Forbes Magazine: Video Marketing is Future of Marketing

IN THE LAST 10 years, the digital landscape has changed significantly. People are phasing out desktop and laptop computers to search the web and interact with content.

Instead, they are picking up their mobile phones and tablets. What’s more, digital technology is cheaper today than it’s ever been before; there are virtually no boundaries on how, when and where people can interact with content.

As such, the landscape of content marketing has changed, as well. Today, content only succeeds if it delivers what consumers want, when and how they want it.

Fortunately, it’s easy to keep up with the changing landscape when you invest in cutting-edge forms of content, such as video marketing. In today’s fast-paced world, video marketing is one of the few types of online material that provides the value, relevance and flexibility consumers need, all while catering to the on-the-go lifestyle they want.

Here’s everything you need to know about video marketing and why it’s being hailed as the future of content.

Video Marketing By The Numbers

Not convinced video marketing is the way of the future? Here are a few statistics to help you understand exactly how popular video marketing has become in recent years, according to news shared by HubSpot:

Video is projected to claim more than 80% of all web traffic by 2019.
Adding a video to marketing emails can boost click-through rates by 200-300%.
Embedding videos in landing pages can increase conversion rates by 80%.
90% of customers report that product videos help them make purchasing decisions.
According to YouTube, mobile video consumption grows by 100% every year.
64% of customers are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it.
87% of online marketers are currently using video content in their digital marketing strategies.
A third of all the time people spend online is dedicated to watching videos.
Video ads now account for more than 35% of all ad spending online.
59% of company decision makers would rather watch a video than read an article or blog post.
Digital marketing expert James McQuivey estimates that a single minute of video content is the equivalent of 1.8 million words.

Five Smart Reasons To Start Using Video Marketing

As one of the fastest-growing and most in-demand forms of marketing out there, video marketing stands out as one thing all marketers should be using right now. Here are the top five benefits of video marketing:

Video content promotes brand recall.

According to HubSpot, 80% of customers remember a video they’ve watched in the last month. One of the biggest strengths of video marketing is that it’s highly visual and auditory, which means it’s easier for many users to remember than text-based content. When customers remember your video marketing content, they also remember your brand, which translates to more sales and leads for you. What’s more, customers typically like to share videos they enjoy, which can expand your online reach.

To make your videos as memorable as possible, ensure that you’re keeping them in line with your brand strategy. This means keeping colors, fonts, logos and voice the same in your video marketing as they are in your blogs and articles. While videos do things text content doesn’t, users should still be able to recognize the style and format of your brand’s videos online.

Video marketing can boost your site’s SEO.

Sixty-five percent of business decision-makers visit a marketer’s website after viewing a branded video. It’s clear that quality and relevant video marketing content can dramatically improve your site’s SEO by driving people to your homepage. Additionally, video can enhance your conversion rates: HubSpot reports that 39% of business decision-makers contact a vendor after viewing a branded video.

By adding video to your landing pages, website and content offers, it’s easy to improve your company’s SEO value and improve your click-through rates across the board.

Video content performs well on all devices.

Today, one of the biggest trends driving the digital marketing world is responsive design. When a company’s content doesn’t perform well on a given device or browser system, the business behind it loses traffic and suffers decreased conversions as a result. Fortunately, video content is fit for consumption on all devices, ranging from computers to mobile phones. This expands video’s reach and makes it more user-friendly and consumer-focused.

Video marketing can help strengthen your brand message.

When you use online video in your digital marketing strategy, you have the perfect opportunity to enhance your brand’s message and drive your company persona home. Through simple features like design and branding, to more advanced features like voice and content, video marketing is the ideal tool to strengthen your brand identity and make sure that your customers know who you are.

Video content wants to go viral.

It is estimated that 92% of people who consume mobile videos share them with other people. This is a massive portion and is higher than the share rate of many other types of content out there. Simply Measured discovered that video is shared 1,200% more than both links and text combined. Also, 60% of viewers will engage in a video post before a text post, according to Diode Digital. Because of this, video content is a powerful tool for any brand that wants to expand its reach online or enjoy wider audiences.

By creating information-dense, accessible, easy-to-interact-with video content, brands can develop a substantial online following and promote customer recall. For an example of a company that’s done this particularly well, consider Headspace, a meditation app that became a $250 million business. The app offers multiple levels of meditation, employing gamification to increase engagement. Users must complete and master each meditation level before advancing. Most sessions are in video format, beautifully crafted with illustrations and layouts true to the brand. It is elegant, consistent and engaging, heavily relying on video.

Until next time… Onwards and Upwards!