With more than 1 billion hours of video watched on YouTube every day of the year, it’s clear that video isn’t just a window of opportunity for today’s marketers — it’s a wide-open door, offering access to new customers, new audiences, and new sales all over the world.
And the proof is in the pudding.
Video implementation on landing pages increases conversions by a whopping 80%. What’s even better? Customers remember those videos after the fact. On videos less than 90 seconds long, the retention rate is almost 60% — significantly higher than retention on copy-only pages (or even targeted landing pages with no video.)
Are you on the fence about hopping on the video marketing bandwagon? Not sure if it’s worth your time and resources? Let’s dive in deeper.
What is video marketing?
Put simply, video marketing is using video to promote your brand, products, services, or even just your internal company culture. It can include everything from animated explainer videos and product unboxings to fully-produced commercials, fictional stories, or training presentations. It’s a versatile, flexible medium that’s engaging, easily shared across channels, and a great resource for educating, informing, and empowering your customers and employees.
What are examples of video marketing?
There are dozens of ways to use video marketing to promote your brand and its offerings. Here are some of the most common:
1. Product Reviews & Testimonials
Sure, you can have written reviews on your site or individual product pages, but nothing is as real or as powerful as hearing them directly from your customers. Using video for your reviews and testimonials adds authenticity, builds trust, and helps convert on-the-fence customers. Check out this great, heart-wrenching example from Artifact Uprising.
2. Demos & How-tos
You can also use video to explain how your products work or to instruct customers on setting up, repairing, or enhancing their purchases. Here’s a cool demo video from app Cubeit.
Here’s another helpful set-up how-to video from Nest.
3. Explainer Videos
Have a complicated product or service? Just want to break down the benefits and use cases of your product? Try a fun, animated explainer video. Check out PandaDoc’s here.
4. Behind the Scenes Videos
Behind the scenes, videos are a great way to build brand loyalty and strengthen relationships with existing customers. It can also help give your brand a unique personality and voice while showing the company culture. Use them to give followers a peek behind the curtain or maybe bring them into a town hall meeting, introduce them to your team members, or show them around the office. Hello’s “Meet the CEO” video is a great example.
5. Live Videos & Streaming
Live videos are one of the most popular ways brands are reaching customers nowadays, thanks to their interactivity and low production costs. Check out one of Benefit Cosmetic’s recent live streams (which they do weekly) for a great example.
You can also film any event or trade show your brand attends, or use video to let customers in on speeches, meetings, or other gatherings at your office or with your team. These types of videos can help inspire brand loyalty and establish you as an expert in your field.
The Importance of Video Marketing, and Why?
The better question is, why wouldn’t you? A great video marketing campaign is the most powerful, efficient way to connect with customers, increase conversions, and encourage long-term brand loyalty — it doesn’t always have to take much time or investment to accomplish, either.
Here are just a few video marketing metrics that will help you:
- It’s versatile. Use it for virtually any goal, product, or brand. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C company, video marketing is powerful and effective.
- It’s engaging. Leverage it to get to know your customers, interact with them, and make them feel a part of your brand.
- It’s shareable. Produce content your customers love, and they’ll share it with others, giving you more exposure and more potential business.
- It’s entertaining. Keep your customers happy and satisfied every step of the way.
- It’s great for SEO. According to Cisco, 90% of all web traffic will come from video by 2012. That’s reason enough.
- It’s educational and informational. A whopping 97% of marketers say video helps customers better understand their products.
- It’s effective at all levels of the sales funnel. Use video marketing metrics to measure, and analyze your data to determine content curation during attract, convert, close, or delight phases (or all four!).
Most importantly, video marketing is vital if you want to stay competitive. More than 80% of businesses are now using video marketing, and if you’re not, your brand is getting left in the dust.
The Power of Video Marketing
Remember, a photo is worth 1,000 words. How much is a video worth? If you’re ready to start a new video marketing campaign, or have questions on some video marketing best practices, email us!
If you’re still on the fence, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which includes not only effective video marketing strategies and tips but other great sales and marketing information as well!
.png)
