“The amount of information that can be displayed through just one minute of video vastly outnumbers the amount of information that can be read.”
The Growing Trend of Video Marketing By Ryan Kelly
ideo is a different method of engaging audiences than with images or text. The amount of information that can be displayed through just one minute of video vastly outnumbers the amount of information that can be read. Video allows you to generate an instant emotional connection with your audience. It enables you to build rapport with potential customers, which is huge in terms of using video as a relationship-building tool. For branding, this is extremely useful, as it allows companies to display a “human” side more efficiently. Especially for service-based businesses, like a mortgage company, videos allow the service provider to build a rapport with their visitors. Every business is different, and finding your niche and target audience might take some time. But it is necessary to find your target audience prior to diving into video marketing. To build a solid foundation for your business, you need to identify your
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typical customer and tailor your marketing pitch accordingly. No one can afford to target everyone. Targeted marketing allows you to focus your marketing dollars and brand message on a specific market that is more likely to buy from you. This makes it easier to figure out which types of media you should use to reach them. YouTube is now the second largest search engine, just behind its parent company, Google. YouTube may be the most popular video sharing site, but it isn’t the only one out there. Other popular video sharing sites like Vimeo, Vevo and Daily Motion are also to be considered. I would recommend using YouTube, primarily because it is free, but also because it is owned by Google, which cannot hurt in terms of helping your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) at the same time. Statistics provided by VideoFlot.com, show that only 20 percent of Web visitors will read the text on a Web site, while 80 per-
cent will watch the same content in the form of a video. According to a study done by Solutions8, the average Internet user watches 186 videos per month in the USA. Statistics also show that viewers are 64 to 85 percent more likely to buy after watching a video on a product or service. Adding video content to your Web site increases the chance of a front page Google result by 53 times. Most visitors prefer watching video to reading plain text on a Web site. Video is much more interactive and revealing. Companies are now noticing the effects and power of viral video marketing and are beginning to set aside ad budgets for videos on YouTube. Dove released a three-minute ad on YouTube that teaches a lesson about how we view ourselves compared to how others see us. This advertisement was not released on TV, and it was only displayed as a YouTube ad. But Dove really hit it out of the park with this one, receiving 55 million views and counting. The video went viral and received a ton of shares and publicity. Does the length of your videos matter? When it comes to video, shorter is usually better. Wistia conducted a study on the engagement and retention of video watchers and found some interesting data.
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Shorter videos are more engaging than longer videos. The average 30-sceond video was viewed 85 percent of the way through, while the average two-minute video was viewed on average 50 percent of the way through. Understanding the relationship between video length and viewer engagement can help you ensure that your audience is getting the most out of your videos. Online video is the perfect medium for capturing attention of users on mobile devices. All of the major video hosts have support to automatically convert videos to mobile-friendly formats. The opportunity to appear in front of the customer, no matter where they are, is a great benefit of video marketing. Online video offers major SEO advantages to brands who take the time to make their videos as unique and descriptive as possible. Having videos tied to your brand is a potential way to get more attention from organic searches. After you’ve produced a video for your business, the next step is to upload it to your branded YouTube Channel. Make sure to provide accompanying text to both describe the content and enable users to find the video. The title should be concise and catchy like an advertising headline. Lastly, enter one or more tags for the video, separating each tag by a space. A tag, which can be a single word or phrase, should be keywords that your customers might use in searching for a product or service like yours. This is when it’s important to think like a consumer, and this all goes back to having a target demographic. The goal for this process is to get your video noticed and viewed by the greatest number of potential customers. If you’re considering getting started with video marketing, the most important thing to focus on is your content and end goal. Basic editing, graphics and effects can be outsourced for a small cost. Online video has the potential to call viewers to actions like making a purchase, sharing a message or even looking into your company a bit deeper. Don’t forget to include a call to action in your videos. A call to action is an essential part of inbound marketing that strives to convert a viewer into a lead. That is the main goal of any and all marketing efforts. Ryan Kelly is marketing manager with Norcom Mortgage & Insurance. He may be reached by phone at (860) 899-2734 or e-mail ryan@norcom-usa.com.