They say when you try to throw everything at the wall, something has to stick.
But when we talk about video marketing, this approach isn’t advisable.
In fact, you shouldn’t be doing everything at your disposal when it comes to marketing with video.
To drive the results you’re looking for, you need to be intentional and strategic.
In this article, I will show you how to do that with the help of a video marketing strategy.
We will closely look at what it is, how do you make one step-by-step, and actionable tips to help you leverage its full potential when you need it the most.
A video marketing strategy is a clear outline of steps and procedures showing how you are going to utilize videos to meet your marketing objectives.
It shows in detail when and where your videos will be published with opportunities to track and optimize the existing performance of video content.
While video marketing strategies differ in layout and purpose depending on marketing requirements, the premise remains the same.
Which is to give your business an organized and actionable framework to use new and existing video content to your advantage.
It’s worth mentioning that any organized way to creating/publishing/optimizing video content is already a good strategy to begin with.
But when we’re dabbling in video marketing for business, the approach should have no scope for error and full scope for improvement in the long run.
Which brings us to the next important question…
Image Credits: Freepik (Source)
Videos are highly dynamic with a lot of moving parts.
Even though a well produced explainer video might not (and should not) overwhelm your audience, when you publish your videos on multiple platforms, multiple times without intent, it will surely confuse your target audience, even if your video is relevant to them.
What I’m saying is that video marketing isn't just for boosting social media impressions or turning heads.
That comes later.
Your primary objective with your explainer videos is to inspire your desired action from the audience you’re targeting. The engagement that comes as a result gives you an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
It could be anything, like:
Simply put, your videos tell your audience how to get the most out of your business’ products/services as specifically as possible.
And to do this, you need to reach the right audience, on the right platform, at the right time, every time.
This sounds like too much work. But when you encapsulate this into a detailed strategy, it becomes not only doable but also powerful.
Let’s explore this further in the next section.
Before we see the steps, I want to establish some context here.
Your strategy isn’t just a video marketing checklist that shows you the right way to promote your videos.
It’s about unlocking maximum exposure for your videos and including provisions to maintain that exposure (and the results it brings with it) in the long term.
Let’s begin by exploring…
If you don’t know who you’re targeting, it’s difficult to hit the mark.
Before diving into video content marketing (or even video production for that matter), it’s crucial to identify your target audience.
To get started, make a comprehensive outline of your ideal customer.
Do proper research on demographics, preferences, pain points, and consumer behavior.
To make this process even more efficient, try using audience analysis templates like the one shown here, courtesy of Compass for SBC.
A comprehensive target audience analysis template (Source: “How to Do an Audience Analysis” by Compass for SBC)
While this analysis is quite helpful on the B2C side of things, when you’re analyzing a B2B audience, your approach will change a bit.
Common Ground gives this great checklist of questions and business metrics to look for when creating a B2B target audience profile:
A checklist of questions to ask while creating a B2B target audience profile (Source: “5 Examples of B2B Target Audience Profiles to Nail Your Marketing Strategy” by Common Ground)
Another way to expedite this process is to use the concept of brand archetypes to create an audience profile and tweak it for a B2C or B2B demographic based on who you’re targeting.
To learn more about brand archetypes, check out our detailed explainer video on it here:
While this is comprehensive, the point of doing this analysis is to get clear answers to the following questions:
Once this analysis is done, it’s time to find the vehicle that will help your videos reach your audience.
During your audience analysis, you must have also outlined various platforms where your audience visits the most.
And since we’re talking about videos here, these platforms more or less support video distribution or else this step wouldn’t be necessary.
But what I’m proposing in this step is you look at the bigger picture.
In order to help your videos get maximum exposure, relying on one or two channels will not be enough. You need to leverage every channel at your disposal.
This is something we talk about in detail in this video, which explores the Video-First Approach and how it can help you make the most out of every marketing channel using video as the primary driver.
But if you want specifics, some of the best channels you can leverage are YouTube and video-centric social media channels like Instagram (for B2C) and LinkedIn (for B2B).
To learn more about video distribution channels, check out next: “20 Best Video Distribution Platforms To Maximize Reach And Go Viral”
At this point, you already have two crucial pieces of the puzzle that’s your video marketing strategy:
Now it’s time to give your videos a much closer look, especially on the production side of things.
Usually, your video marketing strategy comes in use after you’ve concluded your video production.
But I would advise, instead, to work on your video production and video marketing strategy together.
In that way, you create a feedback loop that looks something like this:
So before you begin with your video production, you need to decide what type of video you’re creating.
Is it live-action, animation, or a mixture of both?
Depending on this, your video production process will differ.
In case you’ve chosen animation and want a comprehensive guide to put the wheels in motion, you can check out: “How to Make Animated Videos: Everything You Need to Get Started!”
In any case, pay extra attention to how you produce your videos.
Things like your video script and storyboard need to be precise to not only make your process simpler but help your videos grab the attention of your target audience.
Also decide on how you’re going to produce your videos (in-house or with an external agency).
Our recommendation is to employ the expertise of an external video production agency as they will create your videos quicker and under a reasonable budget.
To learn more about how to hire the right agency for your video production needs, check out next: “Hiring a Video Production Company: 6-Point Checklist to Pick The Right One”
Now that you have your videos ready to go out into the world, let’s show you the correct way to publish them in the next step.
In this step, I want you to answer these specific questions:
These then become the bedrock for your video content calendar.
A typical answer might look like: “I post an explainer video every Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 AM EST”
Now the best way to get started with a content calendar, one where it will save you a ton of time and iteration, is to simply use a template.
Here’s one that you can take inspiration from:
A simple weekly video content calendar template courtesy of Decktoplus (Source)
This calendar gives you a bird’s eye view of when and how much video content has gone out on a weekly and monthly basis.
But of course, pick a template that’s editable and moldable to your video’s upload schedule and content.
This brings us to the two most important steps of your video marketing strategy that will help you make an impact in the present while playing the long game.
Using your video content calendar, publish/schedule your videos on their designated day and time.
I do not recommend doing this manually as it takes a lot of time.
You can use content scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social (to name a few) to schedule your video content in bulk and also track their performance all at once.
Once your videos have been published for at least a week, it’s time to put the cherry on top and make your video marketing strategy never fail you in the long run.
Here’s a mindset shift that will help you see the true value of video marketing and why a strategy is important.
Video marketing doesn’t end when you hit the “Publish” button. It begins after your videos are published.
And to reap dividends in the long run requires constant observation, optimization, and execution.
That’s where tracking your video marketing performance is absolutely crucial to play the long game.
Use video analytics tools to check for essential KPIs that show you how your campaigns are performing.
To get even more specific, monitor the following 6 important video marketing metrics, as shown in the latest numbers from Hubspot.
6 important video marketing metrics every business should track (Source: “Top 6 Video Marketing Metrics Your Boss Actually Cares About” by Hubspot)
As Hubspot shows here, keep an eye on engagement metrics (comments, shares, likes, etc.) and watch time (how long or what percentage of your video was watched by your audience).
Other metrics like view count and audience retention are also crucial so keep an eye on those too.
These metrics will also give you opportunities to optimize your existing content and also show opportunities for new content that targets a specific video marketing metric.
Now that your video marketing strategy is all set and ready to implement, let’s look at some actionable tips to make your strategy more effective.
Video marketing is a strategic approach to using videos as a medium to promote your business, products, or services. It involves creating engaging and informative video content that resonates with your target audience and distributing it across multiple channels to maximize reach and impact. Learn more in: “What is Video Marketing? The Definitive Guide [2025]”
Video marketing offers numerous benefits to businesses. Some of the common benefits include increased audience engagement, improved lead generation, and higher conversion rates. It enhances brand visibility and awareness as videos are highly shareable and memorable. To get a complete list of the benefits, check out next: “12 Benefits of Video Marketing: Insights for a Competitive Edge”
As we saw earlier, mobile-first video marketing is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people are becoming smartphone users. There’s also the rise of AI across several stages of a video marketing strategy, from creating detailed audience personas in seconds to producing an entire animated explainer video using AI-video generator tools. But these are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out some more emerging video marketing trends here.
There’s a reason why I gave you a step-by-step approach to creating a video marketing strategy. I wanted to show you that there are stages to this thing. In other words, there isn’t one complete tool that solves all your video marketing problems. There are tools at every stage of video marketing, each fulfilling a unique purpose. To get a proper outlook on the various video marketing tools at your disposal, you can check out next: “21 Best Video Marketing Tools To Make Your Process Super Easy”
A solid video marketing strategy is key to helping your business connect with the right audience and achieve results that take your brand forward.
Having a clear plan gives your videos a real chance to stand out and deliver on your goals.
Following the step-by-step guide I have provided you here can not only meet your desired goals but also exceed your expectations if executed correctly.
As video, specifically explainer video production for businesses, continues to grow in popularity, keeping up with emerging trends and following best practices will help your strategy break new ground while building upon your existing success.
With a thoughtful approach based on strategy and intent, video marketing can change the trajectory of your business in ways unimaginable.