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Types of videos every marketer should know about

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As a video production company, we are thoroughly familiar with which videos are important for marketing strategies. However, it may not seem as obvious to our customers as to what the differences are, or more importantly, what’s the best fit for their campaign. You may think that 2C makes commercials. And though we produce dreamy commercials, advertising to your audience comes in many different forms.

Brands invest more and more in video marketing because it works, but you already knew that if you read our piece on why video content is essential. Our goal here is to explore what and why it works, so you have an idea of where to look when creating visuals for your business. Not all video formats are equal. Brands must utilize different types of videos to positively impact their marketing strategy, and each type has its unique benefits.

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So let’s break it all down for you.

There are three objectives to video marketing, and videos often fall under at least one of the three, if not multiple:

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Awareness videos

Videos that pull attention to your brand, expressing who you are and what you are all about.  

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Engagement videos

Videos that engage your audience, these videos spark a reaction from the viewer. Depending on how they feel about the videos, it may influence them to “engage” or act towards involving themselves with your band.

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Educational videos

Education videos help with the decision process. They inform your audience and answer questions about your product/service.

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We have discussed some of these objectives briefly in our blog about what kinds of video content are good for branding. These objectives are known as sections of the marketing funnel. With some videos aimed at customer acquisition, others focus on converting people to purchase from your business. There are some videos aimed at customer retention, while others educate customers throughout the purchasing process. There are many levels to how videos impact this funnel, but videos have a huge impact on guiding your customers through these stages.

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Let's break down the technical terms for different videos. We will also give you a taste of our own work to help differentiate them:

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Brand videos/Company Culture Videos

Brand videos and company culture videos are the same thing. They showcase your brand, values, and introduce your business’ value proposition to potential customers. Most brand videos are a great jumping off point if you aren't sure what video content to create. Every business has its own origin story. Sharing that story is vital to reeling in customers and humanizing your business. People want to know who they are working with. What inspires them to run this business? What are they like? Give them a taste of who you are and highlight different areas of what makes your business unique. The most important piece of information we’ve learned over the years is that people buy from people. So don’t be afraid to show off your humanity.

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Testimonial videos

Current and previous customers can produce incredible assets for your brand. Why not leverage their experience by producing videos highlighting why they chose to do business with you? Having a conversation with them, talking about the perks of working with your company, the solutions provided, etc. is an incredibly powerful method of increasing your business's social proof. If you aren't super sure what that means, check out this article by Sprout Social that explains what social proof is and why it’s super important. Testimonials are a clear cut reference to the quality of your business but can also play into emotions and create a personal connection with your audience. People want to be a part of things, so seeing someone else associate with your business could influence them to also further their relationship with you.

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Case study

Now, a case study is similar, however, it comes from within the company.  Sounds biased right? Well, stay with me for a second. When you think of a case study what comes to mind? Approaching a problem and utilizing research to explain how a particular issue was solved. A case study takes these problems, unpacks the issues and outlines how solutions were generated. Traditionally it was through PowerPoint, tacky graphs, long papers, etc, so it’s evident why they didn’t sound all that fun or interesting. By converting these case studies into dynamic visuals or a video format, it becomes a more engaging medium and can help deliver the message more thoroughly, allowing for better information absorption. In the end, if that situation is communicated effectively, it showcases a positive outcome, happy customers, and a brand proud of its problem solving abilities. It is a visual documentation of a positive experience with your company, brand, or product that can go a long way if produced and leveraged effectively.

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‍Explainer videos/ Tutorial videos/ How-to videos/ Demonstration videos/ Product videos/FAQ’s

If you've read other blogs or articles on this topic you've probably seen these terms, but at the end of the day, each of these videos is essentially doing the same thing. These are all educational videos functioning a bit differently. Explainer videos sometimes come in the form of animated shorts, following a story of a character experiencing a challenge where the solution to a problem is a product or service. This isn't always the case but explainer videos usually answer questions about the product or brand and its functionality. Tutorial videos are exactly that. Tutorials on how something works, how to use a product or how a service functions. These tend to help answer questions for new and current customers alike. How-to, demonstration, and product videos (going through a product's functions and highlighting qualities), all act with the same intent as tutorial videos; to answer questions or concerns customers may have, and to highlight the benefits of investing/purchasing from your business. FAQs can be a bit different but are a way to directly involve yourself with your customers' questions. You can either have a FAQ page, which is traditionally the play or create short form FAQ videos to answer people's questions quickly. Hitting a huge wall of Q’s and A’s can be overwhelming, and reading them can be a lot, even if the information isn't that hard to understand. Through video FAQs, the answer is easily explained, leveraging brand aesthetics in a professional setting making it a much more personal and enjoyable experience.  It’s also important to note that these FAQ videos can be turned into marketing material.

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Live videos

Go the extra mile and host a high quality live video event for your brand that looks as put together as a professional news broadcast. That's just one other reason why working with a professional video production company can set you apart from the competition. Everything you would see on live tv; multiple angles, moving cameras, professional audio, panel discussions, lower thirds animations, transition frames, picture-in-picture, in-room displays, etc. can all be handled by professional crews. At 2C, we’ve added live event coverage to our creative capabilities and even combined it with pay-gated links. What this means depending on the style of event, is that businesses can now sell tickets at a lower price point for certain audiences. Live streams are a great way to increase event attendance and extend reach while increasing revenue at exponentially lower costs. 

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‍Event Recaps/BTS Videos

Events such as grand openings, launches, celebrations, etc. are all interesting scenarios that should be captured. You want to get it right though, and that can be difficult without the help of a professional team. Event recaps highlight the event itself but more importantly, the culture of your brand over the course of the event. These are similar to a brand video, but events allow room for the videos to be more exciting, fresh and Hollywood-trailer-esque. It also allows attendees to relive the moments they were a part of. BTS (aka Behind The Scenes) bleeds into this definition, but can also branch out from only covering events. By showing what goes on behind the scenes, how products are made, who's involved, collaborations, etc, the audience is invited to peek into the window of the company, its processes, and ultimately bridges the knowledge gap for potential customers. Customers love to be in the loop, and seeing behind the scenes gives people confidence in their association. Bringing them along for the ride can be a powerful tactic in nudging them to commit to your product/service. 

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Short form Content/ Micro content

We have chatted about this kind of content thoroughly in our blog all about microcontent. It's essentially a short video communicating a message easily digestible by your audience. It can be used to gain someone's attention and redirect them to longer form content where you can increase interest or answer questions they may have. Getting them to that long form content is the goal. You want the video content produced to create a conduit to each other so it can be easily accessible. Short form videos can be a great bridge to these longer form videos and are great jumping off points for highlighting customers' pains, gains, and fears.

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Video Documentaries 

This may seem like a leap into some hardcore cinematic territory, but it still falls into a strategic way of inflating the engagement of your videos. Documentaries utilize a medley of the video genres mentioned above. They can be used for marketing anything from events, processes, brand culture, or products. But it delves a bit deeper and adds emotion and human connection to advertising. Sometimes video docs cover aspects of your brand that would seem out of place in a short form video or how-to. With docs, a testimonial or case study can become a really deep story about a client's business changing experience after finding your product. A culture video can be stretched out to showcase the founder’s life leading up to creating the brand. Documentary style videos should document a reason why your company is an important part of the community and can inspire people to take action and invest in the product/service. Documentaries fall under a lot of these above definitions but are reserved for a more authentic and human way of video telling because it uses a story as its bottom line. Emotion is a big part of creating this "deeper" connection with customers, it’s very much engaging content that creates connection and awareness. They are a powerful and unique medium that can be an indispensable part of your marketing strategy, leaving a lasting impression and setting you apart from competitors.

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“Documentary films tell important, often unknown stories and bring awareness to a wider audience, and are some of the best resources for information, inspiration and entertainment."

- Parminder Vir 

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Product Launches 

If your business is about to release a new product or service, instead of just slapping it on a site or shelf, producing a product launch video can be a super exciting visual to command attention. Product launches are a great opportunity to improve customer acquisition, conversions and retention as well as a surefire way to make a positive impression. Social media platforms love product videos. It’s why Facebook, Instagram, and others integrate with platforms like Shopify to leverage media to sell products. These platforms allow for products to be showcased in an entertaining, short and accessible manner, making it easy to get drawn in and interested. Plus videos are sharable, commendable and taggable. If someone enjoys a video or knows someone who might find it interesting, it gets shared and can boost the reach. You can be sure well created video content will make your product’s D-day a big spectacle.

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