4 Reasons You Absolutely Need a Video Strategy Right Now
Video: it's so hot right now.
Everybody in the business world seems to be buzzing about video content marketing.
There’s a good reason for the buzz: video as a marketing tool has grown significantly in the last few years. Companies are allocating more and more budget to video content every year. This year video ad spending is expected to top $11.4 billion. And that’s just the advertising side of video-- you know, the stuff you skip over to get to the cat playing a piano.
Times are changing. People now interact with brands and shop in a completely different way. The ways companies have typically reached consumers in the past-- banner ads, commercials, etc.-- aren’t working as well as they used to.
Why?
Everybody’s using Ad Blockers now.
Yeah. All that money your company spends on pre-roll and banner ads? If your target market is a person on a computer, they’re probably using an ad blocker. In 2015, over 200 million people worldwide were using ad blockers. In 2016, that number skyrocketed to 615 million (side note: I literally had to turn off my own ad blocker to read this report. Joke's on them, I turned it right back on).
(image source: PageFair)
So how do you get around this growing epidemic of people ignoring your expensive ads?
Content marketing.
You create valuable content that keeps your audience coming back for more. And if your company isn’t including video as a part of its marketing mix, you’re going to get left behind.
Still not convinced? Here are 4 reasons why you need to get on top of that ASAP.
1. Google search prioritizes video content.
If there’s a video related to your google search, it’s going to rise to the top of the list. Videos are 50x more likely to rank on the first page of Google results. Not only that, but video content has a much higher click through rate than a normal link.
As a new homeowner, I’ve been researching a lot of DIY stuff. When I search for “how to replace a light fixture”, the top two listings are from Lowe’s, but the very next listing is a three year old video on YouTube from a guy who does handyman tutorials. One man’s small business is getting just as much exposure as a corporation putting tons of money into SEO.
And honestly, which link do you think I’m going to pick when I’m getting out the drill?
2. People crave videos.
1/3rd of all online activity is spent watching videos. And this isn’t only the straight up entertainment kind. People are watching tutorials and vlogs and literally other people playing video games, and then devouring whatever the related content is.
On top of that, people are much more likely to watch a video than read an article. And if that article is a white paper? Forget about it.
3. People actually open emails that have video content.
Crafting the perfect email campaign with the perfect Call to Action and the perfect subject line can get expensive and time consuming, and then your open rates might still be meh.
Imagine increasing your click through rates by 200-300% just by including a video in the email. It could even be a repeat of the the exact same information you would have written, but now it's more likely somebody will see it.
4. Video converts better than anything else.
70% of B2B marketers claim that videos convert users to qualified leads more than any other content. More executives and decision makers are watching video than ever, and when it comes time to buy, a video might make the difference between yes and no.
So while your company is spending time on the perfect online ad or email campaign or infographic, your video-savvy competitor is snaking those leads right out from under you.
Bonus Reason #5: If your existing video content is bad, it’s going to hurt your brand.
It’s not enough to just throw a bunch of stuff at the YouTube channel and see what sticks. You need to actually think about what you’re putting online, and why. And you need to make sure it doesn’t stink, because otherwise your customers will lose respect for your brand.
