So you’ve read the State of Inbound and all the video marketing statistics and you get it, video marketing is important. But it also seems that video marketing requires expensive equipment, an entire production team, and extensive knowledge of cameras and editing software. We would argue that this might not be the case for everyone and here is why:

Creating appropriate and engaging video content is more important and more effective than creating content that is of professional quality or technically precise.

Related Blog: HubSpot Ecosystem: Increase Direct Bookings with Video and Conversational Marketing

This doesn’t mean that shoddy videos should be your goal. However, it does mean that even if you are not a videographer, you can still create effective video marketing. A client of ours had a professional quality video, showcasing their luxury vacation home services, done by video professionals who came fully equipped with their screen loops, neutral density filters, and bags full of equipment the average person might not know what to do with. Here are the Wistia statistics collected from that video over a 6 month period:



With a 43% engagement rate and a 0.7% conversion rate, this video was simply not engaging or interesting to viewers. The video consisted of long shots of people entering rooms, dining, and laughing. While the video itself was stunning, the content was not compelling viewers to interact with or even to watch the entire video to end.

Related Blog: Create Engaging Video Content for Your Customers: YouTube vs. Vimeo vs. Wistia

So, we tried something different...

Using footage created with an iPhone and a Sony a6300 we put together a simple video, edited in iMovie. We took our HubSpot knowledge of what viewers already like to see in blogs, content offers and emails and brought it to life through film. In iMovie, we edited short clips together of the most exciting rooms in the mansions and added some simple text. We replaced long and uninteresting clips with short shots of indoor bowling alleys, themed rooms, stunning outdoor pools and waterslides. We chose a more enticing and exciting thumbnail in attempts to increase the play rate. Next, we replaced the professional homepage video with our ‘semi-professional’ one and watched what happened. The Wistia statistics, shown below, were collected from our video over a 2 month period:



In just two months, we were able to nearly double the average engagement and play rate. The conversion rate of this ‘semi-professional’ video was 25 times higher than the video that was done by professional videographers. The video that we created using our marketing strategies, knowledge of the product, and limited production tools proved to be nearly two times more effective than the video that was created with expensive equipment and editing software.

"In just two months, we were able to nearly double the average engagement and play rate."

The lesson here is to not let your minimal video production knowledge stop you from creating visual content that will capture and nurture leads and ultimately increase conversion rate. If you are a videographer and do have the technical skills to create phenomenal content, don’t stop there. Track how your videos are performing and pay attention to how your audience is reacting to them by using a video tracking software like Wistia. Be aware of what people are rewatching and where they are falling off and then use that information to improve your content in the future. Armed with the knowledge of the content that your viewers will find useful, a creative eye and an iPhone, your video marketing potential is endless.