Nov 27, 2017 | General, Uncategorized, Video Marketing
When you go online, chances are that a lot of the content you see is in video format – and for good reason. Every day, approximately 100 million people watch at least one video online. So videos are an incredibly effective way of marketing your product and/or service.
If you have been avoiding making videos because you think they will be too expensive or difficult to make, it is time to rethink your marketing strategy.
61% of all businesses now use video content in their digital marketing plans. Two out of every three of these businesses are newcomers to video.
Additionally, video consumption continues to rise online. Estimates from this summer predict that overall video consumption via mobile will increase by 35% by the end of this year.
These developments foretell a new year where digital video will be more important than ever for business owners’ success. Those who take advantage of the following four video marketing trends in 2018 will likely be in for a great year ahead.
Video Content Marketing Becomes a Must-Have for Small Businesses
For one, people complete video content more frequently than the average non-visual, text-based blog article. According to Vidyard, over a third of all video viewers (37%) make it to the end of the video’s run time.
Nearly all mobile users who watch video (92%) have a tendency to share video content with others. Simply Measured also says that video gets shared around 12x more frequently than content links or text.
Other studies show that audiences retain video in messaging better than text.
With these advantages, businesses putting video content out there will see higher levels of engagement. They will also see higher levels of shares and conversions into their marketing funnel. Having a video component to your digital marketing strategy will become a competitive differentiator in months ahead.
Business owners looking to get into video can start by transforming existing content assets into a short (around 2.5 minutes or less) summary. Look to the assets with the most views and shares for inspiration.
Video Becomes an Integral Part of the Sales Pipeline
Video not only generates awareness, it can help nurture sales in both B2C and B2B industries. 65% of business decision-makers will visit a startup’s website, claims ComScore.
Offering video content helps turn what could be a pushy and person-intensive sales process into a self-service nurturing pipeline. Interested prospects can view video content hosted on websites or shared via social to learn more about products and features. As they educate themselves, they move towards the end of the sales funnel with minimal person-to-person contact.
Self-guided lead nurturing not only reduces employee overhead, it also results in a more pleasant experience for leads. 19% of prospects claim they only want to hear from a company rep when they are actively considering a purchase. 40% of prospects want to be able to buy without talking to anyone at all.
Meeting this need involves considering how video assets can provide value at every stage of the sales/marketing funnel.
For instance, business owners can cultivate awareness by creating emotional or intriguing video advertising assets.
Video content marketing assets provided on their website next to text content can help buyers at the nurturing stage. In-depth explainer videos can help lay out different buying options. It can also lay out the final steps in the procurement process for those ready to close the deal.
“When you incorporate video into your sales processes, customers get what they want: a friction less, self-serve experience on their time, and on their terms,” says WireBuzz.
Think about buyer needs that were once traditionally met with person-to-person interactions. Imagine how video can replace these needs with a self-service, video-heavy customer journey.
Live Video, 360° Video, Slideshows and Other Video Formats Gain Traction
Like everything else online, the world of video marketing is evolving. While you can still upload videos to your YouTube channel and share them online, there’s also a new kid in town – live video.
One of the most accessible options, which allows companies to fully integrate video marketing into their Facebook marketing, is Facebook Live.
Live video presents an easy, low-budget and low-concept way to create more video content for audiences. Brands can engage with audiences in a way that feels authentic and like a 1:1 conversation.
Preparing live video into your content marketing and social engagement strategy can quickly round out your assets without a massive up-front investment.
There are a lot of reasons that doing live is a good way to gain more followers. This is something that you should be investing in.
We could go into a lot of detail now about why Live might well be the ‘future’ of social media in many ways. For now, though, suffice to say that for you, it offers a unique way to communicate with your audience. This takes away the limitations of having to wait for a post or a message to be delivered.
Your audience will feel as though they’re getting real insight into your lifestyle, your business and your personality. You will be able to answer their question directly.
This is a fantastic format for a whole range of types of media. From AMAs (Ask Me Anything), to interviews and to product reviews.
On the other end of the spectrum is 360° video. These assets use a special camera setup to capture a full spherical range of images. Audiences can then use a smartphone headset like the Google Daydream to tilt and move their head as the video plays, changing their viewpoint as one might in real life.
360° video results in a truly immersive and memorable experience. However, the high cost of equipment and production means businesses require an airtight strategy for converting 360° videos into measurable returns.
Formats like these lower production costs for video — especially video ads. They still provide higher levels of engagement. Best of all, they can communicate well even without sound.
Since 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound, slideshow and short-form video assets provide substantial returns with a relatively minimal investment.
In 2018, Video Marketing Trends Will Define Small Business Success
If 2017 was a year of pioneering growth for video, 2018 will be the year people expect business owners to give their video marketing campaigns some structure.
Business owners can bring in bigger audiences than ever before. Simply by using the above trends in combination with intelligent strategy and dutiful measurement of KPIs.
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Oct 16, 2017 | General, Uncategorized, Video Marketing
Digital Video Advertising
The benefits of digital video advertising have quickly switched it from a “nice to have” for larger businesses to a “must have.” Now, this status has begun to trickle down to smaller businesses.
Brands already embracing video ads have a distinct advantage over their competition.
Soon, video advertising for small businesses could become table stakes for all business owners. Without it, they may not be able to viably compete for new customers and overall sales.
In other words: video ads provide so many advantages that small businesses without a video marketing strategy may get left behind.
In case you’re not sold on this idea, consider that video is much more engaging than other forms of social media. That’s at least partly because video assaults all the senses. It contains movement, imagery, music, and gesticulations and all this makes it far more captivating, far more persuasive and potentially much more emotionally stimulating.
This is everything you need to sell to someone and it makes social media a considerably more powerful tool for selling and persuading – or just getting someone to care about and be interested in your brand.
Discover the benefits of video advertising and learn about six huge reasons your small business should consider video ads by reading on.
1. Digital Video Has Runaway Growth with No Signs of Slowing Down
First, business owners should know that digital video is not just a “fad.” It’s a legitimate trend that reflects our evolving use of technology.
Online video has become an absolute monster in the past few years with no signs of slowing down. People watch over 500 million hours of video on YouTube each and every day. An estimated one-third of all online activity is spent watching videos.
Video uploaded to newer platforms has also quickly caught traction. Since introducing native video for Facebook users in 2013, the platform has grown to have over 500 million people watch at least one video in a given day.
There are many reasons behind this upsurge in video production and consumption, but mobile is one of the most important to keep in mind. As smartphone adoption rates rose and device owners gained access to cheaper data plans, the simultaneous explosive growth in content production and attentive audiences created a full-blown phenomenon.
Over half of video content is now viewed via mobile devices, and mobile video saw 20 percent consumption growth last year.
Altogether, these facts show that if your business invests in videos, it won’t be stuck with something no one uses five years from now. Instead, not using video advertising could actually make your business feel like a dinosaur.
2. Most Marketers Are Buying into Video Ads, And They’re Seeing Real Results
While more consumers are watching videos, more marketers are also spending more money on video advertising. Comparing 2016 to 2015, marketers spent 53 percent more on digital video ads — $9.1 billion in total. Looking just at mobile video ad growth, spending increased 145 percent year-over-year during the same period.
And while video ads made up just 12.5 percent of overall digital ad spending last year, digital advertising as a whole eclipsed traditional TV advertising. TV has long been the king in the ad world since the 1960s. That fact that digital can unseat it is a big deal.
Also, many brands have begun to give video the lion’s share (56 percent) of their ad budget, signaling a larger sea change in the handoff between digital and traditional pay TV.
Overall, people have begun to pay less attention to traditional media outlets like broadcast TV and more attention to digital videos. Businesses using video ads will find bigger and bigger audiences over time. Those who stick to older forms of ads will have shrinking audiences.
This trend has strongly motivated marketers to pay attention. Currently, over 67 percent of brands say that they purchase video ad inventory on Facebook. The majority intend to spend more on video in the next year.
Since “programmatic ad platforms” can automatically match your video ad with people most willing to buy, the tremendous appeal of video content has helped marketers find big, high-value audiences and better conversion rates.
3. Video Sharing Helps Your Ads Go Viral and Expand Reach
A video is not only appealing but also highly shareable. In fact, traffic to video sharing sites has more than tripled. Also, 92 percent of mobile video viewers report that they regularly share videos with others.
Because video is so shareable, a single ad placement can turn into free exposures from people sharing your ad with friends and associates. Video ads, therefore, help small businesses get more value for their dollar.
Additionally, video ads that are blatant advertisements can still hold a high amount of appeal to buyers. According to one recent survey, four times as many people would prefer to watch a product-focused video compared to reading about it.
4. Video Communicates More Than Words or Images Alone
Video content combines sight and sound with motion to create a deeply engrossing experience. By combining moody imagery with soothing music, for instance, small business brands can make viewers feel emotion more effectively than images or text can by itself.
Consider that a two-minute explainer video can be capable of delivering over 200 words of script. It will also show deeper information with animations, visual cues and things like editing. Maybe this is why people say that if a picture is worth 1,000 words, 1 minute of video must be worth 1.8 million!
Additionally, people tend to remember video far more clearly compared to text. The average viewer claims to remember 95 percent of what they saw in a video compared to just 10 percent of what they read through text.
For small businesses marketing, these benefits mean that video advertising does more with less. Your viewers will get more of your message, enjoy it as an experience, and remember it better overall.
5. Video Helps You Rank Higher for SEO and Social
You might not be aware of this, but YouTube (which is owned by Google) is actually the world’s second-largest search engine. It’s also the world’s third-most trafficked website. Not only is YouTube a great way to share your videos, the information you include (such as keywords and links to your website) can boost your search ranking, and that’s a big benefit.
These video results appear at the top of the SERP above text-based web pages.
By having your video more likely to appear in search results, you can get more clicks from search users directly in the SERPs. Having your video appear on the SERPs can also increase organic traffic by 157 percent compared to text-based web pages.
Put together: each video you make can generate more business with less effort.
6. Video Can Drive Serious Conversions
The addition of video to your existing campaigns can help convert more people more quickly. Research shows that customers are about 80% more likely to convert on a page that includes video – and they’re 64% more likely to make a purchase.
On top of this, using video anywhere on your website can drive engagement overall. According to studies, the average user spends 88 percent on websites that contain video. Additionally, blogs incorporating video tend to earn around three times as many inbound links compared to text-only posts.
Small business owners using both paid video ads and non-ad-related video content will, therefore, have an easier time finding more leads from multiple sources.
How to Get Started
The best way to get started with video marketing is on YouTube, which in some ways is similar to a form of social media. At the same time though, you can also be successful by using live video on platforms like Facebook, by uploading very short videos to Instagram etc., or by using videos through other social media channels. Even paid Facebook Ads let you incorporate video!
To get started creating video, then conventional wisdom is that you will need a good quality camera, some basic lighting equipment, a sound recording device etc.
All this is true to an extent, but it isn’t strictly necessary if you’re shy to go on camera or don’t know how to create that kind of content. In fact, a ‘video’ can be much more of a podcast with a static image and you talking over the top. Or it can be a slideshow with no talking at all! There are lots of ways to create video and the only thing you absolutely need is some basic editing software.
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Aug 22, 2017 | General
Video content will soon reign as king of content by 2019. Experts agree that video marketing is no longer an option as it will become 80% of internet traffic. Even if you have a local offline business where you may not need to market on Instagram or Twitter, your business belongs on video regardless of where viewers may consume it. Imagine this – more than 3 million small businesses shared video content on Facebook within a one-month time frame. It’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when” the majority of online marketing will be driven by video.
By leaving your strategically created footprint on social media, you can effectively market to your audience 24-7 with compelling content. But with so many options, methods, and tools to create videos; are there any rules of thumb to give your videos a chance stand out?
We’ve put together a checklist of strategies to help you gain a clear understanding of what goes into creating great video content that is relative to all platforms. Our breakdown will help you share content that can capture your audiences’ attention in as little as 5 seconds and motivate viewers to take action.
The best thing is, you don’t need a degree in film-making or digital editing, so without further ado; here are our most essential tips to help your video content shine.
1. Mission Statement
Does your video content contain a strong mission statement that allows your audience to quickly understand what your business is all about? Starting with a great mission statement can inspire your audience to buy into who you are as an organization and will separate you from your competitors.
2. Focus on the Message
One of the most effective strategies to consider when creating a video is to focus on simplicity. By sticking to one message per video, and one call to action you can communicate your point more effectively and won’t clutter the message you’re trying to convey to your audience.
Pro Tip: One popular method is to utilize explainer videos, which in most cases describes a problem your customer has and how your business can help them fix it. Sometimes, a quick and easy explanation is all a prospect need to clearly understand how your product or service can solve their problem.
3. How-to Content
The appeal of “how-to content” stems from our infatuation of immediate information gratification. With the press of a button and a quick search on Google or YouTube.
How-to content dominates as over 100 million hours of practical tips and lessons were streamed on YouTube in 2016 – they are immensely popular regardless of the platform. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase the value your business can provide to your customers. Be cautious, however, of being too self-promotional can turn your viewers off.
One great strategy is to offer useful content on a topic that relates to your business – you can drive higher traffic with content marketing than traditional forms of advertising.
4. Trending Videos
Staying relevant on social media can be a bit intimidating as trending hashtags and memes change almost daily. It is an all-consuming effort to stay on top of so much user-generated content. But if you can keep an eye on what your industry influencers are doing, you can take advantage of content and post topics that are highly engaging and people want to share.
5. Story Telling
In the age of personal connection through social media, audiences love a good story that they can and find relevance in through their own lives. Part of a great marketing strategy is to create compelling stories to captivate viewers on an emotional level to develop trust with your brand.
By going behind the scenes of your company, you share a story of who you are authentically. Just like when a certain song comes on the radio and stirs up a vivid memory and the emotions that come along with it. There is something about powerful narratives that impact your audience on an emotional level. Our brains are more attuned to remembering information through emotional stories. Then when these emotions are experienced again later down the road, memories of your products and services will be triggered and that creates brand recognition.
6. Shareable Content
Being emotional creatures, we make decisions and do things based off how we feel. Whether content is shareable really depends on how it appeals to our emotional state versus our logical state.
In a study done in 2010 about viral content, making people excited, laugh, or be angry will draw a higher likelihood of having content be shared. It is not the specific feeling a person has, but how intense that feeling is that drives them to share content. Impact is everything.
So, ask yourself, does my content have the necessary ingredients to make someone want to share it?
7. Keep it Short and Precise
In our instantly gratified culture, the best video content can capture the attention of its viewers within the first 5 seconds. Otherwise, it’s likely your viewers will lose interest and move onto the next video.
Pro Tip: Be precise with the technical side of your video content; your video should be able to work without sound and automatically play in their news feed. Research has found that 85% of video’s in the Facebook feed is viewed without any audio. As well, viewer engagement increases tremendously if videos were to auto play versus being shared from a link.
In conclusion, we know that traditional marketing was once so effective that it had shifted into the conglomerate that is content marketing today. Video engagement will continue to increase through social media at a phenomenal pace. The million-dollar question is – what will you do to adapt to the changes in your marketing strategy?
Learn more about digital marketing by visiting JVI Mobile Marketing or by contacting us!
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