Is Video a Part of Your Digital Marketing Strategy?

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Just when you feel like you’ve caught up and have an active digital marketing strategy, a new trend seems to emerge that suddenly dates you. In this case, it’s video. While video has long been a valuable marketing tool, it’s now considered a must-have marketing tool. Is video a part of your digital marketing strategy?

Here’s Why You Need to Use Video

If the video doesn’t already play a major role in your overall digital and content marketing strategy, then something needs to change. Here are a few specific reasons why:

1. Video Attracts More Attention

The video is more magnetic than text or even images. This makes video a much better content medium for lead generation. For example, consider the real estate industry. As property management firm Green Residential points out,

“Research shows that 50 percent of interactivity online is video based and consumers are 41 percent more likely to click a video thumbnail than a picture or link to another website. Videos also receive 403 percent more inquiries.”

If you think about it, those are huge numbers. Thumbnails are significantly more likely to be clicked and videos get more than four-times the inquiries of standard listings. That’s pretty powerful!

2. Video Makes People Feel Good

The reason video attracts more attention is that it makes people feel good. Consider the following statistics that Convince and Convert gathered:

Experiments have shown that video-based multimedia learning material leads to better performance and positive emotions – even in learners who excel with text.
The human brain processes visuals a whopping 60,000-times faster than text.
Stories told in video form are 22-times more memorable than written facts.
Positive emotions generated from watching a video directly impact a customer’s decision to buy.

In other words, video resonates with people and therefore leads them to action. Why wouldn’t you be using it?

3. Business Execs are Watching

For B2B marketers, the video has the ability to reach gatekeepers and decision-makers alike. According to HubSpot, 75 percent of business executives are watching work-related videos on a weekly basis. If you can find a way to put your video in front of them, then you’ll clearly gain an advantage.

4. Video Content is the Social Media Gold Standard

Browse through your Facebook newsfeed for a moment and count the number of videos you see in a 10-second period. You should see six, seven, or even eight unique videos on your page. This just goes to show how popular video is on social media and how much it’s being shared by your customers.

The good news is that it’s easier than ever to publish and share videos. From YouTube and Vimeo to Periscope and Facebook Live, the potential is unlimited. Make sure you’re tapping into this lucrative opportunity.

5. Your Competition is Leaving You in the Dust

As Convince and Convert report, video marketing isn’t a secret weapon. It’s something that the majority of businesses – including your competition – is using. Specifically, 52 percent of marketers say video gives them their best ROI, while 76 percent plan to leverage video in some form or fashion to boost brand awareness. The numbers are even stronger in B2B fields, with 96 percent of companies anticipating using video in their content marketing strategy this year. Don’t be the only one in your industry not using video.

6. The Search Engines Dig It

It’s not all about your customers, though. The video also performs quite well in terms of search rankings. In fact, you’re 53-times more likely to show up on page one of Google if you have video embedded on your website. That’s an astounding statistic that clearly shows a high return on video.

Ever since Google purchased YouTube in for $1.65 billion in 2006, the video has become a huge priority for them. And in order to increase the perceived value of video content, search engines have banded together to include it in their search engine algorithms. Make sure you’re leveraging this opportunity to improve your search rankings.

Make Video a Priority in 2017

While it may not be practical to begin leveraging video when there are only a few weeks left in the calendar year, you can go ahead and prepare for 2017 by developing a video-specific digital marketing strategy from scratch. It won’t be easy or cheap, but you should see a nice boost in engagement and revenue.