You only have to do a Google search these days and you’re hit with a number of videos waiting for you to watch them. That’s because video is today’s top-drawer tool in your marketing toolbox. Research published by Cisco found that by 2022, 82% of all business and consumer traffic will be video, up from 75% in 2017. People love to watch videos. With one-third of online activity spent watching videos, it’s easy to see why people love them: they are fun and effortless.
Have you integrated video into your marketing strategy? A few years ago, video marketing was underrated, but today, if you want to be found you have to have video. We have rounded up a list of reasons why you need to consider video marketing for your business.
1. Video Boosts Conversions
Web sites that incorporate video have a conversion rate of 4.8%, which differs significantly from those that don’t use video at 2.9%. This is because viewers who watch explainer videos to learn more about a product or service end up buying it – a whole 74% in fact. Video helps people engage with your brand and learn more about what you have to offer.
Think about it: the effectiveness of video really isn’t all that surprising. With vision being our most dominant sense, if pictures already drive engagement, imagine what moving pictures accompanied by sound can do. A whole lot.
2. Video Encourages Trust And Humanizes Brands
Building trust with your clients and potential customers should be your ultimate goal. You want to develop those long-lasting relationships with your clients, so bring your customers to you with captivating and helpful information. Video not only engages your audience but ignites their emotions.
Promotional videos can facilitate trust well. Think about all those products and services you come across on the internet that you are skeptical about. With effective marketing videos, you can present your products and services in conversational or storytelling form. This creates a sense of authenticity, which is why 57% of consumers say that videos give them more confidence in purchasing online. Videos presented by the face of a real human telling a story works like a charm for marketing a business. From the voice to personality, customers will put a face to your products or services. This engagement with your brand alone builds trust and boosts sales.
3. Google Craves Videos
Having a video on your web site allows visitors to spend more time there. Longer exposure builds trust with Google and flags your site as one with good content. Can you believe that you are 53X more likely to show up on the first page of Google if you have a video on your web site? Believe it. With Google now owning YouTube, there has been a significant boost in how much video affects search engine rank. It is no secret that YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world after Google. With , YouTube reaches more 18-to-49-year-old viewers than any cable network, with not only entertaining videos but ‘how-to’ content and tutorials as well. So uploading your video to YouTube together with effective SEO optimization can dramatically increase your Google ranking.
4. Video Is Great For Mobile Users
Video and mobile go together like copy and paste. With 90% of consumers watching videos on their mobile phones and the number of smartphone users growing, your video audience is just going to keep on getting bigger. And with Google telling us that smartphone users are twice as likely as television viewers to feel personally engaged to brands that show videos on their devices, it’s no wonder video is made for mobiles. Smartphone usage is a revolution that plays havoc on television viewers.
5. Video Attracts The Laziest Buyers
Video is very easy to consume. In today’s hectic world, people are constantly on the move. They don’t have time to read long product descriptions or do vigorous searches on services. The modern consumer wants to see the product hands-on, and video does this. It is one of the most influential forces in content marketing.
Video marketing captures a wide audience, even the laziest of consumers. You target not only the eyes but the ears of potential clients, doubling your competitive advantage.
6. Video Gets Social Shares
Videos are shared 12X more than posts containing links and text together. Social networks have new features that encourage video content. Facebook has 3600 Video, Live Video and Lifestage, while Instagram has in place 60-Second Videos and Instagram Stories, and Twitter has Periscope. Facebook’s Live Video is becoming increasingly popular because viewers can engage with the person on camera by asking questions and sending reactions. If you don’t want to be involved in Live Video just yet, uploading a video to your Facebook page will boost your organic reach. It is a good introduction for new visitors to your page too.
In hindsight, marketers must remember that people share emotions before facts. Fun and entertaining videos drive social shares, which consequentially can increase traffic to your web site.
Here we have discovered numerous reasons why video is so powerful for any business. At the end of the day, consumers love to watch videos and engage with them. Thanks to the attention you can get from a video that teaches your viewers about your company and products, you will affect your viewers’ decision-making process and encourage them to buy from you. Is it worth considering using videos for promoting your services and products? You bet it is.
Shaq Abboud is Creative Producer of a Sydney-based video production company called Scope Productions. He is an experienced Creative Producer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry, and skilled in technical direction, directing, live events, product launches, conferences and TV commercials. Abboud has over 15 years of industry experience working to help global brands build creative and thought-provoking productions.