Are You Using Videos in Your Marketing Mix?
Wendy Glavin, Founder & CEO, Wendy Glavin AgencyWe know this year is all about customer experience, and consumers and brand are inundated with content. Yet, websites are still text-heavy with little visuals. And, editors can’t keep up with thousands of press releases they receive everyday.Since consumers are more self-educated, want transparency, authenticity, and value-oriented B2B and B2C offerings video, optimized for mobile, video breaks through the noise.Video drives engagement more than text which is declining. In fact, 97 percent of marketers say video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service, 76 percent say it helped increase sales, and 85 percent of people would like to see more video from brands in 2018 reported HubSpot in “The State of Video Marketing in 2018.” Creating videos has never been easier with free services such as, Animoto, Muvee Reveal, IMovie, FlowVella, YouTube and many more. Incorporating a video on a landing page that illustrates a CEO’s passion, tells a brand story, and shows (rather than tells) the value of the product or service increases conversion by 80 percent or more, and 59 percent of executive worldwide prefer watching a video over reading text. By 2018, Cisco forecasts that 82% of all consumer Internet traffic will be video. Live and recorded video and video ads increasingly dominate our feeds across Facebook and Snapchat and are surging on Instagram, Twitter and even LinkedIn. Nearly half of businesses are already implementing social videos, with another 26% planning to implement in 2018. Viewers retain 95 percent of a video message as compared to reading text, and internet video traffic will account for 80 percent of all consumer traffic by 2019. For social media, 71 percent of U.S. business use Instagram, 80 percent of users follow a business there, and location posts obtain 79 percent more engagement. Facebook Live Videos are equally as popular for sharing native video content, events, trending news, informative posts with relevant hashtags, and GIF sharing. With Twitter video use build communities, and nearly 40% of Twitter users say they’ve made a purchase as a direct result of a Tweet from an influencer. Most importantly, products and services need to fulfill a need or solve a problem which means understanding the users customer journey. Set goals for using videos in your marketing mix, such as, focusing on targeted audiences, with specific messaging, and identiful most effective platforms and tactics for your brand. Finally, eliminate corporate jargon, industry-speak, accolades, and keep it simple and to the point. Live video is the fastest growing video medium. Personalized and customized videos generate higher engagement rated, leads, lead to more conversions and provide original customer experiences. When Founder and CEO Jay Bayer of Convince & Convert was asked, “What would be the best way to succeed in content marketing in 2018? He said, “Whichever way works best for your audience is the real answer. But if I had to pick a horse to ride this year, I’d probably choose video, provided it’s hyper-relevant, useful, and entertaining, “ Martech Series Marketing Technology Insights, April 5, 2018.