Business video marketing is a slightly broad phrase, but the intent is usually simple. You want people to understand what you do quickly, trust you sooner, and take a clear next step, without you having to explain everything from scratch every time.
Done well, business video marketing isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about picking a handful of videos that genuinely help customers, then placing them in the right places, on your site, in email, on socials, so they quietly do their job week after week.
If you’d rather have this done for you, start here: video for small business. That page explains the options clearly and helps you choose a sensible first video.
What Business Video Marketing Actually Means
At its best, business video marketing is just clear communication, with moving pictures and sound doing some of the heavy lifting. It answers the questions people already have in their head, “What do you do?”, “Is it for someone like me?”, “Can I trust you?”, “What happens if I enquire?”
It’s also not one single video. Most small businesses do better with a small set of videos that each do one job. That’s how small business video marketing stays cost effective, because each film has a purpose and a place to live.
If you’re stuck on where a video should go and what it should do on each platform, this guide helps: using video for business.
Why Video Marketing Is Essential For Small Businesses
A lot of businesses feel they “should” do video, but the real reason business video marketing works is that it reduces uncertainty. People don’t just buy based on price, they buy when they feel safe enough to choose. Video helps them feel what it’s like to deal with you, see the environment, hear a voice, pick up on competence.
It also saves you time. If the same questions come in again and again, a well placed video can answer them before the conversation even starts. That’s not replacing human contact, it’s removing friction so the enquiry is warmer when it arrives.
And yes, it helps with visibility too. Video can keep people on your site longer, give you content to share, and make your business more memorable, which is basically what small business video marketing is trying to do in the first place.
What Should You Do First?
If you’re new to using video for marketing a business, don’t start by planning ten videos. Start by deciding what the first video needs to achieve. For most small businesses, that’s either trust, clarity, or a specific action, like booking a call or requesting a quote.
A simple way to keep it grounded is to think in terms of the customer journey. Someone lands on your website, they decide if you’re relevant, then they decide if they trust you, then they decide if it’s worth getting in touch. Business video marketing works when the videos line up with those steps, rather than existing as “content” floating around.
If you want a done for you route, again, this is the main service overview: video for small business.
A Practical List Of Video Types That Actually Help
This is the bit most people are really asking when they say “business video marketing”. They want to know what to make, and what each type of video is for, so they don’t waste money.
For small businesses, accessibility is often where good intentions fall apart, not because people don’t care, but because nobody knows what “good” looks like. This GOV.UK page on making videos accessible is a solid reference point, especially around captions and audio.
Customer Story
Real people explaining why they chose you and what changed, it reduces risk in a way no claim on your homepage ever can
Behind-the-Scenes Videos
helpful guidance that shows expertise, it’s a strong small business video marketing play when your customers need educating before they buy
Social Media Clips
Short, punchy pieces that keep you visible and give people a low effort way to get familiar with you, often best built as cut downs from a longer film
How-To and Explainer Videos
Helpful guidance that shows expertise, it’s a strong small business video marketing play when your customers need educating before they buy
Promotional Videos
a clear overview of what you do and why it matters, usually the best first step for trust and clarity, if you want this angle as a service page, it’s here: promotional videos for business
If you’re running offers, launches, or paid campaigns, the format changes slightly. You’ll usually want shorter, testable creative, built for placement. That’s the angle on promotional video ads.
A Sensible Video Marketing Strategy For A Small Business
People hear “video marketing strategy” and think it has to be complicated. It doesn’t. In practice, business video marketing strategy is just deciding what to make first, where it goes, and what you want it to do.
Here’s a straightforward approach that tends to work for small business video marketing without turning your life into a content schedule you resent:
- Start with one core film, usually a promotional video or a customer story, something with enough context to stand on its own
- Place it where decisions happen, homepage, key service page, email follow ups, not just Instagram
- Create a few cut downs, short versions that pull people towards the main film or the enquiry step
- Add one helpful video, an explainer or “how it works” piece that removes uncertainty and answers the awkward questions
If you want a deeper breakdown of placement, sequencing, and what to publish first, this page goes into it with examples: using video for business.
Business video marketing tends to fail when the video exists, but nobody knows where to put it, or what it’s meant to achieve. If you solve those two things, you’re already ahead of most people.
Common Mistakes That Make Video Feel Like A Waste Of Money
Business video marketing can feel disappointing when the video is “nice”, but not useful. That usually happens for fairly normal reasons, and they’re avoidable.
- Trying to say everything at once, the film ends up vague, it’s better to make one video do one job
- Making a social only video first, then realising you still need a proper website film for trust and clarity
- Not planning where it will live, so it gets posted once, then disappears into the scroll
- Forgetting sound and messaging, visuals matter, but clarity and audio are what make people stay
A lot of small business video marketing improves instantly when you stop thinking “content”, and start thinking “customer questions”. What does the customer need to understand to move forward?
How To Tell If Business Video Marketing Is Working
It’s tempting to judge business video marketing purely on views, but views can be misleading. A video with fewer views can still be the reason someone chooses you, because it answered the final doubt.
A few more grounded signs to look for are, enquiries that reference the video, shorter sales calls because people “get it” already, better quality leads, and customers arriving with realistic expectations. Those are real outcomes, even if your video never goes viral, and most business video marketing isn’t supposed to.
If you’re running ads, you can measure more directly. You’ll test hooks, edits, and calls to action, and that’s where promotional video ads becomes the more relevant route.
Want Help Choosing The Right First Video?
If you want business video marketing that feels natural and does a clear job, take a look at our main service page: video for small business. It lays out the options, the process, and the best starting points, without turning it into a sales pitch.
And if you already know what you need, you can use the contact page to tell us what the video is for, where it will live, and any deadlines you’re working to. We’ll reply with practical next steps.
Contents
- 1 What Business Video Marketing Actually Means
- 2 Why Video Marketing Is Essential For Small Businesses
- 3 What Should You Do First?
- 4 A Practical List Of Video Types That Actually Help
- 5 A Sensible Video Marketing Strategy For A Small Business
- 6 Common Mistakes That Make Video Feel Like A Waste Of Money
- 7 How To Tell If Business Video Marketing Is Working
- 8 Want Help Choosing The Right First Video?
