As an intelligent business person, you already know you should be using video and have probably even looked into it by now or have already dipped your toes into the video pool with some initial forays.

But, if you’re still on the fence or you just don’t know how to spend your budget when it comes to video, this post is for you. Let’s look at how to do this whole video thing when it comes to online marketing.

360 Degree Video

In case you’ve not seen one yet, a 360 video lets the viewer be in control of where they are looking, so to speak. When viewed on a computer, the viewer can click and drag the mouse to move the viewpoint in any direction, thus allowing them to “look” up, down, left, right and all around, hence the name 360 (as in 360 degrees).

It gets even better when viewed on a phone because you simply move the phone around where you want to “look” in the video. They basically put the viewer right there in the spot where the video was taken and makes them feel like they’re just looking around.  

Best uses for it

This type of video isn’t cheap to shoot and it really only works for certain things. Therefore, you need to be a bit discerning when considering its usage. 360 video is best suited for physical places that are truly awe-inspiring, like:

• Really high end real estate where the cost would be worth shooting a 360 video.
• Restaurants or retail stores that have a theme worth showing off to entice people in.
• Places that sell “Experiences” like puzzle rooms or other similar novelty ideas where seeing the space would be beneficial for marketing.
• Travel destinations that look amazing to let people know that seeing it in person is even better.
• A business that has a really unique office space could use a 360 video for recruiting if that space was truly unique.

Animated Explainer Videos

Yeah, you knew this would be on here. We can attest to the effectiveness of animated explainer videos because virtually all our clients have found them to be incredibly helpful for their marketing and promotion.

We’re not gonna sugar coat it (although we do love our sugar), animated videos can be costly, but if you treat them as an investment instead of a cost, you will see the ROI on them is incredible. The prices range from about $250 per minute to $900 per minute and that includes all kinds of animation from kinetic typography to a fully 3-D animated video.

Best uses for it

Any business that includes a process or product that is a little bit complicated and that has the budget for an animated video would benefit from having one. Sure, you could just have someone talking at the camera to explain something, but animation is much more dynamic and people will be a lot more willing to watch an animated video than a simple talking head video.

Another fantastic use for them is as training videos. Training videos can be mind-numbing at the best of times, but adding a little animation can perk up your lessons and make people want to learn.

Drone Video

They’re everywhere. Watching. Recording. Those little flyers known as drones are buzzing around, collecting video of all sorts of things and you can use them in your business if you have something that would look good from above.

Best uses for it

Real estate agents who have large properties to show off or even organizers who want to show the scale of the event could use drones to good effect. Since aerial shots are their forte, anything you think would benefit from having aerial footage would be good to shoot from a drone.  

Facebook Live Stream

Facebook threw its proverbial hat into the video ring a while ago and brands have already been putting it to good use. We bet you’ve already learned at least one recipe or life hack from a sped-up video while scrolling through your news feed.

The latest foray into video for Facebook is their Facebook Live Stream and like the name says, these videos are live and streamed as they happen, giving viewers the unedited view of them. Being that they’re live and unedited, you should use them with some caution. At least some semblance of a script and/or plan should be written up before you start rolling. Even if it’s a Q&A or an event that can’t be scripted, it’s a good idea to have some kind of scripted introduction to let people know what they’re watching.

And don’t forget to send out notifications ahead of time so people can tune in and share it later for those who couldn’t tune in live.   

Best uses for it

Companies that have expertise to share and want to display their expertise can use Facebook Live to do that. This is where Q&As come in handy. For example, if the government implements some kind of new regulation or law and people aren’t sure how it will affect them, your company can host a live Q&A to answer questions if you are in that industry. An accounting firm could answer questions about a new tax coming into effect, for example.

The other obvious use for it is to teach. If your company hosts workshops or teaches classes, Facebook Live is a superb tool to share that teaching with people who can’t actually be there.

GoPro Video

At this point, there’s not a lot that you can do with GoPro that people haven’t already seen. GoPro cameras have been strapped onto people doing basically everything, they’ve been strapped onto animals and they’ve even been stolen by animals to create viral sensations. But, they’re still useful for the right business.

Best uses for it

GoPros work best when they’re strapped onto something that moves. If your company sells anything that people can wear while they move, you can show it off with one of these videos. Sports gear is probably the most obvious example, but as mentioned above, you’d have to really use your imagination to come up with something that hasn’t already been done.

YouTube Director for Business

This iOS app was created by Google specifically for small business owners to help them make and upload their own inexpensive promotional videos. With more than 130 templates to use, the app walks you through the making of all kinds of different promotional videos using easy-to-follow instructions. It tells you what shots you’ll require and what each of those shots should contain.  

On top of that, it has voice over capability, customized text animations and it provides you access to YouTube’s soundtrack library so you can have music in your video without violating any copyright laws. All of this works to give your promotional videos a professional look and feel.

Best uses for it

Small businesses that want to get into video marketing (ie any small business), but have tight budgets would benefit from using this app because all you need is an iPhone or an iPad to use it and the results will still look fairly good.

Since someone in the company probably has an iPhone (it’s not available for Android) and the app and a YouTube account are both free, it’s a nice tool for small startups that don’t have a lot of budget to expend toward creating a professional video.

No matter how you do it, now is the time to start experimenting with video for your business if you haven’t already. Click here to use our price estimation calculator to see approximately how much an animated explainer video would cost for your business. (You don’t even need to talk to anyone!)