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It’s easy for any digital marketer to sit here and say that video marketing produces a great conversion rate and that everyone should try it.
You might expect a healthy degree of skepticism to that statement—which should be the case anytime someone makes an overarching, grandiose statement on the internet. There’s no real weight behind those words without seeing proof.
So, whether you’re the kind of business leader who only goes by cold, hard facts or the one who needs to know the mechanics that support those facts, you’ve come to the right place.
Since YouTube’s inception in 2005, video marketing has evolved exponentially, and the way people interact and consume content has become instrumental in the ever-changing world of digital marketing. With the rise of TikTok and other modern social networks, video marketing has never been more relevant or versatile.
Some might argue that cultivating a content strategy that includes video isn’t worth the investment; however, the statistics indicate[1] an overwhelming ROI every year.
What is video marketing?
The answer is pretty simple. Video marketing is when one uses video content to market a product or service. This can be done through formal video production or informally via smartphone devices.
These videos can reach their intended audience through advertisements on television or apps or organically through social media. Since YouTube’s inception in 2005, video marketing has evolved exponentially, and the way people interact and consume content has become instrumental in the ever-changing world of digital marketing. With the rise of TikTok and other modern social networks, video marketing has never been more relevant or versatile.
What are the benefits of video marketing?
Well, the numbers don’t lie.
The Wyzowl survey[1] we referenced in the introduction found that:
- 95% of marketers say video marketing has helped them increase brand awareness.
- 96% of marketers said that video was instrumental in helping their audience understand a product or service.
- 90% of marketers claimed video helped them gain leads.
- 87% of marketers say video marketing has helped them increase sales.
- 92% of marketers say video gives them a good return on their investment.
- 89% of people say watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service.
- 91% of people say they want to see more online videos from brands in 2023.
It’s always great to have a set of data points, but it doesn’t fully explain the strategy behind how video marketing achieves those results. With a solid strategy geared toward your company’s target audience and specific needs, video marketing can benefit multiple aspects of your overall digital marketing efforts.
Video builds credibility
One way that video marketing benefits businesses is that it inherently tells a story, building trust and credibility with your audience. Almost anyone can publish blogs or write in detail about the services you offer. While written content is imperative to your digital marketing strategy, it doesn’t have the same edge as high-quality video.
Investing in video marketing enables you to engage with your audience and feature your services in a way that shows how your company can add value to your clients’ lives.
Establishing a relationship with your audience and building credibility is just one benefit of video marketing. One of the great things about digital marketing is that one positive effect almost always enhances or informs another benefit.
Video improves SEO
As your video builds credibility with prospective customers, your site’s search engine optimization will likely improve. If you’ve embedded your video directly onto your website, people will spend more time on your site, which boosts your average session duration and rankings.
When search engines see a longer session duration, it indicates that people find your website helpful, increasing your SEO. Different types of content like long-form videos, tutorials, webinars, and live streaming can attract visitors who will stick around for quite a long time.
These signals also bolster your site’s SEO through incoming traffic and click-through rates. The Google algorithm knows that people tend to prefer video content over text, so it tends to prioritize websites with video posts. In your online searches, you may have even noticed that Google pushes videos that address your query to the top of the results.
Lastly, if you have a quality, engaging video, people are more likely to click through your site to learn more about your company. So, if you also have a website designed to convert leads, you increase the odds of bringing in more potential customers—all from one video!
Video converts
As previously suggested, it’s a lot more challenging to establish a connection with your audience through the written word. A great way to build a relationship with prospective clients is to create an eye-catching explainer video that attracts your audience’s attention. This presents an excellent opportunity for your audience to get exclusive insight into your business’ personality, know-how, services, and products.
When people feel like they can connect with you on a personal level or that they share your values, they’re more likely to invest in your company.
Video is versatile
Regardless of how you quantify ROI, there is a video strategy for you. While most companies would agree that an increase in sales and conversions might be the ultimate goal as far as metrics are concerned, there are several indirect ways that video can help you achieve that.
For instance, an “Our Story” video allows your target audience to get to know your business on a personal level. While the video itself is less sales-oriented, it offers insight into your brand. Using an “Our Story” video might also help gain traction on social media platforms so that you can build a burgeoning community around your brand.
All of this goes to show that there is plenty of data and solid explanation to back up the numerous ROI and benefits of video marketing, which leads to the question: How do you get started?
How do video marketing and social media work together?
Short answer? They are one in the same. When creating any video content, you should have a social strategy as well. While your overall strategy may be more long-form, when building a script and shooting footage, keep an eye out for snippets that can be used on your social channels.
Here are some additional tips that will help meld your video marketing and social media strategies together.
Repurpose your videos. Leveraging transcripts, subtitles, and closed captions can help extend the reach of your posts and allow you to repurpose content into multiple posts. Post a short video on Snapchat one day, do a live video on the topic on LinkedIn or Facebook Live, then publish a blog post with the video attached along with the transcript on your company website.
Break longer videos up into multiple shorter videos. Split longer YouTube videos into multiple smaller social media videos to maximize your content ROI. Social media posts with video receive higher engagement and social shares than text-based posts, so give your social media content a better chance at success!
Video marketing mistakes to avoid
With smart mobile devices so prevalent and usable, it feels like anyone can make a video; which is true… but is it a good video? Or rather, is it a video that suits your needs as a business? UpCity gathered feedback from experts in the field on what NOT to do in your video marketing. Here is a summary:
- Creating a video without a strategy. As we have said, videos are very important for marketing campaigns and lead generation. But your business shouldn’t create a video just “because.” Make sure that you have a solid marketing strategy overall, then see how your video content would effectively align.
- Not having goals for the video. What do you want to accomplish with the video you create? Do you want it to inform customers on buying decisions or is it a specific product video meant to build awareness? Be sure you have a goal in mind when creating the content. Otherwise, the video will be unfocused and only confuse your consumer.
- Creating a video without a script or story. Even videos that seem off the cuff or are “live” need to have an outline or some version of a script. A messy video that is all over the place will not convert sales.
- Misunderstanding the company’s unique value proposition. Go back to your strategy. What do your consumers want and what value do you provide to them? Your video content should not be what you think would be fun or nice to share, but what the customer needs to see.
- Using poorly recorded audio. Pretty visuals are all well and good, but if consumers cannot hear what is being said, then they will click off your video. While captions can help with this, they’re not a replacement for quality audio.
- Not sharing on the appropriate channels. Going back to your video marketing strategy, look at which social and television channels are appropriate for your business. While TikTok is very popular right now, it may not be a platform that your target audience uses.
- Not tracking metrics. Any marketing strategy–video or otherwise–needs to be tracked for success. Putting your video out to the world and then not monitoring it is a waste. You may find that you posted on the wrong social channel or that your video did not go far enough in explaining your product.
As long as you avoid these pitfalls of video marketing, your company will be in good shape!
Video marketing works: What happens now?
While anyone with a smartphone can technically make a video, it’s essential to remember that the success of video marketing lies within strategy and quality. Developing a successful video requires a lot of background work, development, time, and expertise.
Just like you wouldn’t have your IT person take on a sales call (or have your best salesperson attempt to fix your internet server), you’ll want to invest in a professional who will capture your voice in a quality piece of content and help you meet the goals specific to your company.
Whether you’re looking to generate more leads, tell your company’s story, launch a special promotion video, diversify your content marketing, or showcase your best testimonials, working with a video production and marketing expert will ensure that your website and social media pages feature the highest quality content catered to your needs.
This article has been updated. It was originally published in September, 2022.
Sources
- Video Marketing Statistics 2023, Wyzowl