When you are ready to take your online marketing plan to the next level, consider adding video to your website. The impact of video on marketing results has reached a new high because incorporating a quality video boosts engagement and gets attention.

Just dropping any video onto your website is not the best approach, however. A high-quality video that clearly communicates your marketing message to your target audience will be received well and should provide much better results.

When adding video to your website, consider these tips:

• Who is your audience? If you have not fully developed a target marketing persona, consider doing this first. Take demographic information along with the traits of your ideal customer and create a profile. The persona can include traits such as income levels, geographic area, typical interests or hobbies, preferred social media sites and more.
• How long? Videos that are around 3 minutes work quite well in most cases, but you can go shorter or longer depending on your marketing message and the video contents. Some companies opt for a short one-minute video while others provide a more in-depth production that could last 5 minutes. Consider your audience and what they would prefer along with the message you choose to convey.

 • What should your script say? The message is the key. There are many ways to communicate your message. The flow of the message is very important, so your viewer does not get confused or lose interest. In any case, stay consistent and avoid getting off track.

• How should you say it? Some may choose to use a story to send their message. Others may want to build credibility by showing reviews and supporting information. You can also try the emotional level by showing your business can solve a particular problem.
• Where should the video exist? Adding the video to your homepage is the best choice mainly because visitors will go there first and can then take action, and for visitors who are just learning about your company, the video provides a good introduction.
• What should be the call to action? Every message should have some type of call to action. This can be simply to buy your product or service. Or the call to action can be to subscribe to an email list, contribute money, or some other task. In any case, your video should have a call to action that provokes the viewer to do something.
• How will you measure success? Consider what the goal of your video should be. Should it increase conversion rates by a certain percent? Should the video boost web page visitors? Perhaps the video should increase the number of visitors who fill out your information form or participate in a contest? In any case, be sure to have some form of measurement mechanism ready so you can gauge success.

Adding video to your website is a great move. The process may seem a bit complicated, but if you partner with the right experts, you can have a well-done video online in a very short time, and within a very reasonable budget.