The last few years have seen videos become an integral part of brands’ content marketing strategies. From user-generated content uploaded on YouTube to Facebook video campaigns, today’s marketers have understood that:
- Unlike text, videos can make marketing messages come alive.
- According to the Weiss-McGrath report, information presented using a combination of voice and visuals ensures staggeringly high retention rates after 24 hours.
Before uploading promotional videos, the creation phase should be carefully planned. Thismoment’s research highlights some of crucial factors to be considered while creating content for marketing videos:
- Powerful video titles can pull traffic and instantly grab audiences’ attention.
- ‘How-to’ videos are popular. Including them in social campaigns is a good idea.
- Videos that resemble a sales-pitch are best avoided. Be creative and try something different.
There are three factors that make videos a ‘must-have’ in brands’ marketing arsenal.
- Video Marketing is Rapidly Growing
Video advertising is expected to hit a little over 3 billion in 2012 (eMarketer). By 2014, this medium is expected to account for 5.71 billion of total digital marketing spend in the US. The rapid growth could be because videos impact consumers’ minds more than any other medium. Consumers have short attention spans. They prefer watching something than going through text-heavy content.
For marketers, the choice is between incorporating interesting, creative videos or getting left behind. Here are some studies that tilt the scales in favor of marketing videos:
- According to Digitas, 46% of online video viewers are likely to look up a brand if the video mentions a new product or the brand.
- 87% of US brands/agencies leveraged videos for their content marketing programs (Outbrain).
- Videos Deliver Deeper Level of Engagement
Digitas’ research shows that 49% of respondents were somewhat likely to watch a video posted by the brands they were following on various social networks. When compared to other channels, videos delve deeper level of engagement. Let us examine how:
- Interesting Videos Increase Shareability: Compelling videos not only get audiences interested and keep them engaged, but also prompt them to share it further.
- Videos with online user-participation improve engagement by establishing an emotional connection. As part of the strategy to promote its soon-to-be-released film, The Intouchables, the Weinstein Company launched a UGC campaign on YouTube and Facebook. By allowing users to submit inspirational videos, Weinstein not only encouraged user-engagement, but also made the audience feel emotionally involved.
- The Popularity of YouTube as a Search Engine: There are numerous channels where brands can host their promotional videos. YouTube, however, is highly recommended, because: a) It’s the second most popular search engine, behind only Google b) It now sees +4 billion views per day. With a significant percentage of people browsing through videos everyday, brands have greater chances of engaging with consumers via YouTube than other video sharing sites.
- The ‘Show and Tell’ Approach to Increase Returns
In March 2011, Americans watched 5.7 billion online videos (Comscore’s March 2011 Online Video Rankings). From looking for ‘how to’ videos to viewing their favorite commercials, people can’t get enough of online videos. The biggest reason for this is that videos give consumers a better sense of what a product will look like. For brands, this means:
- Increased returns. Online video viewers shop 13% more than the average online consumer.
- Websites that include videos convert 30% more visitors than those minus video.
- Video advertising is an inexpensive marketing approach. For brands this means the returns are higher than the investment.
Created using Thismoment’s DEC platform, the recent YouTube campaign for Sotheby’s International Realty, takes prospects through a visual tour of luxury homes. This is a powerful way of promoting their luxury properties to target audiences.
Conclusion
Besides increasing engagement and improving returns, what makes videos the preferred medium for marketers and customers is their increased visibility in search engines. The above data suggests that videos as a marketing channel will witness rapid growth; what we also expect to see in the future in increased user-involvement. With consumers’ growing appetite for online videos, investing in this medium is no longer optional for brands.
- Shama Ahmed
Thismoment
