Why Video Must be an Integral Part of Your Digital Marketing Strategy

Have you been thinking about creating video content to promote your business, but just aren’t sure if it’s worth your time and effort? We’ve mentioned before the influence video will have on marketing in the future and, in almost every industry, it is worth the work for the impact it can have. Let’s start with some stats:

• YouTube has over a billion users — almost one-third of all people on the Internet — and each day those users watch a billion hours of video.
• YouTube reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the US.
• 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week.
• 78% of people watch online videos every week, and 55% view online videos every day.
• Over 8 billion videos or 100 million hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day.
• Online videos will account for more than 80% of all consumer internet traffic by 2020.
• Searches for “how to”videos on YouTube grew 70% from 2014 to 2015.
• Four times as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it.
• Visitors who view a video on a retail site stay two minutes longer than those who don’t and 85% of customers are more likely to purchase after watching a product video. When online shoe retailer Zappos added demo videos to their product pages, they saw a 30% impact on sales.
• Audiences are about ten times more likely to engage, embed, share, and comment on video content than blogs or related social posts.

Convinced that video is key to the success of your business but not sure where to begin?

Where to Start with Video Marketing

If you’re new to the medium, start by making videos that are under 2 minutes. Resist the temptation to share everything in one go, or your viewers won’t have any reason to tune in later. Create a video marketing plan and modify as you see how your audience engages. This will help you get a feel for what resonates with your viewers before you invest time and resources in more extended content. If you get a great response with your first couple of videos, keep doing what you’re doing and add more.

What Kind of Videos Should You Make?

There are several types of videos to create that can enhance your business including how-tos, animated explainer videos, demonstrations or customer testimonials. Whatever your choice, it’s important that the videos are consistent with your brand’s style and ethos. Like anything else, you are putting out in the world to promote your business, make sure that your video is of the highest quality possible. It will speak for you in many customer interactions.

Should We Self-host Our Videos or Post on YouTube?

Each method has trade-offs to consider. It’s free to post videos on YouTube, and the platform has a broad reach, easy uploads, and high social media sharability. YouTube videos also receive preferential treatment from Google for video search results and that can help get your video seen – or not, if you are self-hosting. But you can’t control the “related videos” that may show your competitors or the ads that they can buy on your videos. Hosting your videos on your site allows you to boost brand engagement as well as encouraging customers to linger longer on your site, potentially turning casual browsers into loyal customers. But self-hosting videos is a tricky process, and we’ll talk more about this in another post.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Your everyday experiences can inspire excellent video content. You could create a regular series where your employees respond to commonly company questions. Or offer essential tips and tricks like “How do I set up a business Instagram account?” or “What is SSL and what does it mean for my website?” Keep them brief and specific — which makes them valuable and easily consumed by your target audience.

Videos Can Inform and Entertain

Yes, you should talk about your business as well as any offers or promotions you have, but don’t forget that your video marketing agenda needs to include informing and entertaining. Audiences certainly want to learn something by watching your video, but they also expect to be amused.

Know Your Audience

When you’re planning your video content and strategy, remember that your customers are your audience. Consider the context in which these videos are likely to be viewed. Are they going to watch them at work? Then your images and captioning will be crucial because the video will (more than likely) be seen with the sound off. Is your customer more likely to be on mobile? Then animation and colorful images may work better on the small screen.

Video deserves its fair share of your content marketing plan, but the truth is, marketing your online videos takes as much work and skill as making them. Black Bear Design is here to help you create a strategy for your video marketing. Contact us to see how we can help.