Ignoring Video Content Means Losing Revenue

It’s been established (read: beaten into our heads) that content is marketing royalty.

Of all the different types of content, it has become increasingly clear that video is not only rising in the ranks: it is marketing’s new golden child. Marketers don’t just love it  – consumers do too. According to HubSpot, 54% of people want to see more video content from marketers. What more do you need to hear?

According to CISCO, by 2019, 80% of the world’s internet traffic will be video. That number rises to 85% of traffic for the US alone. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has even described video consumption as a “megatrend.” That makes sense considering each day, 100 million hours of video content are consumed on Zuck’s platform alone. And while most companies are doing a better job at producing original content from white papers to eBooks, there is a growing to need to invest in video marketing in 2018 and beyond.

Is video marketing helpful in my industry?

Before you protest, saying, “Video isn’t useful for my industry!” remember that the chances are that it is. Why? At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if your business is B2B or B2C – your customer is a human being. Video is engaging and great at appealing to our nefarious species and guiding them through their decision-making process. Video is powerful for brand-building and awareness because it allows you to show, not only tell, your audience your story.  

Whether you’re selling shoes online or making million dollar real estate deals, you need to embrace the importance of video in your digital marketing strategy. Research even shows that the average user spends 88% more time on a website with video than a website without it.

Why Does Video Content Perform So Well?

…for many reasons but namely, it’s easily consumable content that can easily teach people and entertain them. If you can do a combination of the two at the same time, you have a high likelihood of going viral (or at least being very, very, very popular) with the right people.  Google’s recent research has revealed that how-to videos earn the most attention of any content category—even more than music clips or gaming, which would seem to be the obvious, no-brainer winners in the era of Instagram tutorials and video game streaming platforms like Twitch.

Just because people want to learn doesn’t mean that’s all they want to do. According to HubSpot, 73% of consumers worldwide prefer seeing videos on social media that are “entertaining.” But don’t worry about potentially wasting money on fun videos. Studies show that 95% of viewers retain messages from video as opposed to 10% retaining messages from text.

How do you get started with video content marketing?

Forget making super pretty feature films or even rushing out to buy fancy equipment– there’s a lot you can do with the smartphone in your hand. Whether or not your video is long or short, pretty or on-the-go, consumers are avidly watching videos of all kinds. It’s all about your strategy!

What Platforms Are Best for My Video?

Although videos are rising in popularity all over the web, there is no denying the popularity of YouTube: more video is consumed on YouTube than any other social network. In fact, 83% of consumers worldwide prefer YouTube to watch video content.

YouTube is undeniably the chief of video streaming platforms but if you think YouTube is the only place to put your videos, you’ll have to think more creatively. Video is important throughout all social networks and throughout your inbound process. However, your strategy should change with the platform.

Why should I include video content in my social strategy?

• • • Twitter – Video tweets are 6x more likely to be retweeted than photo tweets
    • Snapchat -This platform receives an average of 10 billion video views A DAY.
    • Facebook – On average, Facebook videos receive 135% more organic reach than a Facebook photo post.
    • Instagram – On Instagram, video consumption is up more than 80% year over year.
    • LinkedIn – According to Forbes research, executives are more likely to watch work-related videos on business-related websites than YouTube.

     

    How else can I use video content in my larger marketing strategy?

     

    Video isn’t just for social–it’s helpful for email marketing as well. Including video in an email can improve your open rates by 19%, increase your click-through rate by 50%, and reduce unsubscribes by 26%.

    If you’re looking to improve your sales process. Video can even help you there. It makes you more human and can help with every part of the sales process from prospecting to closing (and beyond!).

    So, you’re sold. You’re convinced that you want (correction: NEED) to start producing videos in 2019. Video will be on the digital marketing throne for a while.

    How do I get started today?

  •  

• • Show ‘em how it’s done. According to Google, 65% of people turn to YouTube to teach them how to fix something in their home or car. Make sure you’ve done some pretty comprehensive buyer persona research so you not only know how to adopt the right tone and aesthetics and have a strong understanding of their needs and desires and how to talk to them.

• • Assume your audience is busy.  Make sure you keep it short and sweet. Engagement is steady up to 2 minutes long and there is a significant drop-off between 2-3 minutes. (Psst: Facebook measures in the 3, 7, and 10-second range!)

• Fail better. If you’re fully committing to video by establishing a YouTube channel and a video marketing platform, experiment and see how your audience responds to your work. You have to be willing to experiment and take risks with the videos you produce.

Video marketing is an incredibly powerful tool in your content marketing arsenal. In fact, Vala Afshar, Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce has said it’s “the next best thing to being there in person.” Uplevel your marketing strategies and embrace content marketing’s new king.