Content marketing was the buzzword of 2013, resulting in marketers scrambling to create engaging guides, e-books, white papers, infographics, and blog posts to attract and retain customers. This year the trend continues, but something has changed – we’re seeing the power of video take hold and dominate the content marketing space. It seems to be the new black!
The reason behind this trend is video’s potential to reach and connect with millions of viewers worldwide. With video, the message is immediate, interactive and influential – something that a page of text is not.
Video is often the preferred method of communication for consumers, with video accounting for 78% of online traffic. This number continues to rise, with Cisco predicting that video will account for 84% of all Internet traffic by 2018. If this prediction isn’t convincing enough, here are 4 more reasons why any business, regardless of size and budget, should use video in their content marketing strategy:
Video content is faster to produce than an online guide or e-book.
There’s this perception out there that producing a video is difficult and time-consuming. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that it’s easier to create a 30 second piece of video content than it is to outline, research, write, edit, design and publish a decent e-book, and less expensive at the end of the day. Imagine a video for every landing page, email or campaign. It’s possible.
Video production is totally scalable.
Innovations in scalable video production methods have made it quick and easy for businesses to order professionally shot and produced video content, in any style, for any location, in any volume – and not pay through the roof! The days of contracting large agencies (and incurring large agency fees) to produce video content in volume are gone for good.
Video is great as a content amplifier.
Written content isn’t going anywhere but the way that it’s promoted is starting to change. Try using a short, 15-30 second video to promote your next guide, white paper or e-book. Include the video in emails, on your guide’s landing page and in your social channels. You’ll see higher CTRs in your email campaigns—Zapier saw a 300% increase after including a video—and higher conversion rates for your guide as well.
Producing video content and integrating into campaigns has never been easier. Marketing automation platforms like Marketo have made it easy for marketers to incorporate video into content marketing and lead nurturing efforts. But until recently, the video production piece has always been left out of these platforms because traditional video providers face challenges of volume and reach – meaning they would be unable to service a large and geographically-distributed customer base. By adding video production apps like Scalable Video to their platforms, marketing automation companies can now enable businesses to order the production of video ads and custom video content shot anywhere in North America, efficiently add these videos to email and landing pages, track their results, and feed lead nurturing efforts.
Video: The Future is Now
No longer is video reserved for when viewers have the time to sit down, download and relax. Now over 9 in 10 consumers are watching online video on their mobiles, tablets, laptops and desktops, with 40% of 18-24 year olds watching video more than 10 times per week. Because of this, businesses need to make sure their marketing strategy falls in line with what consumers want – and it is clear that consumers want video! With video being a clear winner in generating responses and shares, it’s time to consider how you can include video in your content marketing tactics. Could your next blog post be conveyed as a video instead of written words? Or maybe a case study?
If your business hasn’t already begun implementing its video marketing strategy, you’re falling behind. So sit down, start planning, find your video production partner and start filming, because now is the time to start!
314-892-1233
Rob Haller, St Louis Video Producer
St Louis Video Producer
robh@hallerconcepts.com
Angel Eye Video Productions, Inc. 