75% of senior executives surveyed in a Forbes Insight’s study claim they watch work-related videos on business-related websites at least once a week. Furthermore, 52% claim they watch work-related videos on YouTube on a weekly basis. This provides compelling evidence on content consumption preferences of decision makers these days and, as marketers looking to connect with our target audience in meaningful ways, this trend should most definitely be on our radar, if not yet adopted.
I have compiled a list of 5 incredibly compelling reasons to be using video in your Content Marketing mix.
Are you ready? Great, let’s dive in!
Video Holds Serious SEO Clout
Google includes video listings, mostly hosted on YouTube, in their search results. In fact, according to Forrester Research, having a video on the landing page of your site makes it 53% more likely to show up on page 1 of Google.
In addition, MarketingSherpa research indicates that including video clips on your website can increase organic traffic by 157% and doubles the average time spent on your site.
According to reports from Moz, blog posts incorporating video attract three times as many inbound links than those without.
It is worth noting though that Google’s search algorithm gives priority to the amount of viewing time (seconds, minutes, hours), rather than the number of instances a video was viewed. Bare this in mind when looking to create a video to boost your SEO and ensure that your video is appealing from start through to finish for maximum impact.
Video Conveys Messages Better
As humans we are naturally inclined to pay better attention when information is sensory. According to 3M Corporation, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and Zabisco claims that visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. As video incorporates both visual and audio stimuli it aids better retention and recall results than plain text or simple audio, making it the ideal format to convey complex messages in a concise manner.
Consider your own time resources and information needs for a moment. Would you rather digest a brief 2-minute video covering a specific topic or wade through a 10-page text heavy document? I’m going to guess that you went with the former. As would I.
Video demonstrations and tutorials are also wildly popular as you are able to explain product functions, hacks and processes that are otherwise difficult to describe in copy or another media format.
Video is Primed for Social Sharing
Most, if not all, of the social networking sites provide seamless integration for media. Studies have shown that business people are more inclined to share videos than photos or other content. While not a business orientated statistic, according to YouTube, more than 700 of their videos are shared on Twitter every minute. Yes, I’ll let that sink in for a moment. It’s massive! It also just happens to be the most shared brand content on Facebook too. (Zuum)
The very nature of video means that you needn’t include long, explanatory commentary in order to share out. A simple one liner and a compelling headline are generally sufficient for videos as they innately generate a 41% higher click through rate than other media types.
Video Spurs Engagement and Action
As marketers we’re obviously rather hung up on lead generation. It is one of our primary functions at the end of the day. We like to see that the content that we’re producing is effective in converting visitors to leads and leads to customers. It would appear that video could help push those engagement rates up significantly.
- Branded video content reaches nearly half (46%) of all internet users in the UK. 54% of these go on to click though to the brand’s website. (Econsultancy)
- Eloqua tells us that about 46% of people say they’d be more likely to seek out information about a product or service after seeing it in an online video.
- While the folks at comscore.com go on to state that the probability of website visitors to purchase a product after watching a video is 64%.
Video is Mobile-Friendly
A few years ago mobile video may have being held back by bandwidth issues and device designs. The volatile improvements on these fronts have seen an equally explosive consumption of mobile video. With smartphones and tablets steadily taking website traffic share away from desktop and traditional access points, it is clear that investment in video now is another way to future-proof your content for on-the-go consumption.
At the end of the day, an effective content marketing strategy will include various content formats, including video, but more importantly focusing on those most preferred and applicable to your target market. This post merely highlights the reasons to not exclude video as a content format option as its benefits are numerous.
One Last Plug for Video
Remember that as with any B2B inbound marketing tactic, you’ll want to be able track and measure your results, tying them back to business objectives. Video, especially hosted on YouTube, provides quantifiable results, allowing you to easily track subscribers, views, demographics, traffic sources and more, which you can then tie back to lead generation, nurturing and customer gains.
