While the concept of video has been around for decades, the idea of using it as a high-priority tool in marketing strategy has become all-powerful and inescapable in today’s digital landscape.
For small businesses and startups especially, capturing the attention of target audiences and keeping it can get difficult in the face of cutthroat competition. In order to stand out, one has to have an effective marketing strategy that goes a little over the edge.
Video marketing has evolved as an extremely efficient tool in today’s ever-growing digital terrain. According to studies by Wyzowl, the incorporation of video marketing by businesses has been consistently growing, with 91% of businesses using video marketing in 2023 as compared to a mere 61% in 2016.
This is a three-part blog series that explores why video marketing is a much needed tool for any business to grow, why social media platforms prefer video content over graphic posts and finally, how businesses can leverage and embed videos within their ecosystem.
The first part of this blog series delves into the advantages of implementing a robust video marketing strategy for rapid growth.
Why do businesses need a video marketing strategy?
- Increase in video consumption
With over 3 billion people consuming video content globally in 2022, various reports suggest that this number will only keep increasing with an estimated 3.5 billion people consuming videos in 2023. In addition, according to Cisco, in 2022, 82% of global internet traffic came from video alone. These statistics very clearly portray that video streaming and downloading have become more common over the recent few years than ever.
The convenience and versatility of videos have made them an easy and preferred mode of not just entertainment but also information consumption, resulting in more and more people watching video content. With such widespread utility, video has become an important component to include in one’s marketing strategy.
- Video tells a story
A video can tell a story in a unique way and create a huge impact too. In an age such as ours where people prefer watching over reading, video can play a huge role in your marketing strategy and draw potential customers in. By showcasing your brand story through a video message, you not only give out information about your brand, but also increase the trust of your current and new customers. Video has the potential to capture and engage audiences far more quickly and effectively while also helping information retention. Apart from your brand story, a video is a great tool to explain your products and/or services as well as answer any questions or doubts that your customers may have.
- Video increases the understanding of a product/service
When it comes to explaining the features, benefits, uses, and upgrades of a given product or service, a written manual, blog or even image tutorials can only go so far. This is where video provides an edge over other mediums. Videos allow brands to promote as well as offer their services in a way that is much more visually engaging and interactive to reel in audiences and customers like never before. Studies only prove this point further, showing that 96% of users have watched a video in order to learn more about a given product or service. And 89% of people have admitted to video convincing them to purchase a product.
- Increases brand awareness and recognition
Video plays an important role in increasing brand awareness and helping your brand to stand out from the others out there. With video content being highly shareable, it is easier and more efficient to promote a brand through a video. Statistics show that 51% of people are more likely to share a video as compared to any other kind of content.
With social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and so on coming out with features to make and share shorter videos, audiences are now more interested in visual content than ever. Small businesses will greatly benefit by creating short videos that will not only increase their reach but also enhance brand awareness, increase overall visibility, and attract new customers.
- Video improves SEO and online visibility
The advantage that video brings to a marketing strategy is that it keeps audiences and customers on a brand’s page for longer, which is a crucial factor that search engines like Google take into account. For startups and small businesses that have limited marketing budgets, a video can go a long way in optimizing content and boosting online visibility.
In order to maximize optimization and reach on various platforms, video content can be adapted accordingly, also making it versatile. By optimizing videos with titles, descriptions, and relevant keywords, a startup can drive more traffic to its website and other social media pages. More and more consumers are expecting visual and audio-visual content, and a robust video marketing strategy serves this purpose beautifully.
- Faster sales generation
According to studies, video can improve conversion to 86%, and for startups, this is huge. 78% of marketers have admitted to video increasing sales. Both short and long-form video content helps to explain products, build brand recognition and trust, and act as tutorials and visual manuals to help customers in every way possible. Testimonials through video also reach out to people in unique and engaging ways. Through storytelling, human faces, and other creative elements, video is a medium that has the power to evoke emotional connections through a screen like nothing else. By tracking data and analytics, brands can monitor what works and what doesn’t in order to generate more sales faster.
- Video builds consumer trust
Client and audience engagement is a huge factor for all businesses, and startups in particular can greatly benefit from it. Video is a unique and easy way for small businesses to increase client engagement and serve their customers to the best of their potential. Through videos, startups are given a platform wherein they can utilize client participation to provide testimonials to build trust with new clients. Word of mouth and feedback from existing clients and customers is always an encouragement for more people to trust a brand. Building consumer trust and client engagement through video content is the best foot forward for small businesses looking to expand their reach and strategy on a limited budget.
- Greater social media reach
Animoto suggests that 73% of consumers have been greatly influenced by a brand’s social media presence when it comes to making purchasing decisions. Today’s digital world has little to no restrictions when it comes to social media and its global impact. Whether it is advertisements or regular posts, various social media platforms are now promoting more video content as compared to graphic images or written content. The algorithms prefer video, and small businesses that are looking to grow need to upgrade their marketing strategies to video marketing strategies. Read more in-depth about social media and video marketing strategy in our second blog in this series.
Many small businesses make the mistake of thinking that a video marketing strategy might be something that could be afforded later down the line. However, what startups need to recognize is that in order to not only survive but also grow their small business into a medium one, they need to begin incorporating video content into their marketing strategies as soon as possible. Without well-researched and reliable video marketing strategies today, small businesses will take much longer to climb up the ladder to success with their brand.
