A Guide to Video Marketing in Hong Kong
Video is the most effective form of content online. In 2020, the Omnicom Media Group Hong Kong conducted a study to analyze how Hong Kong residents consume video, and they found that respondents’ total viewing time had risen to 67 hours in 2020 from 66.6 hours in 2019. Respondents have also viewed an average 18.5 hours of video content on social media platforms, higher still than the number of hours logged in for the previous years. In fact, it was found that 91% of Hong Kongers use YouTube monthly, and the video platform is the second most popular social media platform in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is not alone in the rise of video content. Users across the globe have taken to consuming more video content, and it does not seem like the trend is bound to wane any time soon. As such, marketers should tap into this and develop their own video marketing strategies.
Video marketing is when video content is utilized for a brand’s marketing efforts. Videos can be used to foster engagement, increase brand awareness, and drive sales. It falls under the umbrella of digital marketing, and it is also a form of content marketing. It is a relatively new form of marketing, and it has been steadily rising in prominence over the last few years. It used to be incredibly expensive to produce video content, so brands with smaller budgets were unable to afford running their own video marketing campaigns. However, advancements in technology and the growth of social media as a platform for consumers have led to video marketing becoming more accessible to smaller businesses. According to data giant Cisco, over 80% of all Internet traffic will be made up of video content by 2021.
Who Is It For?
All businesses can benefit from having a video marketing strategy. With a solid video marketing strategy in place, brands can engage with their audiences more deeply and communicate their message more effectively. According to a study done by Oberlo, roughly 54% of consumers are interested in seeing more video content from their favorite brands and businesses, which is indicative of how the demand for video content will be increasing as time goes on. Additionally, viewers tend to retain 95% of a message when they come across it in a video as opposed to a 10% retention rate when they read the same message in text form. This is because video may be a more appealing medium than written content, especially since consumers love to see a practical example of how a product or service works or could benefit them.
Benefits of video marketing for a business
Video marketing can have many benefits for a business. After all, video is the leading type of content across the Internet. Here are five key benefits of having a video marketing strategy in place:
Improves SEO efforts
Search engines put a premium on videos that are properly tagged, and these types of videos would increase a brand’s chances of ranking higher when searched for. Search engines tend to prioritize content that encourages more and longer page views, which indicates the potential of video to engage with users across the Internet. Additionally, YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, which is indicative of how many individuals search for videos on a daily basis.
Builds a brand’s trust and credibility
Video content is an excellent way to showcase a brand’s personality. As mentioned above, consumers are hoping that the brands and businesses that they patronize would develop more video content. These videos could help educate and inform a brand’s audience about what the brand can do, which in turn would help foster consumers’ trust in the brand. A brand’s videos can also help establish the brand as an authority in their respective industry, which would certainly help them make more sales.
Video content encourages more users to share on their social platforms
As video is the most effective form of content online, users tend to share videos they find funny or engaging to their peers. It was found that roughly 92% of mobile video consumers share the videos that they watch with other users. If the audience genuinely enjoys or resonates with the video, the higher the chances are that they would share it to their social networks.
Videos can be another revenue-generating avenue
Brands can produce video content that can be monetized, depending on the platform where they are posted. Social media giants like YouTube and Instagram allow brands and creators to earn from the video content they post on the platform. Additionally, brands and marketers should also consider making some of their videos fee-based, meaning that they can be accessed if a user pays a certain amount. This could be any video that offers value to the audience, such as a how-to video, an educational video, or a special sneak preview of a brand’s upcoming event or product.
Video increases conversion rates
Brands should consider videos as an investment. HubSpot reported that having a video on a landing page has the potential to increase conversions by roughly 80%. Video can influence a consumer’s purchasing decision, and it could convert a page visitor to a lead, or convert a lead into a customer.
The Different Goals and Objectives of Video Marketing
In any type of marketing strategy, there is one important question that always needs to be asked: what do you want to achieve? Video marketing can be incredibly effective when properly executed, but in order to do this, brands and marketers need to establish their goals and objectives. Here are some of the goals and objectives that video marketing can help brands and marketers achieve:
Types of Video and Their Purposes
There is a wide range of videos that a brand can utilize for their marketing efforts. Each one can be effective at helping you achieve your goals, but it is important to be familiar with the different types of video content to see which ones can be utilized to connect with brands’ respective audiences.
Social Media Video
Social media videos are pieces of video content that you can promote and distribute across social media platforms and are created to connect with your audiences on social media. It’s important to note that on social media, videos are typically discovered rather than sought out, so you will have to employ tactics that will make the platforms’ respective algorithms work in your favor.
The
Explainer
Explainer videos are intended to explain what a brand is about and what types of products and services it offers. These are typically introductory videos, and they can be used to connect with new users who want to know a little more about your brand. Explainer videos can be placed on landing pages, homepages, or a prominent product page to gain more traction.
Behind The Scenes
A behind the scenes video showcases the work that goes into running your brand. It could highlight how your brand operates, and it can give audiences a sneak peek into your company culture. This can help foster trust and connection between the brand and the audience, which can contribute to an increase in sales.
Branded Mini-Documentary
Branded mini-documentaries showcase a factual story or report about a particular topic. This story must be connected to the brand, and the video content made with this may highlight subtle branding. This is an excellent way to show true-to-life,authentic examples of how average individuals use a brand’s products or services in their daily lives.
Product Demonstration
Demo videos showcase how a product or service works and how consumers can incorporate them into their daily routines. You could use product demonstration videos to provide viewers with valuable information about your product that may turn them into a lead or, even better, a customer! These types of videos allow consumers to dive deep into the features and benefits of a product or service, and they are usually effective in converting leads who are near the end-stages of their buyer’s journey. Product demonstration videos are also commonly used in B2B marketing.
UGC
User-generated content is a great way to build social proof. Having videos created around brand themes are also effective for building traction across social media. As a bonus, user-generated content is an inexpensive way to build content and connect further with audiences across the digital space.
Mini-movie
Mini-movies or short films are a good way to creatively showcase your brand or product. You can create a concept that highlights your brand and brand story and incorporate it into the mini-movie’s script. These do not have to be based on true events, but it would do well to develop a storyline that’s engaging and relatable.
The Livestream
The search query “Facebook live stream” has experienced a 330% uptick in searches since it was first launched in 2015. Today, most social media platforms offer live streaming, and it comes as no surprise. The live streaming industry is predicted to amount to $70.5 billion by 2021, and live videos tend to receive over 600% more engagement than a standard post, and 10 times more engagement than standard videos.
Live videos are incredibly effective for video marketing because they allow for real-time interaction with audiences. Viewers can converse with the live stream hosts, and they can bear witness to the conversation in real-time.
Animation
Animation videos are considered to be one of the most fun ways to present video content. They are typically easy-to-digest and engaging, and they can be produced with a low budget. Animation videos are best for condensing complicated topics into easy-to-learn videos, which could certainly help connect with consumers and educate them about a brand.
How to Create Engaging Videos
Define Target Audience
To create an engaging video, you must first know who you are creating it for. Who is your target audience? Brands usually develop a buyer persona to establish who their product or service would cater to, and this achieves the same purpose. Having a profile of your target audience means you will have an idea of the consumers who are most likely to respond to your video content and who are most likely to patronize your brand.
The following are what you should take into consideration when defining your target audience.
Age
How old is your target audience? What generation do they belong to? Different themes and styles cater to different age groups, and finding what works best with your target age group and implementing that into your video content and video marketing strategy would help you better connect with them.
Location
Where is your target audience primarily located? Is there anything you should note about the local culture? What is the local timezone? Location is an important factor in determining your target audience because it provides you with additional insight into who could be a potential customer.
Job
This particular criteria offers you insight into the purchasing power of your target audience. If you have an idea of this, you would be able to better grasp how willing your target audience would be to spend for your product or service.
Pain points
This is arguably one of the most important, if not the most important, criteria when defining your target audience. Pain points tell you what your consumer struggles with and what problems they need a solution to. If you are able to address their pain points with your brand, thereby providing them with a “pain reliever”, they are more likely to patronize your brand.
Online behavior
This factor helps understand what your target audience are most interested in when they are online. What videos, photos, and content are your target audience most likely to consume? What attracts them to click?
Set Goals
As mentioned above, you need to establish your goals before launching a video marketing campaign. The only way to know if your marketing campaign is successful is by measuring it, and it can only be measured against a set of established goals. Being able to measure the metrics of a marketing campaign is also important because it will show you if you need to adjust your campaign to achieve better results. Overall, goals provide you with a clear direction, and setting them would help keep your marketing efforts on track.
Define the brand message
What message does your brand want to convey? How do you go about conveying this message through the video content? This is an important element to establish because this is what connects the overall story of the video to your brand.
Create a storyboard and a script
What story do you want to tell? This is an important element of producing a video because it will dictate how the video will go. Storyboards are critical for visualizing the video and planning its outcome. They dictate how the video will proceed. Additionally, writing a script would be especially effective in establishing the video’s overall story.
Create a “hook”
People have been found to have an attention span shorter than that of a goldfish’s. That means the first few seconds of a video are critical to pique the audience’s interest and keep their focus. That is why you need a hook– a hook is what attracts your audience. This is the element of your video that will encourage your viewer to keep watching, and it could even push them to watch your video until the end. Here are three things you can do to provide your audience with a hook:
Show them a problem and instantly introduce a solution
Show your audience how your brand can help them and provide them with value. This can help you win them over. Earlier on in this article, we discussed pain points and the importance of providing audiences with solutions, or “pain relievers” to these pain points. A hook is the perfect opportunity to showcase how your product or service can solve your target audience’s problems.
Start telling
a story
Storytelling is an effective way to capture audiences’ attention. Good stories have the ability to trigger two chemical reactions in the brain: the release of cortisol and the release of oxytocin. Both chemicals help a viewer emotionally connect to what they are watching, which helps them stay hooked on a video longer.
Provide text so that the audience can read along
Text is a great way to engage with viewers from the get-go. It provides viewers with context, and it also helps differently-abled individuals better follow along with a video. Additionally, the majority of audiences watching on their mobile devices watch videos on mute. Text allows them to understand what is happening without having to hear any audio.
Video Marketing in Hong Kong
The state of video marketing in Hong Kong
Video marketing in Hong Kong is booming. According to Statista, Hong Kong's online video ad market amounted to around 0.9 billion Hong Kong dollars in 2016, and it was estimated to grow up to around 1.5 billion Hong Kong dollars by 2021. With these numbers, it is evident that video marketing is one of the most effective marketing strategies today, and it is booming in Hong Kong.
How can video marketing engage with Hong Kong audiences?
Hong Kongers are tech-savvy, and they enjoy spending time on their digital devices. Social media has also become a big part of the daily lives of Hong Kongers over the last decade. As of 2020, there are over 5.8 million social media users in Hong Kong, and Facebook and YouTube are the top two most prominent platforms in the region.
How can a video marketing agency from Hong Kong help a brand create an engaging video?
Hong Kong video marketing agencies are not only in tune with the local market, but they are also on top of global trends. They develop creative concepts that are sure to engage with brands’ specific target audiences, and they are equipped with the highest-quality equipment and technology to effectively pull off video marketing campaigns. From conception to execution, Hong Kong video marketing agencies are your best bet at producing a video marketing campaign that will help you achieve your goals.
Video marketing is a powerful way to communicate your brand message, tell your brand story, and engage with audiences from all walks of life. Discover how you can elevate your digital marketing with Double U Video.
Here are some sample viral videos we made for GAP For Good and RTHK Illustrator. Want to know how to do it?
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