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Video marketing is one of those strategies that most companies have under-invested in despite its many business benefits. It’s been growing in popularity for years and, with the immense popularity of TikTok, doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. So if you want to stay ahead of the curve, read on for 15 video marketing tips to help you succeed this year and beyond.
✅ Pick one goal before you pick up a camera. If you are just starting with video, I recommend keeping your goals simple. Awareness or sales, not both at once, so you know which number tells you whether it worked.
✅ Video is table stakes now. 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, and 82% of marketers report a good ROI. Both figures come from Wyzowl’s 2026 State of Video Marketing report. Nine out of ten of your competitors are already publishing video, so quality is what separates you.
✅ Tell a story, not a sales pitch. Videos built around a transaction lose the viewer’s attention. Videos built around a story hold it, which is why customer testimonials and behind-the-scenes footage usually beat a polished product spot.
✅ Assume the sound is off. Captions, on-screen text, and a visual hook in the first few seconds keep your message intact for anyone scrolling in public. They also make your video accessible and easier for search engines to read.
✅ Optimize on YouTube, then measure against the goal you set. YouTube is the second largest search engine, so that is where I would optimize your titles, descriptions, and thumbnails first. The numbers in my YouTube statistics post show where the audience actually is.
If you’re newer to video marketing, you’ll want to make sure that you walk before you run with these tips. Even if you are experienced in video, I recommend you keep reading so that you don’t miss out on any tips.
Before you start creating videos, setting some SMART goals for your video marketing is essential. What do you want your videos to achieve? For example, are you looking to create brand awareness or drive sales? Once you have a goal in mind, you can start thinking about the best ways to achieve it.
If you’re starting, I recommend keeping your video goals reasonably simple. Otherwise, you might become overwhelmed. Later, I’ll discuss how to tie your goals specifically to the type of video you produce. But for now, let’s focus on setting some general video goals.
If you want to start a video marketing campaign, you might wonder where the best place to publish your videos is. There are many options, and it can be tough to know where to begin. Luckily, I’ve got some helpful tips to get you started.
The first thing to consider is your target audience. Where do they spend most of their time online? Once you know that, you can start to narrow down your options. For example, if you’re targeting a younger audience, TikTok or even Snapchat might be a good bet.
But if you’re trying to reach a more general audience, Facebook or Instagram might be better choices as the best video hosting platforms, only after Youtube.
Once you’ve decided which platform(s) to target, it’s time to start thinking about your video marketing strategy. What kind and style of videos do you want to make? How often will you post them? What’s your budget for video production? These are all critical factors to consider as you develop your video marketing efforts.
Before you start creating videos, it’s essential to understand the different types of videos available and how they can be used to achieve your business and video goals. Here’s a quick overview of the different types of video content you can create:
As you can see, there are many different types of content that you can create to achieve your business and video goals. The key is understanding which type of online video best suits each goal. Once you’ve decided which type of video you want to create, it’s time to start planning your video marketing strategy.
Ready to start actually filming and publishing videos? Here are my tips to help you improve your core video content.
Storytelling should be at the core of all of your marketing, regardless of content medium.
Considering that video just might be the most powerful of any content medium, it makes the use of storytelling in your videos even more important.
Companies that create videos with sales in mind will simply lose the viewer’s attention and be ineffective when compared to good storytelling.
After all, stories sell.
No question that adding sound to your video can make it more engaging and effective. But what if you don’t have the budget for a professional voiceover or music track? Or maybe you want to keep things simple and avoid potential copyright issues.
No problem. You can still create a compelling educational video with just a bit of creativity and some basic audio editing skills. Here are a few tips:
These tips should help you create a great video ready without breaking the bank. Just remember to be creative and have fun.
Video marketing is an excellent way to show customers how your products work. You can create content that demonstrates the use of these items, providing buyers with information they need to convince them to buy it.
For instance, if I want a new backpack for hiking purposes but am not sure which brand would be best suited based on online reviews alone (there are too many options), then viewing demos and explainer videos on YouTube will enable me to make my decision easily by comparison shopping between features like size, capacity, etc.
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Sharing behind-the-scenes footage in your digital marketing videos can be a great way to create a more personal connection with your audience.
By giving them a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes, you can show them that you’re just like them and that you care about your current customers. This can help to build trust and encourage viewers to stick around until the end of your videos.
Additionally, behind-the-scenes footage can be used to show off your company’s culture and values. For example, if you have a fun and friendly work environment, you could share clips of employees goofing around and having a good time. When culture and values are the entire message rather than a glimpse, you are making one of the types of brand video, which follow their own playbook.
This will make viewers feel good about supporting your company and may even encourage them to become customers.
Letting others do the talking for you is a smart marketing strategy, and video is no different.
Make an effort to source customer testimonials and other customer-generated video content and include them in your video marketing.
The benefits of doing so include establishing social proof, bolstering credibility, and humanizing your brand and products.
There are many benefits to collaborating with other brands and influencers regarding video marketing.
For one, it helps to broaden your reach and increase your visibility. When you team up with other brands or influencers, you can tap into their existing fan base and reach a whole new and wider audience that may be interested in your physical products or services.
Additionally, collaborating with others can help to build trust and credibility. If potential customers see that you’re working with other big names in your industry, they’ll be more likely to trust your brand and consider doing business with you.
Finally, collaborating on videos can be a lot of fun and might become viral. It’s a great way to get creative and develop new ideas together. And when everyone involved is passionate about the project, it shows in the final product.
If you’re interested in collaborating with other brands or influencers on video projects, reach out and start a conversation. You never know where it might lead.
Going live on social media platforms is a great way to increase engagement and reach actual customers. It’s a personal way to connect with viewers and allows them to feel like they’re getting an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at your business.
On some platforms, live videos might even be more likely to be shared, liked, and commented on than pre-recorded videos. Even if this isn’t the case, they are still a smart and diversified way to boost exposure for your business and help you build relationships with potential customers.
As you can see from above, there is a lot that goes into your video content. Here are some additional tips that will help you create more engaging and effective videos.
Attention spans online are short. That’s why you need to begin your story and message quickly, for the viewer (and potential customer) not only understand what they’re about to see but also feel confident that this video will be worth their time – especially since we all know how busy life can make us.
A call-to-action does precisely what its name suggests: It calls attention and invites people to take some desired next step, such as subscribing or watching more videos from this single channel.
You should always include some ending credits at least 10 seconds before concluding. Hence, viewers know how they’re able signup for future updates via email, etc., and also include mid-roll CTAs so viewers who don’t stick to the end can get your message sooner.
The call-to-action should ideally be placed strategically throughout the video but with moderation. After all, you don’t want your video to become one huge call-to-action.
Now that you’ve finished filming your videos your work is not done! Here are a few extra things you’ll make sure you do for maximum effectiveness of your video marketing strategy.
Closed captions can be essential for video marketing for a variety of reasons.
For one, closed captions can help to make your videos more accessible to deaf or hard-of-hearing viewers. Closed captions can also help boost your videos’ search engine optimization (SEO) efforts, as they can help make your videos more visible and searchable on platforms like YouTube.
Closed captions can also be helpful for viewers watching your videos in a noisy environment or watching them on a mobile device. By providing closed captions, you can ensure that all of your viewers have an optimal viewing experience.
You’ve invested time into creating your videos. Don’t you want to make sure they have lasting impact?
Optimizing them for SEO is the exact way to do that.
While there is something to be said for optimizing your choice of hashtags for TikTok or Instagram videos, YouTube being the second largest search engine will be the best platform to optimize for from an SEO perspective.
There are many things you can do to optimize your video for search engines. You can read a more in-depth article about this very subject on my site by clicking here, but here are some quick tips for starters:
By following these simple tips, you can ensure your videos are much more likely to be found by search engines ( especially the largest search engine, Google) and get the exposure they deserve.
Understanding and analyzing the metrics of your entire video strategies is essential to optimizing your campaigns and improving your return on investment (ROI). Here are some of the key metrics you should be looking at:
You’ll see what’s working and what’s not by tracking these video marketing metrics. Use this information to make changes to your strategy so you can get better results.
Between 30 seconds and two minutes for most marketing videos. 71% of video marketers say that range is the most effective, according to Wyzowl’s 2026 report. Go shorter for social feeds, and go longer only when the topic genuinely requires it, such as a detailed product demo.
YouTube, for most businesses. Wyzowl’s 2026 survey found YouTube both the most widely used video platform at 82% and the highest rated for effectiveness at 69%. It also doubles as a search engine, so a YouTube video keeps earning views months after a social post has scrolled out of the feed.
No. A recent phone, good daylight, and an inexpensive external microphone cover what most small businesses need. Audio quality matters more to viewers than video quality, so if you buy one piece of gear, buy the microphone.
Make a how-to video that answers a question your customers already ask you. Those questions are proof that demand exists. You already know the answer too, so you skip the hardest part of video production, which is deciding what to say.
Measure against the goal you set at the start rather than against view counts. If the goal was awareness, track views and reach. If it was revenue, track clicks, leads, and conversions, because views can climb while the business result stays flat.
So there you have it, 15 killer video marketing tips to help make your videos successful in 2026. I hope you found this post helpful and informative. Now that you know the basics of making a great video, it’s time to get out there and start creating.
Keep these tips in mind as you go, and good luck with your next video project.
Practical advice on social, content, influencer, and search marketing, plus the AI tools that make each one easier. Join thousands of founders and business owners who read it.
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