One of the hottest trends we have experienced recently in internet and website marketing is the incredibly productive growth of Video. Marketing your business with Video is no longer a niche activity for businesses and consumers – – online video has gone mainstream in a big way.
Marketing via video is currently transcending devices – desktop, tablet, mobile – and, giving businesses the benefit of better brand recall and enhanced likability.
I am a firm believer that not all impressions are equal; video impressions can count for more than words and images alone. The pool of data is hard to dispute:
- 89 million people in the United States will watch 1.2 billion online videos today. (Comscore)
- More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month spending more than 4 billion hours watching videos (YouTube)
- Online Video users are expected to double to 1.5 billion in 2016. (Cisco)
- 52 Percent of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions (Invodo)
- Globally, online video traffic will account for 55 percent of all consumer internet traffic by 2016. (Cisco)
In the final analysis of consumer behavior, people decide to do business with people they know, like and trust. Video enhances that process and allows potential consumers to make value judgments based upon the content and style of your on-line videos. Videos can dramatically increase both likability and recognition.
What Kind of Videos should you develop and use?
We think videos that address your marketing needs fall into three broad categories:
- SHOWCASE VIDEOS. This is a longer form video that tells a brand story. These are “brochure” videos and have a long shelf life.
- WORK HORSE VIDEOS. These can take the form of customer testimonials, customer training and FAQ’s, how-to’s, best practices. These focus on single aspects of a larger picture. These are great videos for Social Sharing – and, should be a permanent asset on your website due to their helpful and educating content.
- PROMOTIONAL and SOCIAL. These have limited shelf life and are designed for posting to social media. They are great for promoting events or limited time situations. They are meant to be easily shared socially and disseminated among fans and interested parties.
No matter what kind of video you might consider for your business, video content will be a tool for your longer-term content strategy. They help to create a library of your expertise and will establish you and your company as topic experts in your field. They are a great assets to aid in on-line search as well.