Our culture’s love affair with video began decades ago and has progressed from infatuation to romance to all-out obsession. Already on a sharp upward growth trajectory, our consumption of video content has exploded since the coronavirus pandemic sent us online to work, go to school and be entertained in even larger numbers than before. If you have not yet fully embraced video and made it a prominent player in your marketing toolkit, here’s why you should.
1. Video is Engaging.
Video captures the attention in ways text can’t by appealing to our auditory and visual senses at the same time. It’s hard to look away from movement on a screen. How often do you scroll past a video on social media to get to a pure-text post? That’s why video is becoming so pervasive on social media. Facebook posts with videos average a 13.9% engagement rate. And 82% of Twitter users say they use the app mainly to watch video content!
2. Storytelling is Better with Video.
You can do many things with video that are more difficult to do with text. Video has a unique ability to capture all the intangible, irrational emotion that helps brands connect with their consumers. It’s an ideal platform for storytelling, which is baked into our agency’s DNA. Telling a story is an essential component of modern marketing, and video is the perfect way to do it.
3. Video is great for Showcasing Products.
Video proved to be an ideal medium for a client who designs and produces proprietary LED lighting with the look and benefits of natural sunlight. A spot showing how this technology illuminates a work of art was the ideal way to tell their story. Another client that makes protective sports headgear to prevent concussions found video a great way to show how effective, yet unobtrusive their products are.
4. Video is Made for Mobile.
Video works on any screen size and is perfect for posting and sharing on social media.
5. Digital Video Is Good for SEO.
Search engines love to see digital video on a website because users consume and engage with it at a high rate. So, the presence of high-quality optimized digital video is a signal to search engines that your website contains meaningful, relevant content users want. It’s a good idea to place relevant clips on many pages of your site. To do this, take advantage of some of these different video content types:
- Interviews
- Testimonials
- Tutorials
- Product Reviews
- Product Demos
- User-Generated Content
- Contests
- Company History
- Presentations
- Webinars
- Vlogs
- Live Events
6. Video Delivers ROI.
Marketers who use video give it glowing reviews. A recent survey by Wyzowl states that 85% of businesses use video for marketing. And 99% say they will continue. But what does video actually do to help a business? Here’s what marketers in the survey said:
- 87% report increased traffic to their website
- 83% say video helps them generate leads
- 81% say it increases average time on page
- 80% report video has directly increased sales
- 89% say it provides a good return on investment
- 95% plan to maintain or increase video production spend
In addition, Social Media Today reports that 90% of consumers say they use video to help them make a purchase decision.
7. Video Marketing Opportunities Will Continue to Evolve & Grow.
Given all the choice viewers have, marketers need to take the right approach going forward. Competition for viewers is fierce, so it’s essential to know where the industry is headed and keep up. Here are four more reasons to invest in video marketing right now:
- In-Stream & Branded Video Will Stay Strong. These formats work when well executed; most advertisers will maintain spend levels or invest more.
- Quality Video Production Gets Results. A survey done by Verizon Media found that 66% of advertisers surveyed intend to up their investment in premium video content going forward because of its strong ROI.
- Innovative Video Technologies Will Become More Important. Expect to see greater adoption of new formats like interactive, shoppable and personalized videos.
- Surging OTT (Over-the-Top) Video Means More Opportunity. More people are cutting the cord and using streaming services for entertainment instead of cable. This opens up new venues for marketers to reach consumers.
If your marketing plan doesn’t include video production, you are missing important segments of your audience. To learn more about our video production services and our in-house digital and social production studio, 3Headed Hamster, call (972) 685-0479.
