Let’s start with a highlight of the latest video marketing statistics, courtesy of WordStream:
More video content is uploaded to the internet in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years.
87 percent of online marketers use video content.
85 percent of the total US internet audience watches online videos.
Video increases organic traffic from SERPs by 157 percent.
By 2019, 80 percent of all consumer internet traffic will be accredited to video.
For those of you who question whether this marketing trend is soon to plateau — the answer is no. Not even a little.
By the looks of it, most of you are already dipping a toe in the video trend pool, but are you doing so effectively? Is your video content conjuring new quality leads? Can you prove ROI and justify a growing marketing budget based on the performance of your video content and the success of your overall content marketing strategy? Do you know your cost per customer and how video marketing influences this rate?
Testing the waters is great, but it doesn’t mean you’re keeping your head above the surface. In other words, publishing video is nothing unless it engages your audience and causes a desired reaction.
A common misconception about video is that its number one purpose is entertainment value. This school of thought doesn't give enough credit to the diligence of today’s consumer, who now owns 50 to 90 percent of the buyer’s journey. According to a Forbes report, a whopping 82% of retail customers conduct product research online before making a purchasing decision. 9 out of 10 B2B buyers agree that online content affects their purchasing decisions.
Video isn’t just about entertainment. People are making specific product searches to aid in research and decision making. In lieu of this:
Video isn’t just helping brands sell; it’s helping brands grow at a rate that’s 49 percent faster than brands that don’t use video.
Which leaves us to the mother of all questions. No, not, ‘What is the meaning of life?’ although, it’s equally perplexing.
How do you engage your audience?
First, you need to know who they are (and I mean really know).
How old is your target customer?
Where do they spend time online?
What’s important to them?
What entertains them?
What interests them?
What information do they need right now?
In what format would they prefer this information to be?
This list of questions could go on forever. The point is — the more you know, the more you know what to create and where to distribute. Hint, hint, video is a frequent winner among all types of audiences. We can’t tell you exactly how to engage your audiences because every brand/audience relationship is unique. But we can tell you that early adopters of video marketing have a major advantage. It’s a classic “big risk, big reward” type of situation.
The Benefits of Early Adoption
1. Familiarity with Video Platforms
Like anything else, video has a learning curve. Those who have been at it awhile will inevitably be further along than those who are just now starting to wise up. This learning curve is particularly important for video distribution and the different types of platforms at your disposal. Those who are most familiar with video platforms will be in a position to leverage trends and new features to their benefit. For example, 85 percent of videos watched on Facebook are viewed without sound. This fact bears major influence over production details.
2. More Data, More Power
According to a survey from The CMO Council and RedPoint Global, only 7% of marketers reported the ability to effectively use real-time data to drive marketing engagements. And you can bet that the elite 7% is comprised of early adopters who have been honing their analytics skills for months or even years. The other thing early adopters have that newbies don’t is a history of data. This history enables them to identify their own trends for future marketing moves. For example, their historic data might have alluded to the fact that the millennial age group watches the most online videos. Or that men spend 40% more time watching video than women (Wordstream). Knowing this information is critical for strategy, especially if their target demographic includes millennial men.
3. Early Adopters Own the Trends
Early adopters of video have the foundation and experience to take advantage of content marketing trends in a much more strategic way. For example, live video is the video trend to watch. People spend 3x more time watching Facebook Live video. But if you’ve never or rarely partaken in video campaigns, live video is an intimidating place to start.The point of this article isn’t to deflate your current video marketing status. Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner of video or brand spanking new at it — kudos to you for recognizing the importance of video in your content marketing strategy. But if you happen to fall into the 93% of marketers who seem to be struggling with data and real-time responses to audience interactions, your most cost-effective solution is to partner with avideo marketing agencywith the analytics and video savvy to bring you up to speed.
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