Video has become an extremely important strategy in content marketing over the past few years, especially on social media. Facebook has more than 500 million people watching videos daily; Snapchat users are watching 10 billion videos daily; 82% of Twitter users watch video on the platform. It is speculated that by 2019, 80% of all internet traffic will be video. So why should your brand use video marketing?
- 64% of customers are more likely to buy your product after watching a video about it online
- Visual content is 40X more likely to be shared on social networks
- 57% of consumers say that videos gave them more confidence to purchase online
- 76% of users say they would share a branded video with their friends if it was entertaining
But consumers are not expecting salesy, product-centric videos. They expect brands to consistently create original, innovative, and engaging content that are “shareable” and entertaining. While this feat is easier said than done, marketers have responded by experimenting with creative video formats like 360 video and live video to actively engage their audience with immersive experiences. Video has become the preferred medium of communication for many users on the Internet, and brands should be listening and responding accordingly. Still not convinced? Here are some reasons why video marketing is king.
Video Captures Consumers’ Attention
With the integration of video in almost every social media channel, users have grown accustomed to seeing entertaining content everywhere they go. Think about your own Facebook or Twitter newsfeed and how you stop to check videos when you think they’re interesting. Videos are captivating because it combines a user’s auditory and visual sense, and we are hard-wired as humans to pay attention to movement and noise. This is probably why autoplay has become very popular on social media, where a movement in the video can catch your eye and entice you to stick around and watch.
It also helps that people generally like video, as this study done by Animoto will show:
- 4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it
- 1 in 4 consumers actually lose interest in a company if it doesn’t have video
- 4 in 5 consumers say a video showing how a product or service works is important
Video Gives You Better Insights About Consumers
Traditional text content is more difficult to analyze and derive data from since it’s impossible to know if people stopped reading or if they completed reading. It’s also difficult to tell which part of the content to optimize to increase retention. For video content, you can tell who saw the video, how long they stuck around, how many times they watched, if they engaged with the video and many other metrics. From analyzing this data, you can understand your target and potential audience to create more personalized content. You can finally understand your best and worst-performing content and find out why.
The ability to track your consumer’s behavior before and after watching the video is crucial for you to calculate the ROI of your content. If many visitors are exiting your site after watching your video when your intention was for them to explore and hopefully buy your products/services, you can analyze your video and ask yourself a couple of questions: Was the content persuasive or engaging enough? Did it have a clear CTA for them to follow? Was the messaging targeted to the right audience? Dive into the data and see what you can optimize. Even basic information such as age, gender, and location that analytics provides can help you curate your content and create effective videos for your business.
Video Is Consumer Friendly
“Four times as many shoppers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.” Would you rather read a 50-page product description, or watch a short and simple demonstration of the product in use? Watching a video is less demanding for your brain, while reading commands your full attention. In the digital age, where an average person’s attention span is less than 8 seconds, people have less patience and time to read through a company’s 30,000-word mission statement. If that’s the case, why not show them a 1-minute video that can be visually stimulating and fun to watch? You’ll be saving time and effort while delivering essentially the same message.
Consumers like sharing emotion-inducing video content on social media. If you want your audience to interact and engage with your content, video is the best way to encourage them. Consumers are 39% more likely to share content if it’s delivered via video, 36% more likely to comment, and 56% more likely to hit the like button. The more your audience engages with and shares your video, the more eyeballs you will attract and, potentially, more leads that will become customers. Video content also makes it easier for consumers to trust a brand since they can actually see the product or service doing what it claims to be capable of. Combining visual and auditory content is a powerful way to inform and educate the viewer. The most important part about this fact is that brands should not exploit this trust, and ensure that they deliver on their promise.
Conclusion
Video marketing has become the preferred method of communication for digital users. We aren’t claiming that video content is the only way to be successful in content marketing. We believe that incorporating different ways of communication can help you deliver effective messages to your audience, and we are advocating video content because it is what consumers are increasingly looking for. The craze for video content will only rise, and brands that fail to adapt or implement these new ways to interact with their audience will fall behind their competitors.
If your brand wants to start creating video content that resonates with its audience and increase engagement and awareness, please inquire with us at [email protected]. We provide creative services that fit your brand’s voice and analyze your data to help you understand what type of content consumers are expecting from you. Let us help you create effective video campaigns and help your business grow!