Why Add Video To Your Marketing Strategy

by Michele Leon

The Statistics Behind Video Marketing

You need only look at any of your commonly used social media timelines to see that videos are incredibly popular. A quick search via Google will also show you that videos are more commonly starting to show up on the first page of results. People love videos, which is why so many businesses are now turning to this medium in an attempt to get the word out. After all, people are no longer just watching videos at home, they are doing it on the go via their mobile devices, which means they are routinely in a position to hit “PLAY.”

We live in a world where people want their information quickly, which is where video has a huge advantage over text. This is not to say that great content no longer has a place in marketing, but if you are looking for engagement and a quick way to get your message out there, then video is the answer. Social media sites such as Facebook have proven that video is effective, as it is estimated that video posts receive about 100% more engagement than posts that are just text or a link. How many more sales or leads could you generate via that amount of engagement? If you’re still not convinced that video can work for your business, allow me to present you with 5 reasons that prove it can:

1. The Fastest Way To Tell Your Story

If you have a modern smartphone, you already have a camera that is more than good enough to record quality videos, which means that you can get started immediately. The goal here is to let people know about the products or services that you deliver, and how your company does it better than anyone else. Video allows you to do that quickly and efficiently, and there are countless video editing tools out there that can help you make the finished article look a whole lot more professional.

If you have little to no experience with video editing, you may want to consider free software such as HitFilm 4 Express, WeVideo’s Video Editor, VSDC Video editor, or Cute Cut. Once you master the basics, you can then move on up to feature laden video software such as Adobe Premiere Elements. If your goal is to solely focus on filling up your YouTube channel, then you may want to look at VideoPad, Wise Video Converter or Movai. There are plenty of great software options out there, and you can get into something great for under $100.

2. Put a Face to Your Business

People who buy from a business usually buy from one that they trust. It’s tough to build that trust level if they don’t know anything about you. One of the most effective ways to put a face to your brand is via video, especially if the videos that you create are informative. Instead of creating a video that shows off your new product, why not also do one where you create a “How To” clip that shows how all the features work. Another good option is to put together a video that answers many of the most frequently asked questions about your business or products. The more people see and hear you, the more they will trust and remember you.

3. Video = Retention

Have you ever been reading a book or a magazine and had to re-read a paragraph because you zoned out on the content of the piece? This happens regularly, especially nowadays when the average person has a shorter attention span than ever before. Now, take a moment to think about videos and how easy it is to remember things you’ve seen. We seem to be more adept and retaining the images, sights, and sounds when they are delivered in video format, and that’s good news for your business. Rough estimates suggest that we are 3 times better at retaining information seen in a video than information read in a piece of text.

4. The Numbers Don’t Lie

A video is much more likely to go viral than a blog piece, and I have also explained that engagement goes through the roof when you use videos via social media. The question that now needs to be asked is how long your videos should be to really make an impact on the consumer. The sweet spot here seems to be around 2 minutes, as that is the video length that seems to hold people’s attention all the way. Things drop off dramatically after that, although it has also been found that videos that come in around 6 minutes long are also highly viewed and shared. If you can share information in around 2 minutes, do that, but if it’s something a little more technical, try and come in around 6 minutes. Remember, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine after Google, proving once again that video content is incredibly popular and potentially powerful

5. The Price is Right

I can almost guarantee that there are a lot of you out there who believe that video simply doesn’t fit into your marketing budget. This is simply not true. I have already explained that if you have a good quality smartphone, you already have access to a good video creation system. If you want to go really high tech, you can easily get your hands on an HD video recorder for around $450, which is not a particularly big layout. Video editing software, like the titles mentioned earlier, is also affordable, and both the hardware and software have been made with the beginner in mind, so there is not a steep learning curve attached to creating high-quality videos for your business. Hosting your videos on sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. is free, and sharing via all your social media outlets can be done in a matter of seconds. Hosting on these video sites will also help with your SEO efforts, and will help your business rank higher in the search engines in the process.

Why Add Video To Your Marketing Strategy

by Michele Swetesich

The Statistics Behind Video Marketing

You need only look at any of your commonly used social media timelines to see that videos are incredibly popular. A quick search via Google will also show you that videos are more commonly starting to show up on the first page of results. People love videos, which is why so many businesses are now turning to this medium in an attempt to get the word out. After all, people are no longer just watching videos at home, they are doing it on the go via their mobile devices, which means they are routinely in a position to hit “PLAY.”

We live in a world where people want their information quickly, which is where video has a huge advantage over text. This is not to say that great content no longer has a place in marketing, but if you are looking for engagement and a quick way to get your message out there, then video is the answer. Social media sites such as Facebook have proven that video is effective, as it is estimated that video posts receive about 100% more engagement than posts that are just text or a link. How many more sales or leads could you generate via that amount of engagement? If you’re still not convinced that video can work for your business, allow me to present you with 5 reasons that prove it can:

1. The Fastest Way To Tell Your Story

If you have a modern smartphone, you already have a camera that is more than good enough to record quality videos, which means that you can get started immediately. The goal here is to let people know about the products or services that you deliver, and how your company does it better than anyone else. Video allows you to do that quickly and efficiently, and there are countless video editing tools out there that can help you make the finished article look a whole lot more professional.

If you have little to no experience with video editing, you may want to consider free software such as HitFilm 4 Express, WeVideo’s Video Editor, VSDC Video editor, or Cute Cut. Once you master the basics, you can then move on up to feature laden video software such as Adobe Premiere Elements. If your goal is to solely focus on filling up your YouTube channel, then you may want to look at VideoPad, Wise Video Converter or Movai. There are plenty of great software options out there, and you can get into something great for under $100.

2. Put a Face to Your Business

People who buy from a business usually buy from one that they trust. It’s tough to build that trust level if they don’t know anything about you. One of the most effective ways to put a face to your brand is via video, especially if the videos that you create are informative. Instead of creating a video that shows off your new product, why not also do one where you create a “How To” clip that shows how all the features work. Another good option is to put together a video that answers many of the most frequently asked questions about your business or products. The more people see and hear you, the more they will trust and remember you.

3. Video = Retention

Have you ever been reading a book or a magazine and had to re-read a paragraph because you zoned out on the content of the piece? This happens regularly, especially nowadays when the average person has a shorter attention span than ever before. Now, take a moment to think about videos and how easy it is to remember things you’ve seen. We seem to be more adept and retaining the images, sights, and sounds when they are delivered in video format, and that’s good news for your business. Rough estimates suggest that we are 3 times better at retaining information seen in a video than information read in a piece of text.

4. The Numbers Don’t Lie

A video is much more likely to go viral than a blog piece, and I have also explained that engagement goes through the roof when you use videos via social media. The question that now needs to be asked is how long your videos should be to really make an impact on the consumer. The sweet spot here seems to be around 2 minutes, as that is the video length that seems to hold people’s attention all the way. Things drop off dramatically after that, although it has also been found that videos that come in around 6 minutes long are also highly viewed and shared. If you can share information in around 2 minutes, do that, but if it’s something a little more technical, try and come in around 6 minutes. Remember, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine after Google, proving once again that video content is incredibly popular and potentially powerful

5. The Price is Right

I can almost guarantee that there are a lot of you out there who believe that video simply doesn’t fit into your marketing budget. This is simply not true. I have already explained that if you have a good quality smartphone, you already have access to a good video creation system. If you want to go really high tech, you can easily get your hands on an HD video recorder for around $450, which is not a particularly big layout. Video editing software, like the titles mentioned earlier, is also affordable, and both the hardware and software have been made with the beginner in mind, so there is not a steep learning curve attached to creating high-quality videos for your business. Hosting your videos on sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. is free, and sharing via all your social media outlets can be done in a matter of seconds. Hosting on these video sites will also help with your SEO efforts, and will help your business rank higher in the search engines in the process.