I am sure you know that video killed the radio star but did you also know that video has taken over the internet? Whether it’s for entertainment, information, or both, people consume video. In a recent Cisco Annual Internet Report, they reported that by 2022 more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic would be video, which is up 15 times from that in 2017!! Given that video has become a king of online content, here are five reasons it should be a part of your content marketing strategy.
1. Higher SEO Value
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential component of any digital marketing plan.
Focusing on your SEO should be a vital part of your digital marketing strategy. According to Moz, “SEO is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.” In comparison, Search Engine Land defines SEO as “the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines. The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business.” Regardless of which definition you want to use, the more engaging your online content is, the more prospects will come to your site, resulting in a high ranking in a Google search result. Video is one of the best ways to engage your prospects because it immerses and holds their attention more than images and written content often can.
2. Increased Conversion Rates
Conversion rates or the percentage of prospects who take the desired action grows exponentially whenever a video is present, and these rates help your small business’s SEO skyrocket.
“In some cases, the boost in conversion was over 80%, and the client was able to enjoy a return on his investment in video within the first week of the video going live.” (Source: EyewideDigital (PDF))
According to Video Explainers, video can increase email click-through rates by 250% and conversions by 30%.
“Including the word, “video” (in their subject line) increased (their) open rates by 6%!” (Source: SuperOffice)
“Video can increase open rates by 19% and click rates by 65% while reducing unsubscribe rates by 26%.” (Source: Campaign Monitor)
Next time you want to send out an email newsletter, try it and see how well your open and click-through rates are compared to past emails.
3. Improve Your Online Presence
With today's technology, maintaining a consistent content-rich online presence is just as critical as offering a high-quality service. The accessibility and authenticity of videos contribute to that online presence. Prospects who visit your website want to know who you are so that they can relate to your content. Including videos on your website, whether it's a "how-to" or an identity film that showcases who you are, helps sell your services tremendously. Each small business has a message to convey, and developing your internet presence through video is an excellent way to do it.
4. Boost Your Social
There are really three big players, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, when it comes to video and social media. Let’s look at a few key statistics about each.
Facebook and Instagram
I am lumping both Facebook and Instagram together since they are almost one and the same.
- In 2020, 15% of all content on Facebook was video content (Source: Social Insider)
- Video posts have the highest organic engagement on Facebook (Source: Ever Increasing Circle & Hubspot)
- 75 million people visit Facebook’s video platform Facebook Watch daily and spend an average of 20 minutes (Source: Ad Week)
- 49% of consumers engage with branded video content on Facebook. Almost double of any other social platform. (Source: Ever Increasing Circle & Hubspot)
- 85% of videos on Facebook are watched without sound (Source: Instagram)
- Instagram has seen an 80% increase in users spending time watching video on the platform since June 2017 (Source: Instagram)
- 60% of Instagram videos on Stories are watched with the sound on (Source: Instagram)
- Video posts on Instagram receive twice as much engagement as compared to other types of posts (Source: Search Engine Journal)
YouTube
One reason video is clearly being on the rise is that YouTube has technically managed to become the second-largest search engine in the world, second only to Google; however, both are owned by the parent company Alphabet. It also happens to be one of the most popular social networks.
Here are a few key statistics about YouTube you should know:
- YouTube processes more than 3 billion searches a month. 100 hours of video are uploaded every minute. It’s bigger than Bing, Yahoo!, Ask, and AOL combined. (Source: Mushroom Networks)
- YouTube viewers world-wide are now watching more than 1 billion hours of videos a day, threatening to eclipse U.S. television viewership, a milestone fueled by the Google unit’s aggressive embrace of artificial intelligence to recommend videos. (Source: Wall Street Journal, February 2017)
5. Build on Emotional Connections
Millennials look to develop emotional relationships with organizations they buy from more than any previous generation. Video is unique in its ability to evoke emotions that no other medium can mimic. According to Simon Sinek in both his book “Start With Why” and his TED talk, “Start With Why,” “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
Video helps you to quickly explain your "why" and authentically connect your small business with your clients and prospects.
Final Thoughts
Video can achieve a greater degree of digital marketing effectiveness by creating engaging, sharable, and memorable content for small businesses to utilize in all kinds of communication.
Now the question is, are you ready to start working on videos that will influence your company? If you’re prepared to create impactful video content for your small business, then take the time to reach out to us. We will be happy to talk to you about your needs and see if we are a good fit.
