t write) a script

 

If you’re creating an intro to your charity video – that’s going to sit across all your platforms – it’s likely you’ll want to script it. As a central communication, it will need to get your key messages across and establish your brand. Without scripting, it’s going to be harder to edit and could end up longer than your audience will stick around for.

 

But if you’re making a quick TikTok to update on a campaign or rustle up some more participants for a fundraiser, then low-key and unscripted video is the way to go.

 

Importantly, remember that whether you script or not, your video needs to be silent friendly. Up to 78% of viewers will watch with the sound off, so you’ll need to caption.

 

 

Master post-production

 

If you don’t have the budget to pay for a video production company, there’s plenty of editing software out there. Again, Vimeo is a good option as you can trial it for free and it has ready-made templates for charities to customise.

 

 

Hire a videographer

 

If you have the cash, then you could hire a videographer who will both film and edit your video. It’s worth getting recommendations from other charities whose videos you like – then get quotes from three on your shortlist and sound them out about what they can offer.