How to Create a Video Series (and Why You Should)

In this article we explore how to use a video series to promote products, simplify complex topics, and enable drip campaigns.
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Video killed the radio star, and marketers who include them in their campaigns convert 34% more than their counterparts who don’t.

And people spend tons of time watching videos—YouTube data tells us that they’ve spent more time watching unboxing videos than it would take to watch Love Actually 20 million times.

Since 60% of B2B and B2C marketers already use it, there’s a good chance your competition is already showing off their products with product demos, advertisement material, and other creative content. They’re probably doing it more than once.

But creating a video series doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. You can record a quick video on your smartphone and upload it easily, which makes video an accessible format for even the smallest businesses.

Why Do I Need to Create a Video Series?

Imagine this: You want to buy a new car. You go online and find a few models that interest you, but you’re not sure which one to choose. So you find a series of videos about each model, highlighting the features that matter most to you.

Which do you think would be more helpful in making your decision:

  1. A) A long-written article about each car
  2. B) A series of videos about each model

Since video is a format that allows you to show, not just tell, you’re probably going to go with option B. You can see the cars in action and get a feel for what they’re like before you make your decision.

The same goes for your customers. Most of them are visual learners, so a video series is a great way to show off your products and services in a way that’s engaging and easy to understand.

Plus, there are tons of benefits to creating a video series for your business—here are five of the best ones:

1. Video series help you build your audience.

There’s strength in numbers. When you produce a series of videos, each one builds on the last, so you’re constantly growing your audience with each new release.

And as your audience grows, so will your reach and influence. You’ll be able to connect with more people and continue growing your business.

Search engines also favor video series over single videos or topics. When multiple videos are associated with the same keyword or topic, it tells Google that your content is relevant and informative—exactly what they’re looking for.

If the unique qualifiers of each video in your series (URLs, keywords, tags, links, headings) are closely aligned, search engines will place more value on the series as a whole than they would on the individual videos combined.

In other words, if you have 10 videos examining something and your competitor has only one video on that same topic, someone who needs information about that topic will find your series of videos before they stumble upon your competitor’s single video.

2. They'll help you build brand identity and awareness.

As you build an audience of captivated users, you also build brand identity and awareness.

Your video series will become associated with certain topics, keywords, and even emotions—all of which help people to remember your brand when they need the products or services you offer.

One of the biggest challenges of any business is connecting with its target audience. And with a video series, you’ll be able to reach them at these touchpoints:

  • When they’re actively searching for information related to your business
  • When they’re casually browsing social media or their favorite websites
  • When they’re killing time and passively looking for entertainment

And video marketing helps brands accomplish the near-impossible feat of capturing people’s attention and boosting their brain power long after interacting with your brand.

When ReelSmart worked with the Brooklyn Preschool of Science on a video campaign, our main goal was to increase brand awareness and build an audience for the school.

By developing 30-second videos for each of their curricular offerings, we were able to fit them together as modular installments of an ongoing narrative about the joys of learning at the school, and primes the viewer for new installments.

3. Video content breaks complex topics into digestible pieces.

Nobody can be an expert at everything. And plenty of industries are infinitely complex, with new information and technologies being introduced every day.

Your customers are always looking for ways to learn about complex topics without spending hours reading through long-form articles or watching dry, boring lectures. That’s why 62% of marketers consider video engagement their top metric for success.

Video is the perfect medium for breaking down big ideas and complex topics into manageable pieces that your audience can easily digest. When we worked with Ramapo for Children and the NYC Department of Education, we needed to tackle one of the most complicated existential topics that everyone has to answer: how to prepare for life after high school.

With such a broad and daunting question, it was important for us to break the answer down into manageable chunks that addressed specific challenges for our audience.

We did this by creating an iterative series of videos that tackled different aspects of life after high school. This allowed us to focus on one idea at a time, and really drive home the points we wanted to make without overwhelming our viewers.

4. Video series enable drip campaigns.

A drip campaign is a series of messages—usually emails—sent over a period of time with the goal of nurturing leads or customers until they’re ready to buy.

Drip campaigns are often used in B2B marketing, but they can be just as effective for B2C companies for several reasons:

  • They help you stay top-of-mind with your audience
  • They give you a chance to nurture leads that might not be ready to buy right away
  • They enable you to build relationships with your customers
  • They help you gather data and insights from your target audience

The key to an effective drip campaign is to provide your audience with timely, relevant information that slowly builds on itself until they’re ready to take the next step. And unlike email drip campaigns, which can often feel like spam, a video series is much more likely to capture your audience’s attention and interest.

When you create a video series, you can release a new video every week or every month. Each one will build on the last until you have a complete narrative arc that takes your viewers from awareness to purchase.

5. Video campaigns help you establish thought leadership.

In last year’s annual LinkedIn-Edelman B2B Thought Leadership Impact Study, 65% of respondents said that a single thought leadership piece dramatically changed their perception of a company.

By creating a video series with subject matter experts, your audience can see, hear, and learn from an expert in your field, which will help them understand your company’s expertise and authority on the subject.

And because a video series is an ongoing campaign, you’ll have ample opportunity to continue demonstrating your thought leadership over time.

Not only will this help you establish trust and credibility with your audience, but it will also help you attract new customers and partners.

How to Develop a Video Series

No campaign is created equal—it’s important to develop a video series that’s central to your company, your audience, and your goals.

But at ReelSmart, we don’t just talk the talk. So we’ve compiled a quick and easy guide to help you develop a video series that will engage and delight your audience.

Here are the key considerations for developing a video series:

Format and Concept

There are several different types of video series you can create, but the most important thing is to choose a format and concept that’s right for your company.

Think about what type of content will be most engaging for your audience and what would fit best with your company’s brand.

Talk-show-style conversations are perfect for establishing thought leadership or building relationships with customers. This format gives you the opportunity to have in-depth conversations with experts in your field, which will help your audience understand your company’s expertise. It also allows you to humanize your brand by showing the faces behind the company and giving your audience a chance to get to know you.

Product/service spotlights and modular ad campaigns are great for introducing new products or services to your audience. This type of video series is perfect for companies that are launching a new product or service, or for companies that want to increase brand awareness and reach new customers.

Weekly vlog check-ins are perfect for staying top-of-mind with your audience and building relationships. Best for social media and drip campaigns, this type of series gives you the opportunity to show the faces behind your company, talk about what’s going on in your industry, and provide timely updates on your products or services.

Explainer video series are perfect for companies that want to increase brand awareness or introduce a new product or service. This type of series is great for providing helpful information to your audience in a quick and digestible format.

Style Considerations

No matter what the subject matter of your video is, there are certain style considerations that you should take into account to create a cohesive and professional-looking final product.

One of the most important aspects of motion graphic design is developing a standard design style for your video. This means creating a consistent look for all of the elements in your video, including title sequences, Lower Thirds, and other graphic elements. By establishing a unified visual style, you can help to tie your video together and give it a polished, professional appearance.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice creativity—just be sure to use a consistent color palette, font selection, and overall design aesthetic throughout your video.

Themes and Visuals

Every video series has a unique set of themes and concepts that drive the story forward. For example, a series about cooking might focus on different cuisines from around the world, or a series about travel might highlight different landmarks and attractions in different countries.

No matter the subject, it’s important to have a clear list of themes and concepts for each installment or episode of your video series.

With that in mind, here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • The Human Experience: How do people interact with your product? How does your product make their lives better? By relating to your audience on a human level, you can create an emotional connection that will keep them coming back for more.
  • How-To Guides: These types of videos are perfect for companies that want to increase brand awareness or introduce a new product or service. They are characterized by their instructional nature, and often include tips, tricks, or step-by-step guide.
  • The Never-Ending Quest: What your audience is looking for is not always what they need. In this type of video series, you can explore the different questions, problems, or desires that your target audience has.
  • In-Depth Conversations: If you want to establish thought leadership or build relationships with customers, this is the perfect format for you. This type of series gives you the opportunity to have in-depth conversations with experts in your field, or to interview customers about their experience with your product.
  • The Battle Between Good and Evil: We all love a good story, especially one that pits the forces of good against the forces of evil. In this type of video series, you can explore the different aspects of your industry, and how they are affected by the choices that we make.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. The important thing is to choose themes that you are passionate about and that will resonate with your audience.

Guest Recruitment

In-depth conversations, thought leadership, and industry exploration all have one thing in common: they require guest recruitment.

The process of recruiting guests for your video series can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Start by making a list of the people that you would like to interview or feature in your series. Once you have a list of potential guests, reach out to them via email or social media.

When you are recruiting guests, be sure to give them a clear idea of what the series is about, and what their role will be. You should also provide them with an outline of their role in the production in advance so that they can prepare in advance.

Pre-Launch and Promotion Plans

To capture an audience, you need to plan for pre-launch and promotion. This means creating social media accounts, developing a marketing strategy, and creating teaser content that will generate excitement for your series.

For conversational/talk-show-style series, build up hype in one of the following ways:

  • Have a series premiere
  • Send out teaser clips
  • Make a series promo trailer
  • Run paid ads
  • Announce by email
  • Invite your current audience to make suggestions

If you’re developing an ad series, developing a metrics-based drip campaign schedule for your ad series is a great way to ensure that your videos are always fresh and engaging. By monitoring views, likes, and shares, you can quickly identify when interest in a particular video is declining.

At this point, you can replace the video with a new one, or run it on another channel. This strategy allows you to keep your audience engaged while also ensuring that your videos are continually being seen by new viewers.

And by tweaking your audience parameters from time to time, you can reach even more people with your message.

Creating your video series is easy with us.

Sound like a lot? We’ll do the work for you!

Get in touch with us today and let us help you create a video series that will engage and delight your audience. We’ll work with you to develop a concept, recruit guests, produce the videos, and strategies ways to promote your series.

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