What is video marketing?
Video marketing, simply put, is the use of video in an online marketing campaign, specifically to build awareness of a company’s brand and its products. Video engages web site visitors much more deeply than words and images alone. We are all familiar with the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Forrester researcher Dr. James McQuivey took it one step further when he said that “one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words“.
Dr. McQuivey’s calculation goes something like this: There are 30 frames (images/pictures) in one second of a typical video. That’s 1800 frames in one minute. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then 1800 times a 1,000 is 1.8 million words. Perhaps that a bit of an exaggeration but I think we all get the point. Video expresses in a way that words alone or a single image cannot.
Every marketer understands the value of obtaining a web site visitor. Savvy marketers do everything possible to keep that visitor on the web site as long as possible. The longer a visitor stays on the site, the better are the chances of converting the visitor to a customer. That’s common sense. In today’s business climate, many enterprises use video marketing to promote their products. If current trends hold, it won’t be long before most enterprises use video marketing to promote their products.
Good video delivers new customers
A well prepared video will convey a message in a much shorter period of time than a web page full of words. That’s not to say that written content on a web page is obsolete or will ever be obsolete. That’s highly unlikely. But if the goal is to move a visitor to some type of action, nothing does it better than a video. If your site visitor has a problem that you can solve, it may be the video that moves the decision in your favor.
To demonstrate this, I’ll use an example from iPlayerHD. As you know, we are a video hosting platform used by our customers to deliver video to their web site visitors. We recently made the decision to give first time users a free account for one full year. It’s our belief that they will love our video hosting platform and will convert to a paid relationship when the year is over. Included in the free year is full use of our Pro Plan with no gimmicks. To communicate this message and convert a higher percentage of visitors than words alone, we put this video marketing piece on our site:
We tested the content of this video using different methods to be certain it would quickly and simply convey the most important points. And we wanted to do it in an entertaining but meaningful way. We are pleased with the results. There’s just no way better way to convey a big message than with the use of a good video.
The era of internet video has arrived
We’re in the era of internet video. Higher internet speeds have changed the internet landscape and have allowed us to consume video at rates no one could have predicted ten years ago. And while most video consumption on the web is entertainment related, there is significant growth in the consumption of videos used in video marketing campaigns.
In my research for this post, I found 20 interesting facts about video on the web and I’d like to share them with you.
- According to a report published by Forrester, including video in an email leads to a whopping 200-300% increase in click-through rate.
- Unbounce reports that including video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80%.
- 90% of user say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the decision process.
- 75% of executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week.
- 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a video according to Forbes.
- 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others, according to Invodo.
- 147.MM Americans watch video on the internet, according to NIELSEN.
- After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online, according to ComScore.
- Comedy is the most popular form of online video content among all viewers at 39% followed by news (33%) and music (31%) according to Burst Media.
- 96% of B2B organizations use video in some capacity in their marketing campaigns of which 73% report positive results to their ROI, according to a survey conducted by ReelSEO.
- According to an Australian Retailer, real estate listings that include a video receive 403% more inquiries than those without.
- 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching video.
- According to Forbes, 59% of executives would rather watch video than read text.
- 50% of executives look for more information after seeing a product/service in a video, according to Forbes.
- According to Visible Measures, 20% of viewers will click away from a video in 10 seconds or fewer.
- 45% of viewers will stop watching a video after 1 minute and 60% by 2 minutes, according to Visible Measures.
- According to Jun Group, videos that are 15 seconds or shorter are shared 37% more often than those that last between 30 seconds and 1 minute.
- Mist Media reports that the average internet user spends 88% more time on a site with video.
- 4 out of 5 users will click away if the video stalls while loading according to Google.
- Including a video on your homepage can increase conversion rates by 20% or more, according to ReelSEO.
(statistics are originally found on this website: http://www.insivia.com/50-must-know-stats-about-video-marketing-2016/)
Is video marketing for me?
Looking at the twenty data points above, the answer is probably yes. Perhaps that’s an oversimplification but there’s no doubt video converts visitors to customers. If your competitors are using video marketing, you probably need to use video marketing. Sure, it can be expensive to create a web-site-worthy marketing video. You may have to beg, borrow or steal (steal from other budget items not from other people) to make it happen. But make it happen.
If creativity is a problem and you need ideas, spend a weekend watching ads on television. My personal favorite is to watch ads during sports events – those ads have given me lots of ideas and inspiration. Or go to YouTube and find businesses with videos on that platform. Look at your competitor’s websites for ideas. While it is never a good idea to copy the work of others, it is a good idea to learn from their successes. And their mistakes. Then collaborate with your team (or your friends and family if you have no team) and whiteboard your thoughts. You’ll be amazed at what you can come up with.
If you’re a local business, a small business or a larger business, video marketing makes sense. Some ideas include interviews in your store, or you can interview some of your customers. Make a video of your product in action. Create an explainer video about how your product or service works and how it solves your customer’s problem. There are an unlimited number of opportunities when working with video.
The cost can vary, but you can use the Pareto Principle which states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the effort. That means that you don’t need to go all-out on your video to get great effects. You could even use your iPhone to record your next marketing video. You might need an iPhone tripod which you can buy for 30$. And you need to know some basic principles of video making. These guys have a channel with tons of resources on how to make great videos.
Thousands of businesses like yours use iPlayerHD for publishing their videos, improving the odds of a successful video marketing campaign. Stay focused on your core business and leave the pain of video hosting to our pros. Whether you are embedding video on your website, emails or sharing on social networks, you’ll find it’s easy peasy at iPlayerHD.
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