How Video Marketing Is (Quickly) Taking Over
Small businesses are constantly trying to break through the clutter of competitors' marketing messages with creative, innovative content. In order to survive in today's marketplace, you have to grab your consumers' attention early and memorably. Video has quickly become one of the most essential components of any content marketing strategy—its demand, popularity, and lasting effectiveness make it a powerful way to communicate with your current and prospective customers.
Simply put, video is no longer an option for businesses. It's a necessary part of your annual marketing strategy, and according to new studies, not using it for your business could be hurting you.
New research by Wyzowl shows the staggering popularity of video content among consumers, suggesting that video for business is more effective now than ever. The study surveyed 311 unique respondents, made up of both marketing professionals and online consumers.
Let's take a look at the trends. You can also click here to watch our video on the importance of video for business. (Very meta.)
1. Businesses are taking action.
The shift to video marketing has been dramatic—these statistics showed it catching fire early on—and for years business marketers have been taking note of its power. Now they’re taking action.
When asked about their plans for 2017, 63% of businesses reported that they are currently using video as a marketing tool; of those, 82% feel it is an important part of their marketing strategy and that it brings a good ROI. And it’s not slowing down any time soon: a whopping 82% plan to allocate even more of their marketing budgets to video during the year, suggesting marketers’ strong confidence in its ability to drive major results.
One of the most popular forms of video content among businesses is the explainer (or "Talker") video, a brief (1-2 minute) video that explains your business, a product, or a service quickly and easily to your customers. Of the businesses currently using video, 62% have an explainer video, and 56% of those host it on their homepage to greet website visitors.
2. Consumers crave video content.
It’s all in the data: consumers can’t get enough of video. Your customers want to engage with you in more meaningful ways, and statistics show that they’re engaging with video content at enormously high rates. This infographic from Adweek reveals that video is expected to make up 80% of all web traffic by 2020.
According to Wyzowl's study:
79% of consumers prefer video over written instructions when learning about a product.
91% of consumers have watched an explainer video to learn about a product or service.
84% of consumers have been convinced to make a purchase after watching a brand's video.
These numbers not only show that consumers prefer video over many other types of content, but that video significantly affects their purchasing decisions. To take it one (giant) step further, an important study from Animoto found that 1 in 4 consumers actually lose interest in a company if it doesn’t have video.
3. Video helps businesses meet goals.
Okay, so we know that video is extremely popular—that consumers can’t get enough of it, and that businesses are furiously writing it into their marketing plans. Video is clearly powerful. But what are the numbers? How exactly is video helping businesses meet their goals?
62% of businesses said their homepage video was an effective tool.
81% said that their explainer video increased sales.
76% said that video increased traffic to their website.
The benefits go beyond direct sales, too. More than half (53%) of businesses said that video has reduced the number of support calls they receive from customers, and an enormous 97% said that their explainer video increased user understanding of their product or service. These types of results have enormous potential to free up hours of your valuable time, leaving you with more workday to focus on driving your business forward.
4. Shorter videos can have bigger impact.
So, when we talk about video, what are we really talking about? As with most forms of content today, quick, snackable pieces typically beat out long, drawn-out ones. Consumers are eating up all sorts of content by the minute, and with so much moving over to mobile, they want information fast.
Explainer videos, when done right, are the perfect way to engage and inform a potential customer quickly, and they don’t need to be long. In fact, 50% of consumers believe that 1 minute is the ideal length for an explainer video; 33% opted for between 1-2 minutes; and 17% prefer something less than 1 minute. Rather than bundling all of your business features, products, and services into one video, engage your audience further by featuring fresh video content whenever you have new and exciting announcements to share.
That's a Wrap!
Data shows that video marketing is taking over—and fast. Businesses are starting to recognize (and budget for) what consumers crave, and are reaping the benefits considerably. Are you ready to make video content for your business?
At High Street, we’ll plan and produce your entire video marketing campaign for you. We’re not just skilled hands behind a camera—we’re a team of marketing professionals who know how to produce beautiful videos that get you real, effective results.
Contact us today for information on our video packages.
