-- Video is changing everything? --
Mon, 12 Jan 2015 10:20
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In the not too distant future, youll probably be watching this article rather than reading it. As screens continue to infiltrate our public and private spaces, most businesses are waking up to the reality that video is one trend they cant afford to ignore if they want to keep customers engaged.
Why you should take video seriously
Video is, quite simply, a lot more interesting to consume than more traditional forms of marketing. It combines all of the key ingredients of human storytelling - imagery, sound, motion and message - into a single medium that is both stimulating and easy for audiences to digest.
And their appetite is growing.
In the five minutes it takes you to read this article, 500 hours worth of video will be uploaded to YouTube.
Over six billion hours of YouTube video are consumed each month - thats almost an hour for every person on Earth. The growth in video consumption over the past three years has been astounding, and YouTube is now acknowledged as the second most used search engine.
By 2017, video will account for almost 70% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. Video-on-demand traffic alone will almost have trebled.
The value in video marketing
While the internet has provided a quick and efficient platform to reach business consumers globally, video provides a unique, convenient and comprehensive means for companies to inform, entertain and most importantly engage their target markets.
As Forrester Researchs Reineke Reitsma recently noted: Videos are definitely one of the strongest forms of media in our society today, and increasingly they are being used by corporations to help inform people in determining purchasing decisions.
Videos may not directly earn you revenue, but businesses can use video marketing as a powerful tactic to improve consumer engagement, click-throughs and traffic. An Implix study found that including video in your emails increased open rates by 5.6% and click-through rates by 96%.
Forrester Research has found that your brand is 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Googles organic search results if you have a video incorporated into your online marketing efforts.
There is no doubt that video is a powerful form of communication, but it needs to be used effectively. Which brings us to the final and most important point of all this...
How can you be sure your video will be effective?
There are many questions and uncertainties surrounding video marketing, and for small companies with limited marketing budgets, its tough to weigh up the costs against what seem like very uncertain odds of success. Among the six billion hours of video being watched every month, how can you be sure your video will even be spotted in the crowd, let alone give you a return on your investment?
With so many different video approaches and styles out there, its difficult to know how to make your video stand out. But developing a solid video strategy built around content quality and understanding of your target audience is a critical first step in the right direction. Ad hoc videos made by your son-in-laws cousin might warrant a few bravos from your family and most loyal staff, but they arent going to cut it when it comes to customer engagement - unless your son-in-laws cousin happens to be Bono.
A good video strategy needs to integrate with your overall marketing plan, your business goals, and of course, your brand. Its really marketing 101, but youll be surprised how few companies fail to work through this process when creating their videos. Its no wonder there are so many videos (and way too many cringe-worthy ones) out there - a lot of people seem to be playing a game of YouTube roulette, hoping their video will magically hit the viral button.
The truth is that once you have clearly established the goal, purpose and strategic role of your video, and have a clearly profiled target audience in mind, it becomes a lot simpler to define the right messaging and style for your video.
Once you have this in place, the next step is to define your measurement criteria, and put a good seeding and analytics framework in place from the get go. Video seeding is the process of announcing, distributing and promoting video content online. Through video seeding you can develop strategies across multiple online platforms that help guarantee your target audience will be eating up your videos and passing their plates around for seconds. Then detailed video analytics will tell you whos watching, how long they stay engaged and at which precise point youre losing them. Knowing that information, you can further develop your message and target it more precisely.
So when you decide to hit play on your video marketing strategy, be sure to seek out a company that understands the importance of content strategy, audience targeting and measurement, and can ideally work with you to take things to the next creative level.
Sources: Forrester Research
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