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The Importance of Video Marketing for Your Business

Video marketing

According to research conducted by Social Media Today, 5 billion videos are watched on YouTube every single day. One third of people who have internet access (over 1 billion people) are YouTube users; and 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it.

If those statistics haven’t shown you the importance of video marketing for your business, then read on; as we uncover the various marketing channels that video can help to draw your customers in, and the type of content that performs well.

What is video marketing?

Video marketing essentially refers to including video in your overall marketing strategy. Done well, video marketing can help with many aspects such as promoting your brand, products or services, act as an educational piece or livestream engaging content.

The same research conducted by Social Media Today found that marketers who actively incorporate video into their overall marketing strategy found that their revenue grew 49% faster than those who don’t use it.

There’s no denying that video can drain time, resources and budget – and 43% of marketers say that they would do more video content if these things weren’t in the way. Despite this being a minor obstacle, it’s clear to see there are many reasons to use video marketing; with the benefits far outweighing the initial outlay required.

The importance of video marketing for your business

The fact is, that video can be incorporated into several different channels of your overall marketing strategy, bringing about lots of benefits. Here, we’ll go through the different channels that you can create a video marketing plan for.

Organic social media

Done well, video marketing works amazingly on social media. The stats alone are impressive: 100 million hours of video are watched every single day on Facebook, with 45% of people watching an hour or more of Facebook and YouTube videos in a week.

Facebook and YouTube aren’t the only channels getting all the action – 82% of users consume video content on Twitter. When Instagram introduced videos, over 5 million were shared within the first 24 hours. In fact, the number of videos on Instagram increases on average by 80% year-on-year. Put simply, can you really afford not to invest in social media video marketing?

Videos get 1,200% more shares compared with text and images combined, so it’s really something you need to incorporate into your organic social media strategy. Just bear in mind that 85% of people who watch video on Facebook watch it without sound – so make sure to add in subtitles if needed.

SEO

81% of marketers who incorporate video marketing into their strategy feature it on their website, according to Social Media Today’s research; and 7/10 marketers surveyed said they optimised their videos for SEO.

Optimising your video helps to give it the best possible chance of ranking in the search engine result pages (SERPs). You can optimise both videos that are on your website, and are published on YouTube.

  • Include a video transcript. We appreciate this might not be relevant for all videos, but if you’ve filed an interview, you may decide to post it as a blog article; in which case, a transcript would work well.
  • Create an engaging thumbnail: Think of your thumbnail like you would your metadata. An interesting thumbnail will help to increase clicks to your video; and the more clicks you get, the higher you’ll rise in the rankings. Research from Wistia found that thumbnails containing a person receive a 30% higher play rate than those that don’t.
  • Optimise your title and description: Again, treat this as metadata. What keywords do you want your video to rank for? Include them in your title, and ensure your description is exciting and engaging – you want to encourage users to click through to your video and watch.
  • Make your video the focus of your page: Position your video towards the top of your page, and ensure the supporting content is relevant. Also, don’t embed your video in multiple places, and then optimise it – you’ll just be competing against yourself in the SERPs.

If you’re still questioning why video marketing, then this stat may convince you: including a video on a specific landing page can help to increase conversions by 80% according to Social Media Today.

Paid advertising

If you create an engaging video for paid advertising (whether it’s via paid social media, or is an advert in between videos shown on YouTube), then you have a good chance of being remembered, and increasing your conversions.

Don’t believe us? Social Media Today uncovered that 80% of users claim they can recall a video ad they’ve viewed in the last month – just one of the many reasons to use video marketing. However, with 4.6 billion video adverts watched in a year, you really need to make sure yours stands out if you want to be remembered.

The good thing is, that 40% of users say they take some sort of action after viewing a video ad. 36% of users trust online video ads, and spend 16 minutes watching video ads online every month.

With video ads making up 35% of total online spending, marketers are seeing the use in this, and if you haven’t yet incorporated it into your video marketing strategy, then you need to.

Email

The final channel that you should definitely consider for your video content marketing strategy, is email.

Interestingly, if you include the word “video” in your email subject line, opening rates are boosted by 19% on average. If you include a video within an email, then it’s reported that click-through rates will increase somewhere between 200-300%. Check out our article to find out more on how to get higher email opening rates.

64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it.

Types of video content marketing to incorporate into your strategy

So, now that you understand why video marketing is so important, it’s time to look at the different types of videos that you can create, depending on your brand and marketing goals.

With 20% of viewers clicking off a video after 10 or less seconds of watching it, you need to ensure that your video captures the attention of your viewers straight away, to keep them watching.

Product demos

1 in 4 shoppers revealed to Social Media Today that they turn to YouTube to search for a video relating to a product they’ve seen in-store.

90% agree that product videos are helpful in the purchase decision making process; so if you can create videos that show how to use your products, and the benefits they’ll bring, that can help to increase your sales.

Customer testimonials

User-generated videos are great for creating trust, because who better to turn to for a review than someone who’s already tried out the product/service on offer?

82% of consumers say they’re highly likely to follow a recommendation from a micro-influencer, so if you can build up a group of brand advocates who will create content for you, then you’re onto a winner. This works especially well as part of your social media video marketing strategy.

Behind the scenes / live content

Another great piece of content for social media, viewers spend more than 8 times longer watching live video compared to a standard video.

Behind the scenes footage is an effective way of engaging customers and making them feel valued. Interviews and events work well as live content, and you can encourage viewers to participate by asking questions.

How-to guides

Instructional videos can help to teach your audience something new, or increase their understanding of a topic they only have basic knowledge of. How-to guides should be incorporated into your video marketing plan, as it’s a good way to keep customers loyal, by consistently providing them with something new, relevant and beneficial.

Company / branding video

Research from Social Media Today found that 7/10 millennials are likely to watch a company video when shopping online. These types of videos are great for awareness, because they can show the human aspect of your brand.

Treat your staff well? Create a video that shows how much fun your employees have at work. Do you like giving back to your community? Create a video that shows how committed you are to corporate social responsibility. These types of things matter to your customers, and can help to build brand loyalty.

Internal communications

Video marketing can also be a great way to engage with your employees internally. These audiences tend to be very time poor, but video marketing can be a highly effective way to communicate your brand’s values, announce a new strategy, celebrate success or highlight a milestone in a succinct and memorable way. A US study by Gallup showed that highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability. Try engaging employees with creative video content to directly and quickly communicate your brand’s next big story.

90% of consumers agree that product videos are helpful in the purchase decision making process.

How mobile has influenced video content marketing

The introduction of Google’s mobile-first index, and the switch from desktop to mobile internet access has understandably had an impact on brands’ video marketing plans.

So, what does this mean for marketers? Crucially, you may decide to shoot vertical videos in favour of widescreen footage. With Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube supporting vertical video, if you’re still creating content that’s widescreen, you could be losing out on viewers.

Final thoughts

52% of marketing professionals say that video is the type of content that generates the best ROI – highlighting the many reasons to use video marketing. The fact is, if you don’t start incorporating video into your overall marketing strategy, then you’re going to fall behind competitors in the future.

It’s also important to remember that video can really help to strengthen your brand. Effective videos can build brand trust, engage viewers and position you as an authority, highlighting you as the go-to brand in your field.

If you need help creating a video marketing plan, get in touch with us. We’d love to help! Alternatively, for the latest digital marketing news, head over to our Articles page.