In the digital age we now live in, finding creative ways to reach consumers is essential for business success. One way to attract new customers is through video marketing. While video marketing has been around for decades through TV commercials, mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and computers are now offering new ways for videos to be incorporated into a company’s marketing campaign.
Below, we’ll go over why videos are so important in your marketing strategy, so you can better understand why you should shift from traditional marketing tactics that are becoming outdated and take a step into the future.
1. Useful Source of Information
While a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth millions. Through videos, you can supply information that photos just can’t do. If you’re a business, it’s important your customers understand how your products and services work. Through a welcome video on your homepage, you can capture your audience’s attention from the start in just a few minutes. A lengthy block of text or graphic might deter potential leads from reading everything about what your company offers. However, a brief 1-2 minute video that demonstrates why your audience needs what you’re selling can be a great way to spread information.
Along with a welcome video, you can produce a variety of other types of informational videos throughout your site. Some examples include:
- Product videos for each item you sell, such as a 360-degree video of apparel for clothing stores
- Explainer videos that provide information on how a product or service works
- PSA videos to provide information for an event or new product launch
- About us videos
Here you can see that Theory 11 uses an explainer video to teach you about Cards Out through an animated short film, enhancing your overall experience on their site while also giving you information about the product.
Additionally, check out 1Dental, who uses a video on their About Us page to explain more about their company and its culture for those who want to get to know the company on a more familiar level and potentially want to work at 1Dental.
There are plenty of different types of videos you can create to better explain to your audience why your services and products are needed. Additionally, animated videos can be a great way to explain concept topics in a simpler way for viewers to digest, such as confusing financial information or a scientific study.
2. Boost Sales and Conversions
Marketing videos are also an excellent way to boost sales and conversions. In fact, a study by Wyzowl found that 74 percent of people ended up buying a product, downloading an app or software, or taking some other type of action after watching a video. With that said, it’s easy to see just how effective videos can be to your marketing campaigns.
Vision is the most prominent sense, which makes it understandable why videos can prove to be so powerful. Rather than just writing about a product or service you offer, a video can make a more prominent impact on a person’s thoughts and emotions, which can prompt them to convert, buy a product, and become a lifelong customer.
3. Enhances SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic coming to your business website through organic search engine results. Rather than paying for traffic through ads, bringing in organic traffic through SEO can help your website rank higher on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, which can help increase sales and boost conversions.
There are a variety of SEO best practices, such as producing engaging and informative content, improving user experience, and increasing page load speeds. However, a new potential ranking factor that can bring your site toward the top of the search engine results page is videos.
Powerful search engines, such as Google, view videos as high-quality content. The mission of many search engines is to encourage websites to make the internet a place of trustworthy, engaging, and informative information. Companies that work hard to add new ideas to the internet are often rewarded with higher rankings. To ensure your video ranks well, ensure you do your keyword research, have a detailed meta description, and an appropriate title.
4. Increased Engagement
Growing brand awareness is another important aspect of growing your business. What’s great about videos is that they’re extremely engaging. And engaging content means more people are likely to share it on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which is almost like free marketing.
Take Nike, for example. They constantly come out with highly shareable videos that unify people through sport and are relevant to current events. Being an innovative leader and thinking critically about how you can take your brand into the future is a great way to increase engagement and brand recognition.
Videos are also engaging because they’re much easier to consume. We live in a fast-paced society now, and users are used to short and snappy content, thanks to Snapchat, Tik Tok, and Vine. Rather than sitting down for 20 or more minutes to read a lengthy blog post, online web surfers would much rather watch a short 1 to 2-minute video that describes the same concept in less time.
5. Attract Mobile Users
More and more people now have smart devices like Apple iPhones and Androids. Over 90 percent of mobile users watch videos on their devices, according to the same study by Wyzowl, making videos extremely important for increasing engagement on mobile devices. From sitting on a long subway ride during morning commutes to lounging on the couch with Netflix playing in the background, younger and older populations turn to their smart devices to consume media. To increase the connection between your brand and your customers, create short and informative videos that are designed for mobile devices.
Wrapping Up
Video marketing is growing rapidly, and it’s time to hop aboard this trend. Today, video marketing is much more affordable and is a great way to increase brand awareness, engage with your audience, increase sales and conversions, and improve your website’s SEO. With these five reasons why videos are so important in your marketing strategy, you’ll better understand the need for videos in your marketing campaigns and how they can help grow your business.
Noelle Fauver is a contributing editor for 365businesstips.com. She has a B.A. in Communication Studies from California State University, Northridge and experience in marketing, copywriting, and small business management. She volunteers on the board of the San Diego American Marketing Association as the Event Experience Chair to help local marketers in the area develop their professional repertoire and connect with other professionals. She loves curling up next to the fire with a good book on a rainy day with a bowl of homemade soup. But most of all, she loves marketing.
