What Is The Importance of Video Marketing?
By Stanley Meytin
What’s the big deal about video?
In the past couple of years, video has become the primary medium for individuals and businesses to interact with one another. In the past few months alone, video has completely revolutionized the content marketing world. From YouTube to social advertising to storytelling videos, they’re being used as the main platform for a number of individual and business purposes.
The popularity of video is constantly on the rise, and there’s no anticipated stagnation any time soon.
In fact, 78% of people watch online videos every week—and 55 view them every day! If you can grab even a minuscule percentage of those viewers, your customer base can (and will) expand exponentially.
So how can you leverage video marketing for your business?
Why (and how) should video be at the center of your digital marketing campaign?
What are the benefits of video marketing?
1. Videos rank high in search engines.
Search engines love videos. When a searcher types in a key phrase, YouTube and Vimeo videos are the first line of results that pop up. That’s because search engines know that their audience tends to prefer videos over text. They can also easily optimize video content based on keywords and comments.
Plus, the social sharing aspect of video (further discussed in #4) helps build backlinks to your video, which alerts search algorithms to the social value of the video.
By the way, Cisco projects that video will account for 80% of all traffic by the end of 2021. That means if you’re not on the video train by then, you’re already way, way behind. It’ll be way harder to catch up on your SEO juice if you’re behind than to get started right now.
2. Video conversion rate is unbeatable.
One study found that video increases conversion rate by 80%. That’s a sizable difference compared to other forms of digital marketing, which are struggling to get even 5% conversion.
Better yet, customers are up to 85% more likely to purchase a product that has video representation! If your videos or influencers’ videos show your product, customers are significantly more likely to convert through to a purchase.
That’s because it’s a lot easier for customers to watch a video than read an ad or a large amount of text. You can tell a story and stimulate an emotional response in just a minute—or even as short as six seconds. Customers want to see the product firsthand to determine if it will fit into their lifestyle—and then they’re more ready to buy.
3. Videos get viewed. A lot.
Not only is video conversion high, but views are higher too. Videos get clicked on and viewed (in their entirety) significantly more than other forms of content. There’s a belief that “motion draws attention more than static”—your eyes are naturally drawn to movement, like videos, compared to stationary objects, like text.
And it’s not a passive viewing, like an ad. People are engaged in the video (even if it’s an advertisement video). They get involved in the story in a way that gets them invested.
Pair high views with high conversion rates and engagement… and you’ve got a lot of customers coming through your door!
4. Videos are shareable.
When a video creates some sort of emotion in its viewer, the viewer wants to share that video with their friends. The more a video is shared, the wider your reach. The wider your reach (along with that higher conversion opportunity), the more people you’ll have taking action in response.
Also, as mentioned, sharing videos build backlinks to your video, channel, or website. This helps promote you on search engines and gives you serious SEO juice. This, in turn, increases the authority and credibility of your site—which brings more viewers and potential purchasers through the door.
5. Videos have the largest ROI.
There’s an expense associated with creating video, which is why some businesses have initially been shying away from investing in video.
But video has the largest return on your investment of any and all forms of digital marketing. You’re putting in a lot of money for a good quality video, but in return, you’re getting more views, more shares, more authority, and way more conversion.
Your investment is actually showing tangible results, which other forms of content marketing can’t claim true at this point.
Psst… learn how to get more bang for your buck with video production here.
6. Video is the best way to stimulate an emotional response in your target audience.
Videos can be a great tool for explaining or informing your audience. But even more importantly, they work as a way to connect with your viewer through authentic, powerful emotion.
Storytelling is the oldest tradition of mankind. People relate to one another through shared experiences and inspirational stories. We even pass information through stories. Think about how many times you tell a story in a day, whether you’re telling your partner what happened at work or explaining to your boss about the story of your project results or telling your child about the magic of Santa.
Experience the difference of an emotional story video with my Tedx Talk. See why stirring emotion is so critical to connect with your audience, disseminate information, and get your viewer to take action. When you share a story, you share a connection—that gets results!
What kinds of videos work best right now?
Livestreaming
Livestreaming, especially on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, has become one of the most popular ways for businesses and influencers to interact with their audiences. The desire for livestreaming video is rapidly increasing, and it’s prepared to double in growth by 2021 to become a $70 billion industry.
You know how we said 80% of all traffic will be video by 2021? Cisco also predicts that 13% of all traffic will be live video.
Livestreaming isn’t just for Gen Z. Studies report that over 2/3 of individuals 18-34 watch live stream content regularly, and people aged 35-54 are even creating their own live stream content!
We love live video for a lot of reasons, like:
- It creates an active engagement; viewers can comment and interact in real-time.
- It shows your business in an authentic, genuine way without filters or editing (and customers crave authenticity)
- People have stopped watching TV and replaced it with live streams about their favorite content, news, and events.
- It doesn’t require a lot of equipment or editing skills, so the barrier to entry is minimal.
- It’s a low-cost way to build your video resource library.
Learn more about the benefits of livestreaming here.
Still, livestreaming alone isn’t enough. If you only live stream without utilizing any evergreen videos, you risk looking unprofessional or lackluster. So we recommend using live streams in union with a formalized video strategy.
Case studies + customer testimonials
Customer testimonial videos show former or current clients who are in love with your product/service. These clients can’t speak highly enough of you, and they’re willing to share that passion as a part of your video marketing style. This could be a customer testimonial or review embedded in another type of video, or you could create an entire video of just customer reviews.
Similar to customer testimonials, a case study shows a specific example of how your business has impacted a client. This usually walks through a single client’s experience from start to finish, from problem to solution. HubSpot offers a great resource about how to use case studies in your digital marketing.
These sorts of videos provide concrete proof that your value proposition is effective, high quality, and successful. They’re real-life stories from real-life people—which is why they work so well!
Brand story
Customers don’t buy products. They buy brands. We’ve found that the most effective videos are those that share a story about your brand. This includes stories like:
- How the company was founded
- How the CEO is making changes
- How your clients are impacted
- How your employees feel at work
- What your brand mission stands for
- What your core values are
Read: How to build brand messaging people will remember
Even seemingly unrelated stories can have a huge impact. For example, in my TEDx Talk, I share the story of how being gifted toy soldiers changed my life—and led to the founding of my video production company. You wouldn’t imagine that a toy would have such an impact, but people all over the world have related to my story—and chosen to work with our team because of it.
Explainers
Videos that explain how your product works or how you deliver on your service are highly effective. These videos focus on your offering’s value proposition: what makes you unique that no one else offers.
But we don’t want you to just show your product. We want you to tell a story about how that product will change your customer’s life. Maybe you show a woman running, who gets injured—but she can get back to marathon training after using your therapeutic gel. Or you show firsthand how your chiropractors fix headaches in-office.
It’s not about the product. It’s about how people will feel using your product. If you can get them to feel those same emotions while watching your video, you’ll instantly get them hooked as a customer.
Every video should tell a story that entices, engages, and encourages your audience to take the next step in your sales funnel.
What is the future of video marketing in the digital sphere?
Video is no longer a recommendation. You need to be involved in video campaigns in order to even stay in the competition, let alone win out. Video is the present and our future.
Video marketing is constantly evolving and changing (which is what makes it such a fun industry to be in!). Production companies are forced to constantly learn and adapt to the shifting atmosphere of the marketing world.
We can’t be sure where video will go next. We have a few ideas (like Tik Tok is shaping up to be the next big video platform…), but who knows what the sphere will look like tomorrow, this year, or in a decade.
True Film Production is always on the cutting edge of video marketing and technology. We don’t make yesterday’s videos. We tell stories that withstand the test of time—while using awesome tech like 3D renderings and livestreaming to enhance the video and grab your viewer’s attention.
The future of video is here, right now.
Reach out to us to see how we will start storytelling in a novel way that will show real results for your video marketing campaign.
Still not sure? Check out what you need to know before hiring a video production company here.
Reading Time: 7 minutes
By Stanley Meytin
What’s the big deal about video?
In the past couple of years, video has become the primary medium for individuals and businesses to interact with one another. In the past few months alone, video has completely revolutionized the content marketing world. From YouTube to social advertising to storytelling videos, they’re being used as the main platform for a number of individual and business purposes.
The popularity of video is constantly on the rise, and there’s no anticipated stagnation any time soon.
In fact, 78% of people watch online videos every week—and 55 view them every day! If you can grab even a minuscule percentage of those viewers, your customer base can (and will) expand exponentially.
So how can you leverage video marketing for your business?
Why (and how) should video be at the center of your digital marketing campaign?
What are the benefits of video marketing?
1. Videos rank high in search engines.
Search engines love videos. When a searcher types in a key phrase, YouTube and Vimeo videos are the first line of results that pop up. That’s because search engines know that their audience tends to prefer videos over text. They can also easily optimize video content based on keywords and comments.
Plus, the social sharing aspect of video (further discussed in #4) helps build backlinks to your video, which alerts search algorithms to the social value of the video.
By the way, Cisco projects that video will account for 80% of all traffic by the end of 2021. That means if you’re not on the video train by then, you’re already way, way behind. It’ll be way harder to catch up on your SEO juice if you’re behind than to get started right now.
2. Video conversion rate is unbeatable.
One study found that video increases conversion rate by 80%. That’s a sizable difference compared to other forms of digital marketing, which are struggling to get even 5% conversion.
Better yet, customers are up to 85% more likely to purchase a product that has video representation! If your videos or influencers’ videos show your product, customers are significantly more likely to convert through to a purchase.
That’s because it’s a lot easier for customers to watch a video than read an ad or a large amount of text. You can tell a story and stimulate an emotional response in just a minute—or even as short as six seconds. Customers want to see the product firsthand to determine if it will fit into their lifestyle—and then they’re more ready to buy.
3. Videos get viewed. A lot.
Not only is video conversion high, but views are higher too. Videos get clicked on and viewed (in their entirety) significantly more than other forms of content. There’s a belief that “motion draws attention more than static”—your eyes are naturally drawn to movement, like videos, compared to stationary objects, like text.
And it’s not a passive viewing, like an ad. People are engaged in the video (even if it’s an advertisement video). They get involved in the story in a way that gets them invested.
Pair high views with high conversion rates and engagement… and you’ve got a lot of customers coming through your door!
4. Videos are shareable.
When a video creates some sort of emotion in its viewer, the viewer wants to share that video with their friends. The more a video is shared, the wider your reach. The wider your reach (along with that higher conversion opportunity), the more people you’ll have taking action in response.
Also, as mentioned, sharing videos build backlinks to your video, channel, or website. This helps promote you on search engines and gives you serious SEO juice. This, in turn, increases the authority and credibility of your site—which brings more viewers and potential purchasers through the door.
5. Videos have the largest ROI.
There’s an expense associated with creating video, which is why some businesses have initially been shying away from investing in video.
But video has the largest return on your investment of any and all forms of digital marketing. You’re putting in a lot of money for a good quality video, but in return, you’re getting more views, more shares, more authority, and way more conversion.
Your investment is actually showing tangible results, which other forms of content marketing can’t claim true at this point.
Psst… learn how to get more bang for your buck with video production here.
6. Video is the best way to stimulate an emotional response in your target audience.
Videos can be a great tool for explaining or informing your audience. But even more importantly, they work as a way to connect with your viewer through authentic, powerful emotion.
Storytelling is the oldest tradition of mankind. People relate to one another through shared experiences and inspirational stories. We even pass information through stories. Think about how many times you tell a story in a day, whether you’re telling your partner what happened at work or explaining to your boss about the story of your project results or telling your child about the magic of Santa.
Experience the difference of an emotional story video with my Tedx Talk. See why stirring emotion is so critical to connect with your audience, disseminate information, and get your viewer to take action. When you share a story, you share a connection—that gets results!
What kinds of videos work best right now?
Livestreaming
Livestreaming, especially on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, has become one of the most popular ways for businesses and influencers to interact with their audiences. The desire for livestreaming video is rapidly increasing, and it’s prepared to double in growth by 2021 to become a $70 billion industry.
You know how we said 80% of all traffic will be video by 2021? Cisco also predicts that 13% of all traffic will be live video.
Livestreaming isn’t just for Gen Z. Studies report that over 2/3 of individuals 18-34 watch live stream content regularly, and people aged 35-54 are even creating their own live stream content!
We love live video for a lot of reasons, like:
- It creates an active engagement; viewers can comment and interact in real-time.
- It shows your business in an authentic, genuine way without filters or editing (and customers crave authenticity)
- People have stopped watching TV and replaced it with live streams about their favorite content, news, and events.
- It doesn’t require a lot of equipment or editing skills, so the barrier to entry is minimal.
- It’s a low-cost way to build your video resource library.
Learn more about the benefits of livestreaming here.
Still, livestreaming alone isn’t enough. If you only live stream without utilizing any evergreen videos, you risk looking unprofessional or lackluster. So we recommend using live streams in union with a formalized video strategy.
Case studies + customer testimonials
Customer testimonial videos show former or current clients who are in love with your product/service. These clients can’t speak highly enough of you, and they’re willing to share that passion as a part of your video marketing style. This could be a customer testimonial or review embedded in another type of video, or you could create an entire video of just customer reviews.
Similar to customer testimonials, a case study shows a specific example of how your business has impacted a client. This usually walks through a single client’s experience from start to finish, from problem to solution. HubSpot offers a great resource about how to use case studies in your digital marketing.
These sorts of videos provide concrete proof that your value proposition is effective, high quality, and successful. They’re real-life stories from real-life people—which is why they work so well!
Brand story
Customers don’t buy products. They buy brands. We’ve found that the most effective videos are those that share a story about your brand. This includes stories like:
- How the company was founded
- How the CEO is making changes
- How your clients are impacted
- How your employees feel at work
- What your brand mission stands for
- What your core values are
Read: How to build brand messaging people will remember
Even seemingly unrelated stories can have a huge impact. For example, in my TEDx Talk, I share the story of how being gifted toy soldiers changed my life—and led to the founding of my video production company. You wouldn’t imagine that a toy would have such an impact, but people all over the world have related to my story—and chosen to work with our team because of it.
Explainers
Videos that explain how your product works or how you deliver on your service are highly effective. These videos focus on your offering’s value proposition: what makes you unique that no one else offers.
But we don’t want you to just show your product. We want you to tell a story about how that product will change your customer’s life. Maybe you show a woman running, who gets injured—but she can get back to marathon training after using your therapeutic gel. Or you show firsthand how your chiropractors fix headaches in-office.
It’s not about the product. It’s about how people will feel using your product. If you can get them to feel those same emotions while watching your video, you’ll instantly get them hooked as a customer.
Every video should tell a story that entices, engages, and encourages your audience to take the next step in your sales funnel.
What is the future of video marketing in the digital sphere?
Video is no longer a recommendation. You need to be involved in video campaigns in order to even stay in the competition, let alone win out. Video is the present and our future.
Video marketing is constantly evolving and changing (which is what makes it such a fun industry to be in!). Production companies are forced to constantly learn and adapt to the shifting atmosphere of the marketing world.
We can’t be sure where video will go next. We have a few ideas (like Tik Tok is shaping up to be the next big video platform…), but who knows what the sphere will look like tomorrow, this year, or in a decade.
True Film Production is always on the cutting edge of video marketing and technology. We don’t make yesterday’s videos. We tell stories that withstand the test of time—while using awesome tech like 3D renderings and livestreaming to enhance the video and grab your viewer’s attention.
The future of video is here, right now.
Reach out to us to see how we will start storytelling in a novel way that will show real results for your video marketing campaign.
Still not sure? Check out what you need to know before hiring a video production company here.
What story would you like to share?
Whether you want to launch an idea, spark a movement or simply get people talking about what you do, you have one shot
at delivering your message in a way that matters. Let’s make sure you do it right.
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