By Josh Sleigh
Eighty percent of all web traffic is expected to be claimed by video by 2019. This single statistic proves the importance of video in marketing; if attention is turning to video on the web, businesses must use video to turn attention to themselves. With video consumption growing all the time, businesses simply can’t afford to ignore video when it comes to formulating a digital content strategy.
To understand the importance of small business video marketing, it’s vital to know how people are engaging with video. Once you understand the sheer scale of video consumption online, you’ll begin to appreciate just how successful video could be in growing your business.
1. 90% of people are influenced by product videos when making purchasing decisions.
Not only that, but embedded video in landing pages can increase conversion rates by as much as 80%. Video helps consumers to understand a product in more detail; it can allow them to see a full 360-degree view of the item, and hear about its USPs in much the same way they would if a salesperson were pitching it to them in the flesh. Video can offer more insight than text and images alone, and the more that businesses provide product videos, the more consumers expect to see them. If you’re not already showcasing your products via video, now is the perfect time to start.
2. Four times as many people would rather watch a product video than read about a product.
Video provides instant gratification; consumers simply have to hit play and they can be provided with all the details of a product in a matter of minutes. It’s faster than sifting through a wall of text, and it tends to be more engaging thanks to additional elements like music, voiceover and, as mentioned above, moving footage of the product in question. If consumers are more likely to watch product videos than read product copy and, so far, you’re only providing copy, you risk losing potential customers to competitors who are already making the most of video marketing.
3. 53% of smartphone users favor companies who offer instructional videos.
Video isn’t just about product demonstrations. Instructional and how-to videos are huge, with over 100 million hours of these kinds of videos being watched on YouTube every year. If you want consumers to engage with your video content, you need to offer them something of value and how-to videos do exactly that. If you’re prepared to invest time in sharing your expertise in video format, consumers will begin to see you as a reputable, trustworthy source and a business they’re willing to spend money with.
4. 43% of people want more video from marketers.
Research from HubSpot suggests that people are actively seeking out video from businesses. Video marketing isn’t solely about advertising to consumers using a popular medium; it’s about giving consumers what they want – informative, valuable video content. One of the biggest benefits of video marketing for business is that it’s tapping into proven demand. Investment in video production is worthwhile when you know it’s what your audience wants.
5. 100 million hours of video are consumed on Facebook daily.
Video marketing and social media marketing go hand-in-hand, because video is hugely popular on social platforms. If you’re already investing time and money in social media marketing, you can boost your efforts by incorporating video. On average, videos on Facebook receive 135% more organic reach than photos. Investing in video content for your social media pages could go a long way in growing your following.
6. Revenue grows 49% faster year-over-year for businesses that use video marketing compared to those that don’t.
Businesses that are using video marketing are seeing a return on their investment. Not only that, but video production costs are scalable. You could spend anywhere between 1,500 to 50,000 on video creation so it’s easy to start small and invest in more complex productions once you start seeing a return.
7. 76% of millennials follow brands on YouTube.
You should also note that 60% of millennials prefer video over newsletters, and 80% consider video content when making purchasing decisions. Younger generations prefer that businesses sell to them via video. It’s becoming expected of companies to deliver video content, and those which are slow in catching onto this demand will inevitably fall behind in 2018 and beyond.
8. 55% of internet users consume video content thoroughly.
This is compared to 52% for social media posts, 33% for interactive tools or articles and 29% for blogs. If people are more likely to pay close attention to video, it’s the perfect medium to put across vital information and sales messages. This doesn’t mean to say that you should shun blogs, articles and other traditional content in future because they still play an important role in your marketing mix. However, video should be considered for communicating your most important marketing campaigns in 2018.
9. 92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others.
This is important when you consider that over half of all video content is viewed on mobile. Smartphones make it easier than ever before to view content and share it with others, and video by nature is highly shareable. If you’re not using video in your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on the potential for your brand to be widely shared by an ever-growing mobile audience.
10. Video can increase organic search engine traffic by 157%.
Video marketing ties in beautifully with SEO marketing because it offers added value to your consumers and is therefore favored by search engines. When a URL features video as well as text, it sends signals to Google that the content can provide more value. If that video has had plenty of views and shares on other sites, it provides even more clues as to its value to search engine users. The result? Improved user experience and a boost to your organic rankings. Every modern business should already be tapping into search engine marketing, and having a video strategy will only boost your SEO efforts.
