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Happy New Year! 2015 is shimmering with exciting potential for personal and financial growth. Many companies large and small will be honing their video marketing crafts throughout the year and into the future. Regardless if you’re new to the game or a seasoned pro, work towards these eight video marketing new year’s resolutions and you’ll be reaching new heights.

Add Video To Your Landing Pages

A study published by eyeviewdigital found increased conversion rates of 15-86% when embedding videos to landing pages compared to originals. It’s all about understanding how your buyer personas absorb information to make decisions and then providing the right resources for audiences to take action.

Tip: the language of each script needs to be tailored to each landing page and offer. What does this mean? It’s hard getting away with a generic landing page video! Offers change and calls-to-action change depending on the desired result. You need to match the script to the offer to the CTA with empathetic language your actual customers use! Investigate your keyword tools and analytics data to find the words and phrases your stakeholders use. Incorporate them into your scripts for each distinct video.

Tip: be careful to avoid video landing page mistakes like crappy audio, crappy video, or  blatant “me me me” hardselling. You’ll see a stark drop off in your KPIs with an increase in negative sentiment around your brand. If it looks like a joke, people will think it’s a joke.

Split Test w/ Video

Putting videos on your landing pages isn’t enough. Test everything! Test the copy, the calls-to-action, the offers, the color schemes, the layouts. Test different versions of your video! Perhaps that 60 second explainer is commanding more watch time and signups than your 90 second cut. Perhaps you’re capturing more leads with a video AND a supplementary infographic together. Keep testing and optimizing for the buyer experience.

Invest in Better Lighting

Better lighting doesn’t always mean you have to inflate your budget. You can even find several low cost lighting resources involving household items and unorthodox setups. Let your creativity flow. Check out this cool Christmas light board developed by OregonFilmmaker.com. Notice the awesome bokeh effect in action with a shallow depth of field. Bottom line: you can invest in great softboxes, ring lights, stands, and other great lighting accessories while you develop new workarounds and solutions.

Investing in better lighting can also mean investing in better technique. Once you perfect the basics, you’ll become confident enough to introduce new schemes and methods. Don’t know what the basics are? Check out this basic lighting tutorial from Eve Hazelton of Realm Pictures. The tutorial explains elementary three point lighting and the possibilities for greater nuances:

Mastering basic and intermediate techniques allows you to budget accordingly depending on what’s necessary and practical and what’s a stretch. Soon, your video’s visuals will be hitting the next level!

Invest in Better Sound

Audiences can stomach mediocre picture quality for the most part. Bad sound? That’s pretty much unforgivable these days. Marketers need to be aware of the viewing experience by capturing the best audio possible. Your video could be competing with a lot of figurative and literal noise depending on where and when your customer hits play. Distracting audio weakens your offer and drives audiences away.

Make Videos for Different Parts of the Funnel

Are you wondering how to approach this seemingly daunting task? Consider where the pain points of your buyer personas exist in their conversion journeys. Jargon aside, where do your customers experience dilemmas that:

• Frustrate or annoy them
• Turn them off to your offer
• Make them consider an alternative

Some people aren’t interested in your offer. Some people are interested but aren’t fully convinced to make a purchase. Some people already purchased something from you and want more. A singular, one-size-fits-all video won’t cut it. Create different videos (with different offers) for different buyers. Your content will be more relatable, empathetic, and actionable because it fits their needs at that time.

Try New Locations

2014 was a great starting point for your video marketing. You developed a working strategy and editorial calendar. Maybe your workflow and production process need just a couple tweaks to be stellar. And maybe you’re thinking of adding some variety to your videos. You’re on the lookout for new ideas in new places. In other words, maybe that office desk-and-chair combo isn’t cutting it anymore.

(Credit to SSW TV)

Maybe you’re looking to add footage from major industry events or networking meetups. Maybe you’ll offer a video tour of your facilities for your “About Us” page. Maybe you’re thinking of a cross-collaboration offsite with another organization. Maybe you’re thinking of shooting a cinematic, stylish short to introduce a new campaign. Whatever the case, keep some fundamental advice in mind when looking for a new location. Make sure your final product aligns with your grand video marketing strategy and it has something valuable for your constituencies.

Collaborate

Is your video marketing housed within a small subset of your company? Branch out and start sourcing ideas from other departments. Interview sales representatives on the toughest customer pain points they’ve encountered. Profile operations personnel to showcase what you do and how you do it. Soon, your white papers, case studies, and other marketing materials will have a greater degree of complexity and empathy with new perspectives. Everybody in your organization has a story.

You may even consider reaching out to organizations not in your immediate industry. Maybe you occupy distinct places in a greater value chain. Maybe you’ve met some incredible people in your networking events. Maybe these guests have valuable material for your key buyer personas. Explore these symbiotic possibilities for content collaboration!

Optimize for Viewing Context

It’s no secret that video is consumed across several platforms. As reported by eMarketer, recent data aggregations from Ooyala – a video technology powerhouse — indicated that 30% of global digital video views for Q3 2014 originated from smart phones and tablet devices. Further findings pointed to platform-specific preferences: people watch short-form content on their phones and longer-form content on tablets and PCs.

What’s important to understand here? Different constraints impact when your viewers watch, where they’re watching, and how they’re accessing your content. How can you overcome these obstacles? Publish valuable content that spans a variety of different lengths that address different painpoints in your buyer journeys. A 30 minute walkthrough might not make sense for somebody browsing videos during a subway ride. However, a short explainer video may be the right initial contact point that captures his/her attention, leading to further interest in your walkthrough when the appropriate context happens.