Video Marketing Strategies & Trends
Video marketing continues to grow and will keep expanding. If your business isn’t using video as a marketing channel yet, it shouldn’t be long before you make the leap and start considering a video marketing strategy in your plan.
Consider these video marketing statistics:
- 75% of executives watch work related videos on business websites at least once a week
- Online video accounts for about 74% of all web traffic.
- 75% of online video viewers have interacted with an online video ad this month
- 36% of online consumers trust video ads
- The average user is exposed to 32.3 videos in a month
- ..more video marketing statistics
Video is an often untapped channel that is perfect for businesses to reach clients.
But before you dive in to the latest video content trends, be sure that you identify your business case for creating video content.
Define Your Strategy…Create a Video Marketing Roadmap.
Whether you are experienced in video marketing or you are just getting started, you need a video marketing roadmap that outlines your business goals, who you’re trying to reach, and how to measure success.
Why is a roadmap important? A sound plan can tell you if your video content is delivering a return on investment (ROI).
1. Identify the Scope of Your Video Marketing Plan
First identify which parts of your business will be using video content. Will the content be consumed internally by employees or externally by a wider audience, or possibly both? Consider the following business functions and types of video:
- Product Videos
- Sales Videos
- Training Videos
- Corporate Event Videos
- Human Resources
- Internal Communications
Next, you’ll establish what kind of stories you need to tell for each of these business functions.
2. What business goal(s) are you trying to accomplish through the video?
For each business area you’ve identified, consider the reason you need video marketing in the first place. For example:
- To convince your audience to take an action (sign up, purchase, call, etc.)?
- To improve your brand exposure?
- To spread a certain message?
- To educate sales staff on product benefits?
- To train employees?
The reasons you might want to create video content may seem limitless. To avoid losing focus, really hone in on the business objectives for creating the video content.
3. Who are you trying to reach?
Now that you know why you are creating video content, define who the target audience is. Be as specific as possible.
- Marketing managers in middle market companies?
- Busy moms?
- Customers who recently purchased your product?
- New sales employees?
- All existing employees
- …spend some time on this and be specific.
4. Define the mission statement for your video content.
Bring together the why and who and write out a “mission statement” for your video content like this:
“At (Your company name), we create (adjective) video content for (specify target audience), so they (what you want them to do) which means (the reason this is beneficial).”
Some examples of this in action are:
At ABC Widgets, we create educational video content for people who have purchased our widget system, so they understand how to use the widget systems which means they will be less likely to return it or have a bad experience.
At XYZ University, we create fun, informative video content for students living off-campus, so they understand the advantages of living on campus which means it is more likely they will live on campus increasing university revenue.
5. Where will your video content live?
Think about how your video will be delivered to your audience. Will it have a permanent home on your website or will it be exclusively shared on social.
Pay close attention to specific considerations for mobile video advertising. Will your audience be watching on mobile devices or on desktops?
Understanding how your audience will be viewing your video content will help guide decisions about the format.
6. How will you measure success?
Specific goals will vary, but one thing stays the same. Companies that produce video content expect some sort of return on their investment.
You should have a good idea of how you’ll align video content with the goals of your company.
Some metrics you may consider tracking for each campaign are:
- Engagement on Social – # of Likes and Shares, for example
- Number of Views
- Number of Conversions from the Call to Action in the video
- An Increase in Brand Awareness
- Attention span/drop-off rates: Does 60% of your audience make it to the end of the video?
- Click through rates when video is used in email marketing.
- Revenue
- Explore other KPI’s for Online Video from Google BrandLab
Software tools can help you track conversions.
To track revenue generated from video content, these conversions need to be differentiated from those generated from general marketing efforts.
This can be as simple as creating a dedicated URL for transactions flowing through your video content or a more sophisticated solution that uses a software tool to provide more insight.
Wistia’s video analytics software is one of the most complete software options. You can embed Calls to Action directly into videos. Wistia video statistics help you to analyze conversion rates for your video CTAs, links, and forms. Software can show you more clearly how your audience is responding to different content.
YouTube offers analytics such as YouTube Insights that breaks down viewers by demographic information. You can also embed marketing CTA’s directly into YouTube videos to funnel viewers to a specific URL for tracking.
Other video software tracking/platform options to consider are Vidyard, BrightCove and Vimeo.
Get to Know the Video Marketing Trends
Consider the latest video marketing trends and how you might incorporate them into your video marketing strategy.
1. The Surge of 360-Degree Videos
A recent 360 video study by Magnifyre comparing engagement with traditional, flat frame video vs. 360-degree video demonstrates some remarkable statistics.
- The average percentage viewed was 28.81% higher with 360-degree video than with regular video.
- 2X the viewers watched the video to 100% with the 360-degree version.
360 Video is Perfect for Showcasing Products
An overwhelming 90% of users say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the decision process.
It is easy to imagine how 360-degree video is an effective method to showcase a product, real estate, or an experience such as a hotel or restaurant. An interesting real-world example is ticket seller Rukkus using 360 video to show ticket purchasers exactly what the view from their seats will be before they purchase.
2. Videos Watched on Multiple Devices
According to a Google report about online video trends for 2017, 85% of adults ages 18-49 use multiple devices at the same time. The same study reports 2/3rds of YouTube users watch YouTube on a second screen while watching TV.
That means your video marketing plan probably should not rely on just one platform for reaching your audience. Consider cross-promoting on multiple platforms.
3. Live-Streaming is Set to Go Mainstream
Live streaming video via platforms like Facebook Live, Periscope and SnapChat will continue to be on the rise. This type of video content has the lowest barrier to entry and can be a very effective marketing tool when used in the right context.
Live video can be ideal for giving your audience a peek behind the scenes of your business or streaming an event. Facebook Live video watchers enjoy the spontaneity of live video spending 3X more time watching video that is live vs. video that is no longer live.
4. Video Storytelling
Numerous studies over the years have shown that human brains are far more engaged by storytelling than by dry facts.
Video storytelling is powerful because our brains treat on-screen moments the same as real moments. Video-based storytelling marketing is one of the most effective ways to tell your brand story.
This year will be no different, bringing more storytelling in marketing.
Using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65%
5. Video Email Marketing
Using the word “video” in an email subject line boosts click-through rates by 65% and reduces unsubscribes by 26%. (Source: Syndacast)
Video content incorporated into email marketing will continue to increase.
Now is the time to get serious about a video marketing strategy.
If your brand or business has yet to start engaging with video content, this is the perfect year to consider it. Odds are that most of your competition are already using video marketing.
To stay ahead of the pack and relevant in today’s marketing landscape, video should no longer be an optional component of your marketing strategy.
Ready to Implement Your Video Marketing Strategy?
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