Content is king for marketers; however, while content is king it isn’t the only part of the equation – the type of content matters. Video content and video marketing seems to have reigned supreme. More and more companies are now putting all their efforts into producing video content.
Who Saw It Coming?
It didn’t start randomly. The tech giants began acquiring video content companies many years ago. The most common example is when Google decided to purchase YouTube. IAC also acquired a majority stake in Connected Ventures, which gave it control over Vimeo.
That was only the beginning. Video marketing has changed with the onset of live streaming. Companies like Meerkat and Periscope are amongst the leaders in this category.
Showing the Impact of Video
Video ad sharing has improved 63 times over in the last ten years. Part of the reason for this is the increase in technology, so anyone can view videos both at home and on the go. Nevertheless, the general increase in popularity is also to blame for this.
If we look at recent times, we can see that in 2014 the most popular ad gained 5.8 million shares. Compare this to 2006 where the most popular ad gained a mere 92,000 shares.
Social media platforms Vine and Instagram are leading the way in video marketing. Vine managed to gain 1.5 billion daily views at the beginning of 2015.
Another reason why video marketing is so successful is that the brain can process visual media 60,000 times faster than it can process text. In a world where people are more impatient than ever before, video makes a big difference.
Video Content Improves Engagement Rates
Click-through rates have increased by up to 300 percent when adding videos to emails. We also know that video content has increased in the Google rankings simply by looking at the average search query. Google is fully aware of what it’s doing. It knows that videos increase the likelihood of making a purchase or sharing something.
One indication of this trend is in the amount of video content major brands are producing. Here are some revealing statistics:
- AT&T has 1,427 videos on YouTube.
- Lego has 5,462 videos on YouTube.
- Red Bull has 5,102 videos on YouTube.
And each of these brands has billions of views and millions of comments. We don’t know how many people made a purchase, but you can guarantee that a significant number did.
Never a Better Time to Get Started
The secret to video marketing is to understand that going viral is not organic. It’s something you can do through purchasing great content. Yes, you can go viral through dumb luck, but the majority of popular videos are popular because that’s what the creator intended them to be.
Expect companies to dedicate bigger portions of their budgets to video marketing. The field will only grow in competitiveness over the next few years. This is the best time to get started because if you don’t your competitors will.
Here are three questions all businesses should ask themselves right now.
- Are you investing in this form of marketing?
- Are your video marketing efforts utilizing good storytelling techniques?
- Does your website carry any video content by itself?
Most businesses will answer ‘no’ to at least some of these questions. And that’s a bad sign because it means they’re not taking advantage of the latest marketing techniques. It means they’re not maximizing their potential.
How will you turn your organization towards video marketing?
