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The number one reason most businesses don’t make videos for their company is that they don’t believe anyone will watch it. And they’re probably right… but they don’t have to be.

A lot of bloggers and agencies will tell you how to promote your video on YouTube or TikTok. Chances are, though, that you’ve already shot yourself in the foot by then. No one should ever make a marketing video without a plan for how they’ll disseminate it… or more simply, get it in front of a few thousand eyes. How you disseminate your video helps define what your is about.

A good plan is one you help make yourself

A good plan is more complex than it seems, but it doesn’t mean you can’t create it yourself.  Here are the steps we use to create a plan.

First, define your customer.  Most people intuitively know who their customer is– their demographics, tastes, and interests– but for planning purposes we need something more granular.  This is one of the most important steps in the process, and there are multiple characteristics we need to define:  age range, gender, budget, information sources, social media use… we’ll dive deeper into this step in a later blog post.

Next, pick your platforms. The term “platform” makes most people think of social media, but there are more places where your video can live:  your website, Amazon.com, Yelp, and Instructables to name a few.  When it comes to social media, there are a few rules to follow.  Unless your company is a startup, you’ve probably already “chosen” your social media platforms.  If so, now is a good time to make sure they’re the right ones.  First, you don’t have to be on every social media site.  These companies have millions of users– you only need a few hundred.  Second, it should be a site you should enjoy… at least a little.  Don’t force yourself to tweet if you hate it.  But in the best of worlds, your social media site should align with your customer’s preferred sites.  And it should align with their “use.” For example, people don’t use Pinterest to find or share current events. That activity is better done on Twitter and Facebook.

Now that you’ve defined your customer and chosen your platforms, it’s time to refine your goals.  For many businesses, this seems straightforward: to sell more of what they sell.  But this is also where people make their biggest mistake. That blunt, end-game goal creates the wrong type of video.  Instead, you should choose your goals based on your sales funnel.  Identify your customer’s obstacles and barriers for each stage of the funnel.  (f you want to learn more about sales funnels, read this post.)  Then pick the one obstacle that you want to address.

Finally, it’s time to talk about content.  What type of video will be the most effective in addressing this obstacles?  A commercial that raises awareness? Tips that not only show what your product can do, but how well it works? A “how it was made” video that highlights the superior quality? Or something that allows the potential customer get to know you personally?  After you’ve chosen your content type, you can align its format with your platform’s best practices.  What length is best? Will it be vertical or square? Are viewers likely to hear the sound?  You should refine your vision in terms of length, style (fast and hip?), format (horizontal, square, vertical?) and audio.

When shouldn’t you pay to promote a post?

Then it’s time to decide if this will be an organic post or a paid one. If you don’t have a big following on the platform– or if you want to reach new viewers– you’ll most likely want a paid post.  There are two exceptions here: the first are tutorials.  These can find their own audiences. The second is content/style videos that are self-produced; whether you promote these videos should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The final step is to  identify your evaluation metrics.  What’s your criteria for success?  Remember, we’ve chosen a goal that is more specific than “more sales,” so the evaluation criteria should be narrowed as well.  Yes, more sales, is one of the metrics, but so many factors and steps go into a sale that it’s nearly impossible to judge in the short term.  And you want to see results quickly and know if your video is working.

As you can see, all of these steps you can do yourself, though an expert can help deepen and refine your plan.  Unless your role at the business is marketing and outreach, your experience with multiple platforms, evaluation, and sales funnels may be more narrow than you’d like.  But understanding the steps and concepts is key to gaining the confidence you need that video marketing will work, that it can reach your goals. After all, research shows that video can increase click-thru rates by over 400%, and nearly double their “intention” to buy… but only if they see it.