Video Content Marketing is one of the fastest-growing methods of communication and advertising in the world today: the ability to combine pictures, sound, and color to create an emotional connection with your target audience is becoming increasingly common in today’s business world. Whether via your website or commercial broadcast, having a video to talk about your business or products is undoubtedly an integral part of any modern business or advertising plan.

So now that you know you need video content marketing, the question is: what kind of video should you make? It is crucial to know what kind of video would best communicate the message of your company or product, in order to best use your time and money effectively in the creation of a video.

Having a video for the sake of having a video, whether on your website or on television, is not an effective method of reaching your audience, or forming a connection with them.

1. Tell a story

One effective method of forming a relationship with your audience is to tell them a story.

Every business and every product has a story. Think about it: everything had to start somewhere, and the narrative of how these things developed and grew into the business that you have today is a fantastic way of connecting with your audience.

Telling the story and history of your business through interviews, archival photographs or customer testimonials is a useful way of showing your customer that you and your business are relatable—that you have had ups and downs along the way, and that your business is comprised of other human beings, actual people with goals and aspirations, just like your customers.

2. Appeal to the past and future

An additional method of forming a connection with your audience is to appeal to their sense of the future: your business has a history and a past that has led to this point in the story, but each and every day you and your customers are living out history, and the continued creation of the narrative that is your business.

Looking back: Your customers and their relation to you and your products are an integral part of that narrative. Reminding them of this fact can create a strong bond with your brand and products. You aren’t just a business that they frequent, and yours isn’t just a product that they use. Together you are telling a continuing story through your interaction, a story of trust and friendship, and loyalty to one another.

Looking forward: This method of telling a story doesn’t just apply to older businesses, however. Even newer companies with perhaps less rich of a history have their own narrative, which can be used to effectively bond your brand with your customers. In these instances, the narrative is one looking forward.

An effective method of storytelling here would be to feature customer testimonials and reviews as a way of creating an atmosphere of trust surrounding your brand, and then expanding on those stories and beginning to tell your customers what you hope you and your business can accomplish going forward. Inviting your customers to participate in the expansion of your goals and initiatives can excite them into action, building their level of trust in you, and establishing an emotional connection that will carry your relationship forward.

3. Establish a connection

Establishing a connection with your audience is one of the primary uses and characteristics of video. To do so effectively, however, requires more than simply displaying moving images on a screen. Stories are the things that our culture is entrenched in; we are all raised on stories, whether in books or in culture and identify with them.

Stories are the reason services like Netflix have over 20 million annual subscribers and the reason that movie theaters took in over $10 billion in revenue in 2012. Stories connect us to one another and can help form lasting, meaningful relationships. Knowing how to tell your story effectively can be of tremendous value to your business relationships with your customers.

How will you connect with your customers through video content marketing?