Why everyone should include video in their content strategy

Reports have shown that video is the most in demand and popular form of content online today, with more and more businesses, including it in their marketing strategy. People don’t always have time to read lengthy articles anymore. They want to find out information and news quickly and easily, and video is a great way to do that.

Take a look at some of these video stats:

• 70% of consumers say that they have shared a brand’s video. (Wyzowl)
• 72% of businesses say video has improved their conversion rate. (Wyzowl)
• 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions. (Invodo)
• 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a video. (Forbes)

As video content grows and develops, more and more business and brands are finally creating video content. Like everything else in the world of digital markeitng, video trends are constantly changing. They change quickly and you must keep up-to-date with what’s hot at the minute, in order to attract and engage your perfect audience. Here are some of the biggest video trends of 2019 so far:

• Video is Going Live: Live streaming services are growing in popularity on Facebook, Instagram, and other popular social media channels. Research indicates live streaming encourages more audience engagement and retains viewers longer than prerecorded video.

• Video is Going 1:1: Given the ease of shooting videos with smartphones, marketers are discovering the value of lead nurturing and customer communications by sending personalized video messages instead of calling or sending an email. The notion of using a 1:1 video approach can apply to following-up on an inquiry, offering content, delivering support, simply saying thanks, or practically any application.

• Video is Getting Search-Friendly: AI and the use of closed captions are making video content more searchable. AI can transcribe the audio tracks of video with voice recognition to make video searchable. Google even recently announced the addition of video previews to the video carousel that appears in search results.

• Video is Turning 360: The recent advent of 360-degree video content enables viewers to control their perspective for a more immersive interactive experience

Like everything else when it comes to content, preparation is key, and there are several questions you should ask yourself before committing to producing video content.

Why are we doing this?
Who is going to watch it?
What do we want to gain from it?
Where is it going to be viewed?
When is it going to be live?
What is the budget?
What are the creative requirements? Do we need props or actors/extras?
How will we do it?
What equipment will we use? iPhone/Mac or DSLR?
The report also highlighted that smartphone advertising grew by 37.4% in 2017, to account for 45% of internet ad spend. Accompanying YouGov data showed podcasts, social media stories, and learning a new skill on smartphones surged in popularity. 29% of people had more of an interest in social media stories, while 30% said podcasts. Social media ad spends grew 38%, with 83% of social spend now going on mobile phones. This was a rise of 69% from 2016. Businesses are continually told to keep mobile devices. After producing and posting video content, you should analyse and review it before making another one, and continue to see where your strengths and weaknesses are.

Here is a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) which you could use:

View Count
Clicks
Awareness lift
Ad recall
Conversions
Demos/Trials
Sales
Social Sharing
Play Rate
Comments
Watch time
View through rate
Brand interest lift
Completion rate

According to another report conducted by Wyzowl, one of the worlds leading explainer video companies showed that in 2017, 63% of businesses are using video as a marketing tool. Out of those, 82% of companies feel that video content is an integral part of their marketing strategy. 99% of businesses will continue to use video throughout 2017, and 82% of companies will be spending more on video in 2017. 83% of companies believe that video gives them a good return on investment too.

The report also revealed that 79% of consumers would rather watch a video to learn about a product than reading text on a page. 84% of consumers have been convinced to buy something after watching a brand’s video. 91% of consumers have watched an explainer video to learn about a product or service.

62% of those businesses said that the video on their homepage was a useful marketing tool. 97% said that their explainer video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service, and 81% of businesses said that their explainer video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service.

So what’s stopping you from creating some kind of video content as part of your marketing strategy? We’ve even created a list of different types of video you can create.

Types of videos to produce:

Demos
Vlogs (Video Blogs)
Branded content
Events
Expert interviews
How to
Explainer videos
Animated
Case study
Live – Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram Live
360 degree/Virtual Reality/ Augmented reality
Personalised messages

More insights revealed that 83% of consumers feel that a friendly voice (chatty, laid back and conversational) would be more relatable and persuasive than a formal voice. 75% of consumers have been discouraged from buying a product because a voiceover in an ad annoyed or alienated them. In terms of length, 50% of consumers believe that one minute is the ideal length for an explainer video. 33% opted for between 1-2 minutes, and 17% said less than one minute. These are all vital statistics that you can use to help create an effective video marketing strategy.