Digital marketing keeps ramping up its emphasis on video content. There’s good reason for this, even if some marketing professionals are a little overzealous. Not every digital marketing campaign requires digital content, but there’s certainly demand for it. And video content can play a powerful role in developing a brand or engaging an audience.

However, it’s important to remember that this video content, like any aspect of digital marketing, can take different forms. Site owners and web service providers would be well-advised to spend some time strategizing over what they want to accomplish, and what is most likely to appeal to their audience.

It’s possible that such a session will move you away from video content. But it’s more likely that you’ll develop a better understanding of why the impulse toward video was a good one. If so, you’ll also learn that the impulse alone doesn’t answer vital questions about production styles, content length, dimensions, resolution, or any of the other features that you’ll need to pin down before you can effectively use video in your digital marketing.

The answers to these questions will depend on details about your audience demographics, the types of devices and connections they’re using, and the overall intention behind your digital marketing campaign. In the broadest sense, that intention is obvious: to sell your product or service. Yet there are many paths to that goal. And whereas some content helps to spread brand awareness, other content promotes a personal connection between the company and its existing customers, or just provides essential product information.

Different digital marketing campaigns emphasize different short-term goals. And there’s a type of video content for each of them.

Informational videos will typically be very streamlined, but with higher production values. Animation is a good option, as it lets you balance a straightforward voiceover with images that are simple and non-distracting, but still visually appealing. This type of video is also very useful for tutorials that guide customers through the use of a product or through navigation of the site itself.

If your digital marketing campaign is focused on public relations, or on developing a better rapport with existing customers, you might find yourself adopting vlog-style videos. These are relatively easy to produce, as they require a minimum of editing, set design, and so on. But on the other hand, this leaves a lot riding on script or improvised dialogue, and on the charisma of the site owner or other person designated as the face of the digital marketing campaign.

When it comes to using video simply to build brand awareness from scratch, you’re probably in need of full-scale commercial productions. This may sound daunting, but with the right digital marketing firm it’s less costly and less difficult to accomplish than you might think. And in light of the increasingly well-recognized appeal of video content, the person who uses it to its full effect is likely to see a substantial return on investment.

Fortunately, video production skills are no longer a rarity among digital marketing professionals. And even if your marketing team doesn’t have the skill set to make your commercials or animations from scratch, chances are they can put you in touch with someone who can.

There’s value in that introduction, because it helps to make sure that videographers and editors have a clear sense of what your digital marketing campaign hopes to accomplish. Like most features of that campaign, it can be dangerous to isolate the short term endeavor from the long-term strategy. Each marketing task should be undertaken with a unified sense of purpose, and every participant in the project should have the same understanding of how it will work.