By 2022 online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic. This is 15 times higher than it was in 2017 (CISCO).
Video marketing has seen a huge rise over the last few years, with businesses integrating video marketing into their marketing strategy in a big way. But why has video marketing become so important?
The fact is, people respond more to video content because humans are visual creatures. We find it easier to remember (according to Insivia, viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text). We find video content more interesting and are much more likely to engage with it. Video content has now become the go-to way to communicate a story to your customers.
There are several ways businesses can integrate video content such as:
- Vlogs (Video blogs)
- How tos
- Live streams
- Product testimonials
- Webinars
- Live Q & A’s
What are the benefits of video marketing?
There are many benefits to video marketing, below we have outlined 3 major benefits to any business thinking of implementing video marketing.
SEO: One of the benefits of using video content within your website, is that search engines love it! They see video content as high quality content so using video can do wonders for your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Don’t forget that your videos must be optimised so incorporate the right keywords, a good meta description and strong title.
Conversion Rates: One of the other benefits of video marketing is boosting conversion rates. 90% of consumers claim a video will help them make a purchasing decision (Social Media Today).
Wyzowl claims that 74% of people who get an opportunity to see a product in action via an explainer video will buy it. These statistics are hard for businesses and digital marketeers to ignore!
Conversion rates are also boosted by using video because web visitors are more likely to spend more time on your website if there is a video to watch. This then gives your website more time to sell your product.
Staying Competitive: According to Hubspot, 80% of businesses are now using video for marketing purposes. In a competitive industry, this means that video marketing has become a necessity in order to stay competitive.
Video Marketing Best Practices:
So, now you are sold on video marketing… what next? Well, there are some best practices of video marketing. To get the most out of your video marketing it is a good idea to stick to these.
Firstly, define your video marketing goals. From increased leads to increasing time spent on your website, whatever it is you want to achieve, define it.
Secondly, consider the ideal length of video for your chosen marketing platforms. Hubspot recommends the following:
Instagram: 30 seconds
Twitter: 45 seconds
Facebook: 1 minute
YouTube: 2 minutes
Thirdly, optimise your videos. Ensure you are using relevant keywords, meta description and titles. This will ensure you achieve the best results in terms of SEO.
Finally, always have a call to action on your video content. There is no point in hooking the customer in and then not telling them what they should do next. Your call to action could be to purchase a product, get in touch or visit the website. What ever it is, make sure you are clear.
Implementing video content is now less about keeping ahead of the crowd, and more about being part of the crowd. To stay ahead with video content, you need to be thinking of engaging ways to make sure your brand stands out. Video content can be a fun and creative way of communicating to your customers. Have fun, stick to the best practices, and see your return on investment (ROI) start to increase.
By Laura Richardson
