Companies using advertisements or videos for product promotion or brand recognition isn't new, but what is new is how dominant video content marketing has become in the last decade. Here are some statistics to highlight the significance:
- Video is the #1 form of media used in content strategy, overtaking blogs, and infographics.
- 97% of marketers say video has helped users gain a better understanding of their products and services.
- A website is 53 times more likely to reach the front page of Google if it includes video.
So, what exactly is video marketing, and why has it become so popular? How has it drastically changed the e-commerce landscape? Read on to find out!
What is Video Marketing?
Video marketing is promoting a product, educating customers about your brand or product, engaging existing customers, and reaching out to potential customers through video. From full-length TV commercials to 5-second clips that play before the YouTube video, video marketing strategies have been developing over time, and around 2017, the use of video became the top marketing tactic.
Video has also revolutionized how service teams support and delight customers and how salespeople connect with and convert prospects. Let's now see how influential video marketing has been.
The Power of Video Marketing in the Last Decade
1. Videos Have Become Easier to Create
Thanks to the wide variety of video editors, software, and tools and marketing-specific applications like promo video makers, creating videos has become much easier than what it was at one point in time. You might still need to invest in getting celebrities to star in the videos and hiring a professional videographer, but post-production steps like editing, adding effects and text, and incorporating a soundtrack can now be done at a minimal cost online.
Statistics have shown that the content in the video is far more important than the quality of the video. This means that you don't have to spend much on production as long as you have solid content.
2. Customers are Better Educated
One of the primary purposes of marketing is to inform and educate the customers about the product or service you are selling and thereby convince them to buy it. Video marketing has made this easier and more comprehensive for marketers and consumers. "How-to" tutorial videos have replaced infographics to provide instructions about the usage of products, and promo videos have replaced pamphlets because visual information can communicate the message better.
3. Videos Make Storytelling Easier
Marketing is about engaging consumers, and the simplest way to do that is to tell a story to them that will make them laugh or feel. Compared to other modes of communication, videos are the best means to make and show a story to the viewers. Having a memorable story in your video makes consumers associate that emotion with your product and brand, giving you recognition.
4. Boosting Conversions
One survey says that conversion rates increase by up to 80% with video content. One reason for this is that (as mentioned earlier), people understand the product better. But another subtle reason is that when you have a video on your company's landing page, your viewer is "forced" to spend more time browsing the page till the video finishes, during which they can gain interest.
5. Integration with Social Media
Earlier, social media was all about finding friends and connections; it was never about advertising or brand promotion. However, things have changed over the last few years, and social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn have become major areas where companies look to share marketing content.
The concept of Instagram stories, in particular, has been the trendsetter for video marketing on social media. The 15-second video clips that companies share as stories on their official page are short enough to hold our attention but still manage to convey the message about the product.
Another innovative form of video marketing has been "challenge" videos, which tend to go viral on social media. The idea is that brands associate some challenge or activity related to their product that they want viewers and customers to try out and share videos of them doing it (and the successful/most popular ones get prizes, of course). These sorts of user-generated videos will resonate better with other potential customers.
6. SEO Tactics
As mentioned in the beginning, adding videos to your content - along with appropriate tags and keywords - greatly boosts your page on search engines. As competition increases in the online market, how easily your brand or product is found by a consumer becomes an important factor. This factor depends indirectly on the quality of your product or service but is more directly impacted by the marketing content, which is another reason why video marketing took the e-commerce domain by storm.
7. The Influence of YouTube
YouTube is the second-largest Web search engine after Google, and where better to showcase your videos than here? YouTube reaches more people in the 18-49 age group than any other site, so there is a good chance your target audience already uses YouTube extensively. As YouTube became more powerful and influential in the last decade, marketers took their video content online here - either as videos from their official channel or as paid ads that play while other videos load.
The YouTube search algorithm is mainly affected by the length of the video and the click-through rate. To maximize the view duration, your videos have to be engaging throughout, from a catchy opening to a clean ending. To increase the click-through rate, make use of custom clickbait thumbnails and titles.
HubSpot recommends that the typical YouTube video should last 2-3 minutes, compared to an Instagram video (post a 30-second video as two stories at most) or a Facebook video (at most 1 minute long). These numbers are obtained by analyzing how long users' attention span lasts on videos posted on the platform.
Conclusion
So, it is evident that video content marketing has been very instrumental in transforming the e-commerce landscape in the last decade, and this effect is likely to continue even in this decade. If your business plans to initiate marketing campaigns for new products, make use of e-commerce video makers, and other video-editing resources because video marketing is the way to go this decade.
