by Anees Mueller
April 15, 2021There are so many things to love about video marketing: it’s easy to share, it gives you an opportunity to really showcase your brand personality in an authentic way and it can be an effective way to increase conversions.
Here are a few key stats from Wyzowl:
- A good return on investment (ROI) is reported by 89% of marketers who use video.
- 83% of marketers say video is a way to boost lead generation.
- 87% credit video with creating increased traffic at their website.
- 80% see a link between video and increased sales.
- No regrets: in 2020, 95% of marketers said they would be spending the same or more on video in the future.
The trajectory for video has been on the rise, and the pandemic only served to increase its appeal to consumers. There are two key reasons for this Covid-19-fueled progress:
Relatability
Research by the Global Web Index has shown that 42% of social media users report a decrease in the pressure to present a perfect version of themselves online. This perception that it’s okay to be real is part of a bigger trend towards authenticity.
Research has demonstrated that while being interesting and funny are still the most important video qualities, the third-ranking quality that influences a video’s positive reception is its relatability.
And when you’re prioritizing relatability, it doesn’t get any more real than user-generated content (UGC). ZDNet reports that 92% of people trust UGC over more traditional advertising. Not sure how to take advantage of this staggering statistic? Here are a couple of ideas:
- Invite your followers on Instagram to send in their own videos of themselves using your product or service. It’s a great time to encourage humor or quirkiness, if that fits with your brand.
- Ask customers to send in their own testimonials. Throw out a question or two and invite them to answer in video format.
It’s a Great Alternative
Alternative to what, you might ask. To doom scrolling. To social media rants. To awkward family Zoom calls.
In a time of uncertainty, isolation, and grief, people found that videos made them feel happy. Google conducted a survey and found that 79% of respondents reported feeling joy and relief from using a streaming service.
You can also see it in how people stick around until the end of the video. Research by Adobe found that 63% of consumers say they finish the video content they begin in a single sitting. This is a change from the steady decline in finishing videos that was occurring prior to the pandemic.
Want to Get Started?
Here are a few tips to make your jump into video marketing a success:
- Keep it short: Videos under two minutes are the most likely to be watched to completion.
- Transcribe the script: Those search engine bots are crawling your site, looking for your content, so make it easy to find to improve your search engine optimization (SEO).
- More optimization: Add meta descriptions and include keywords in your title and text to make your video easily findable.
- Make thumbnails high quality: Make sure your video is readily accessible to visitors looking for it.
If you’re considering adding video to your marketing strategy, or to learn more about our omnichannel, automated marketing solution, contact us at DirectMail.io.