In recent years, much of content marketing shifted to video streaming. In 2005, as the oldest of millennials entered college, YouTube came onto the online scene and opened video expression to the masses, and as the company grew, more corporations create their own profiles.
From fashionistas to singers, stars are born on YouTube. Other platforms arose and soared from the prevalence of video marketing and presentation, such as Snapchat and Vine. Facebook and Instagram stories make sharing video clips of one’s life effortless and let audiences share the experience as if they are there, too.
This presents opportunities for businesses to inspire, evoke emotion in and appeal to needs of their audiences in a real and authentic way. Here’s what you need to know about the growth of video marketing and why your business needs it.
Video Content Represents Pure Connectivity
Your brand is not a stagnant strategy on a piece of paper — you must bring it to life. Video lends electroshock therapy to flatlining marketing strategies and generates pulse. Your brand evolves continually, and telling that story is important to keep your audience connected and bring in new viewers — which could eventually become loyal customers.
Video does what text doesn’t. It creates an immediate, real and authentic route of interaction and connectivity with audience members, who can often provide reactions and comments in real time.
Word-of-mouth is an age-old marketing tool because trust remains intrinsic among consumers. Consumers trust the experiences of others. Build that trust from the start by speaking directly to consumers through video to establish pure connectivity.
Around the world, 91 percent of consumers are likely to reward brands for authenticity and share the brand with friends and family, and 62 percent are likely to purchase from or show greater interest in purchasing from a brand that authentically expresses itself. Interestingly, U.S. consumers were less likely to build trust with new brands as compared to others globally, particularly the openness expressed by Asian consumers. For U.S.-based businesses marketing domestically, video content is the key to building trust.
Most of Content Marketing Will Be Video
Businesses must evolve with the times or die out. By 2019, online content will consist of 80 percent video marketing, and mobile consumption of video content continually rises by 100 percent annually. Consider the following statistics:
- 90 percent of consumers indicate product videos directly inform purchase decisions.
- 92 percent of videos viewed via mobile are shared compared to other modes of access.
- 95 percent of consumers retain communicated information through video, while only 10 percent retain information from reading.
- Companies utilizing video content experience a 41 percent increase in traffic through web searches compared to others who don’t include video in their content strategies.
- Video offers the best return on investment, as 51.9 percent of marketing experts agree.
How do you take this information and utilize it in your content marketing? Which social platforms should you target? Consumers connect with these percentages of branded videos daily: 49 percent on Facebook, 32 percent on YouTube, 24 percent on Instagram, 22 percent on Snapchat and 22 percent on Twitter.
Where Are Your Consumers?
Though video marketing grows exponentially, classic marketing techniques and questions remain relevant. Where do your customers hang out online? Which platform allows you to best express yourself via video?
Will your business grow interest through stories on Instagram or teasing reveals of a new product on Snapchat?
Will you publish a miniseries about wine-making as you start your own micro-vineyard on YouTube? Users publish over 300 hours of video content hourly on the platform — often hailed as the granddaddy of video platforms. However, Facebook is on the rise with its video streaming. Remember that 49 percent of consumers connect with video streaming on Facebook.
Don’t discount which platform fits with your brand the best. Your consumers will also resonate with this fact, and you will fish in the right pond for the customers you designed your products and services for in the first place. Keep growing, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Just do it with honesty and transparency.
Your brand’s authenticity is what makes you stand out and draws in consumers. Go where they are, and share what you know through video — they will connect.
From: Forbes
