Why you need to start using video in your marketing plan!

From movies and television to YouTube, it’s no secret that we all love videos.  It’s part of our daily lives and if we were given a choice between text, photo, or video, we’re all inclined to choose video as our content of choice.

It’s direct to the point and doesn’t require much effort.  All you have to do is watch until the end instead of reading through paragraphs.

While such reason may be a bit superficial, there are definitely more to it than just content consumption that makes video an essential part of every brand’s marketing plan.

It Captures People’s Attention

Social media is such a noisy world.  So noisy in fact that getting noticed is easier said than done which is unfortunate because if your brand’s going to be successful, you have to be able to find a way to stand out.

Videos have been proven to demand more attention than any other medium.  By using videos, you’re already giving yourself a head start over brands that don’t.

When it comes to anything online, it only takes a second (sometimes even less) for a consumer to decide whether your content is worth the attention or not.  That’s how short people’s attention spans are.

Videos give you the opportunity to take advantage of that critical point and if you can leverage its power effectively, you have a better chance of standing out.

Video Builds Trust

Trust is the foundation of conversions and sales. But building trust should be a goal on its own. The whole concept of content marketing is based on trust and creating long-term relationships. Stop selling and let the people come to you by providing them interesting and useful information. The new era of digital marketing demands a focus on ignition, not just content, on trust, not just traffic, and on the elite people in your audience who are spreading and advocating your content.

Video does it all. Video content is likely to engage us and ignite emotions. And when we talk about elite people in the audience, You Tubers have become the most powerful social media figure to promote your brand. So, if you are serious about content marketing, you must be serious about video, too.

Great ROI

Gone are the days when producing videos used to cost a fortune.  With advancements in video equipment becoming cheaper over the past couple of years, video production and marketing can prove to be a worthy investment.

You don’t need those expensive cameras anymore when your smartphone is already capable of shooting decent quality videos.  In today’s day and age, videos don’t have to be perfect. 

It’s the content that matters and as long as you’re able to convey your message and explain what your product or service is all about, you’re good to go even if the quality and design isn’t as crisp and as flawless as those produced from professional, high-end equipment.

In fact, renowned software company Adobe has said that 51% of marketing professionals considers video to be the type of content with the best ROI.

If this reason isn’t good enough for you to start investing in video marketing then I don’t know what is.  Can you really say no to something that requires a small investment but generates a huge ROI?

It Engages Even the Laziest Buyers

Two of the biggest challenges marketers face is time and attention span.  We all live such busy lives that when it comes to content, we’d want something that’s easy and on the fly.

Given the choice of reading through long product descriptions and seeing the product in action, we’d all probably go for the latter.

This is how powerful videos are.  Not only does it cover a wide audience, it can also encourage the laziest of consumers to take a look and spend a few minutes watching.

Watching videos is a fun way to learn because all you have to do is sit back and absorb the content as it plays in front of your eyes.  It’s a better option than reading several lines of text and trying to understand them at the same time.

Whether you get bored easily or you simply don’t have the time, videos provide a better alternative that no other type of content can.

It Encourages People to Share Content

Every time you come across an entertaining or funny content, doesn’t it make you just want to share it?  That’s more of a default reaction if you think about it but according to the Content Marketing Institute, audiences are 10 times more likely to engage and share posts with video content.

We all know how important social shares are for brands.  It’s how you expand your reach and find new followers.  It’s how you put your product in front of fresh eyes.

This is probably the reason why social networks have started incorporating features that encourage video content.  Facebook came out with Facebook Live, 3600 video, and Lifestage while Instagram also came out with their own in Instagram stories and Twitter with periscope.

YouTube becoming the second most popular social media network also says a lot about the direction social media is headed to.

From a social media context though, marketers should be aware that people share emotions and not facts.  According to Wyzowl, 76% of users are more likely to share videos if it were entertaining.

Knowing all these, it’s important to remember that if you want your posts to be shared over and over, you should make it as fun and entertaining as possible.

Search Engines Love It

When it comes to anything online, landing on the first page of Google is one of the primary objectives.  If people can find your brand on the first page of a Google search, you’ve got a bigger chance of being visited and followed.

Search engines also love it when visitors spend time on a website.  This builds trust and signifies that the site has such good content that people don’t want to leave immediately.

This is exactly what videos are capable of.  It can make people stay longer because they’re interested in what they’re watching and they’d want to finish the video before making a decision.

American marketing research company Forrester said that you are increasing your chances of landing on the first page of Google by 50 times if you add videos to your site.

By adding videos, you are giving your brand a huge advantage.  Keep in mind that Google now owns YouTube.  This fact alone should make you realize how important videos have become and how it has the potential to affect your site rankings.

Mobile Users Prefer Videos

Can you survive a day without your smartphone?

I highly doubt it because I won’t. 

Well, I’ll still continue living but I can’t imagine spending a day without it in my pocket.  It’s how I go on social media, how I read the news, and how I monitor traffic among others so taking it away will make life feel incomplete.

You know what I’m talking about because you see this everyday.  You see it while in commute, in the coffee shop, or while having lunch,  People are on their phones most of the time. 

Where am I going with all this?

It’s because 90% of consumers watch videos on their mobile device according to Wyzowl.  YouTube has even reported that mobile video consumption has consistently increased by 100% every year.

People love watching videos on the go and with the number of smartphone users growing each year, your potential audience keeps getting bigger too, all the more reason to include video in your marketing strategy don’t you think?

It Explains Things Better

There’s no better way to showcase and explain how your product or service works than by making a video of it.  It does a better job over text or photos because you’re able to demonstrate its capabilities in detail.

This is probably the reason why 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website after watching a video according to Forbes.

Furthermore, videos can help simplify complex concepts.  One of the ways to do it is through animation for example. 

Animation can help bring such concepts to life, something pictures or live videos can’t.  Why spend time watching boring talking heads when you have a more informative and entertaining way of doing it with animation?

Improved Conversion and Sale

According to Agile Marketing software company Demand Metric, 70% of B2B marketers find video as their most effective medium in driving conversion. 

We all know that sales and conversion is integral to a brand’s success and survival and given the statistic mentioned above, there’s no denying how powerful videos can become if used effectively.

Want to see your conversion rate go high?  Try placing a product video on your landing page and see your conversions go up just like how it did for the Treepodia team.

Video has also proven to be an efficient sales magnet.  According to a study conducted by video marketing company Wyzowl, 74% of users who watched a product video subsequently purchased it.

This makes perfect sense because it’s more enticing to buy something that’s been explained and viewed in detail compared to seeing them on pictures.  If you want to start seeing your sales and conversions go up the roof, you need to start incorporating video in your marketing plan if you haven’t yet.

Conclusion

Marketing today has never been this competitive.  With millions of brands to contend with, you must offer something great and unique for you to stand out and get noticed.

While text and photos have the ability to help you achieve that, videos bring a whole new dimension that both can’t provide.

The reasons we mentioned above should give you a better idea how videos can help your brand.  If you haven’t started using videos yet, now is the best time to do it.

If you're on a limited budget but you really want to start making videos for your brand, we've got some tips for you here!

If you find this article useful, please SHARE with your network.

André du Toit

Founder & Owner of Big Leadz Digital