Every Business Needs a Video Marketing Strategy
Video marketing is one of the newer tools to the marketing toolbox. There’s good reason for it, too! Both Facebook Watch and YouTube are popular places to watch social videos but they aren’t the only web or app-driven places that people watch videos. Video content has a place in your email campaigns, on your website, and in your advertising, too.
As humans, we love watching videos - which is why the jokes about watching cat videos are so popular and true. Consider the following:
Brand association increases by 139% when videos are watched through social video marketing (Unruly)
90% of users say that product videos help them in the decision process (Hubspot)
64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video (Source: Hubspot)
Companies that utilize video see 41% more web traffic from search than non-users ( SmallBizTrends)
Using video gives you greater brand recognition, helps the right buyers make smarter purchases from your company, and it can help with your SEO efforts. Content, Brand, and Digital strategists alike agree that video marketing should be part of your core strategy.
Greater Return on Investment
It’s widely known that curating well-produced high quality videos is expensive but 83% of businesses say that video is worth it because it provides a great return on investment. The more thoroughly a video can explain a product or service, the greater the return on investment. Additionally, 95% of consumers retain information communicated through video while 10% retain information through reading.
Authenticity Through Video Content
Brands are not motionless - they are ever-evolving and they need to be brought to life. Video content brings life to your brand efforts and creates connections through authenticity. Where written content fails is that it cannot create an instant authentic feeling the way video can. Sure, you can write about stories but when you show them visually, people pay attention. A great video marketing strategy begins when you use video content to trigger emotions and then tie those feelings to a specific action. Those emotions are real and they can enhance client retention. Think about well-crafted client testimonial videos - when done right, a viewer will see a bit of themselves through the person speaking.
Video doesn’t just move people, it moves them to do something: interact with a brand; seek out more information from a company; or purchase something. When you can see and hear a story unfolding before your eyes, it already left an impression and those connections increase your audience engagement and ROI. When you move people emotionally, you showcase your brand’s authenticity.
Video Builds Trust
Trust isn’t given by just anyone, you need to earn the trust of your customers and prospects. Video can do that. On your website, one of the most powerful ways to earn trust is through testimonial videos. People can see through the mediocre and the inauthentic very quickly - even in written content, but when you show your own customers and clients naturally talking about the brand, the service, or the products, in a real and authentic way, people take note and react. Additionally, explainer videos that help clients and customers understand your business are increasingly popular and are often the first place customers look to better understand who they are about to spend money with.
Promotional videos can foster trust because some consumers are still skeptical about buying products and services on the internet. Effective videos make the person watching feel like this video was made specifically for them, which is why 57% of consumers say videos gave them more confidence to purchase online. Hair care and beauty companies are incredibly popular on Facebook because they take real people and show them using products. It also gives prospects an opportunity to interact with the brand and the person giving the testimonial through the comments section. They can ask questions and give their own feedback - which sells!
Build Loyalty Through Video Marketing
Once someone signs up to purchase or even just subscribe to a newsletter, video can keep them loyal. How-To videos are increasingly popular on YouTube but customers are more inclined to look on the website they purchased an item through for instructions before they head to YouTube. Having videos related to after-purchase can create loyalty and also earns trust among your current client base. It’s helpful to have a repository of shorter videos that help your current and even future base of customers learn how to use your products. This also gives you an opportunity to show them other products you have that can work well with the item(s) they purchased.
Additionally, when you provide a service to someone and help break down complex pieces of information they trust you enough to promote you and your services to others in need. Video is one of the easiest ways to do this. If you’re a lawyer and you notice that a complex piece of written content leaves people bouncing from your page half-way through, create a video that helps break down some of the hard to understand information. They are more likely to share the entire page when a video is present.
Video Enhances Search
Google loves videos so much that they incorporated videos found on YouTube, Vimeo, and other websites into their Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Why? Because videos increase the time visitors spend on your site. When more time is spent on your site, it sends signals to search engines that there’s trust in the site and that trust stems from good content. According to Moovly your website is 53 times more likely show up first on Google when you have a video embedded on it.
Find a Partner in a Production Company
Video advertising isn’t going away anytime soon. The ease at which video content spreads across the globe helps us understand how powerful a good video marketing strategy can be but you don’t need to go at this alone. While you can make videos on your mobile phone, not every audience resonates with lower-quality videos. Creating effective marketing videos for your business requires creativity and knowledge of human psychology. Look for a video production company to work with in a partnership because they know how to create compelling, creative videos that resonate with your core audiences. In the world of video marketing only the creative survive, get shared, and are remembered.