Author: Kimberly de Silva / Source: Entrepreneur You have probably heard it everywhere: video marketing is the future -- and the present.
You have probably heard it everywhere: video marketing is the future — and the present. Hubspot claims that “video content in no longer an option, it’s a necessary component of any successful marketing strategy.”
Here’s the lowdown on video marketing:
- 4X as many people would prefer to watch a video about a product than read about it.
- By including the word “video” in an email subject line, you can boost open rates by 19 percent and click-through rates by 65 percent.
- Including a video on a landing page can increase conversion by 80 percent.
- YouTube has over a billion users, almost one-third of total internet users.
- 44 percent of SMB owners and marketers plan to put money behind video content on Facebook this year.
- The value of one minute of video can be translated to 1.8 million words, making it the single most practical use for your marketing time and money.
So even if you’re not a big believer of video as the future, the statistics might convince you to dip your toe in the pool of marketing possibilities. Here are five things you need to know before you start producing videos.
1. Tell a story (not a sales pitch)
According to Digital Marketing Institute, the same rules that apply for your written marketing content apply for your video content: concentrate on the value you’re providing for your customers. Do not annoy them by actively promoting your product or service, instead center your video around a story. Take the time to research your customers wants, needs and desires and appeal to them through visual narrative. After all, storytelling is the new sales pitch.
American Greetings did exactly that with their extremely successful video “World’s Toughest Job.” The company puts their product in the background, focusing on human emotion instead (with a surprise twist). American Greetings builds a story around their product, allowing people to feel connected with the brand.
2. Create how-to videos
If you are launching a new product or service this year, create a video to demonstrate how it works. Video has the power to explain everything. In fact, viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10 percent when reading it in text. In addition, 30 percent of people’s YouTube searches are for how-to queries. Remember, YouTube is the second largest search engine, after Google (who owns YouTube)….
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