Day: July 3, 2017

A picture is worth a thousand words. But today, we can also say a video is worth a thousand words. Videos are, undoubtedly, much more effective than text and presently, video marketing has taken the world by storm. The advent and popularity of YouTube have changed the way how we watched videos. Today, with almost all the social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) having video platforms, video consumption has increased astronomically and has become a large share of internet traffic. Snapchat generates nearly 10 billion daily video views. According to Cisco, IP video traffic will be 82 % of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021. It also predicted that Consumer Video-on-Demand (VoD) traffic will nearly double by 2021. Now, if you have already integrated video marketing in your business plan, then you and your business are on the right track. And if not, then it’s high time you do so. Did you know an average one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words? People have always been drawn towards moving images. Just imagine even a few years ago, we used to mostly receive text messages on WhatsApp. But today, we send and receive animated GIFs and short videos on WhatsApp. According to eMarketer, today an average American spends nearly nine hours a week watching videos online.  Do you know that 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week? Now, videos with less than 30 seconds duration have 88.3% completion rate. Also, the in-app video advertising platforms and embedded videos within the website have managed to engage more users in today’s time. So, if you want your business to be smart, then you should be smart enough to include video marketing in your digital marketing mix. The tech giants and venture capitalists around the world have predicted that video marketing is the future of online content marketing and 2017 is the year of video marketing.  Also, HubSpot says, 96 % of B2B organizations use video in some capacity in their marketing campaigns of which 73% report positive results to their ROI. Now, if you are still in two minds whether to take the advantage of this video marketing boom, then this is the year to take the plunge. We will provide you with top 4 reasons why you should include video marketing in your marketing plan and how videos can be effective for your business. Videos build trust Videos encourage social sharing Videos boost search engine rankings  Videos help in getting better email marketing click-through rate   Videos build trust Scottish author George MacDonald had said, “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” If you are in the business, then your most important priority should be to “establish trust and win the confidence of your clients and customers.” And if you can retain the faith of your consumers, your job on the hand becomes easier. But gaining trust isn’t an easy job either. However, in this case, videos can come to the rescue and the level of engagement of the consumers and clients can increase manifold if your videos are beguiling and interactive. According to HubSpot, 64 % of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video. Also, 80% of users recall a video ad they have watched in the past one month. There are four types of videos you can make to increase the level of trust with the consumers. These videos create an emotional connection with the consumers and clients, which is paramount to keep the business running strong. Testimonial videos Explainer videos Product videos Company story videos According to Digital Information World, 33 % of tablet owners watch about an hour of video on their devices every day. YouTube has already become one of the most powerful and watched video platforms. Even a few years ago, video marketing was thought to be practiced only by established firms, but today, the scenario has undergone a sea change. From a startup to SME, everyone tries to include video marketing in their marketing plan. Santanu Mukherjee, head of Digital Marketing, Indus Net Technologies, informs that explaining a product or service in the form of lengthy content to a customer is actually putting a pressure on them. Also, as a marketer, he informs, he never tries to sell a product. Rather, he tries to establish a relationship with the consumer and videos enable marketers to build trust. “A customer or a client will prefer to watch an explainer video of one minute than reading a three-page brochure,” he says. He also mentions that if the video has the presence of a personality, which represents the brand, then it enhances trust and builds a connection with the virtual audience. Santanu also mentions that edutainment video, which means proving education through entertainment, is on the rise. “These videos have a greater chance of winning the trust of the consumers,” he says. However, he also cautions that the success of video marketing depends on effective and innovative planning, proper implementation and promotion. Credit: Replay Science Videos encourage social sharing The more your video is shared, the more audience you reach and higher are the chances of conversion. And as we all know, the more conversions, the more chances of getting sales. Just imagine how many of the auto-play videos on Facebook do you share on a daily basis?  Though we might not always like these “auto-play videos” but it can’t be denied that these videos have managed to up the engagement level. Also, with the increasing usage of smart devices, video sharing on social networks has taken a huge leap. 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others, says HubSpot. Facebook today is giving YouTube a run for its money through its various video features such as Live Video and Lifestage.  TechCrunch reported in 2016 that over 100 million hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day. As a brand, you should not miss out