In any online business, the most captivating form of marketing still remains video marketing.
Furthermore, the most important ingredient of a successful digital marketing campaign, in general, is having compelling content.
Research has shown that YouTube is the second most popular site on the web? and is second only to Google in the most visited sites on the web.
Another statistic shows that 85% of businesses are actually using video as a marketing tool.
Either long or short videos, the demand for videos increases year after year, and more recently since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
By 2021, video content will represent 82% of internet traffic, it would only make sense for businesses to take advantage of this medium.
What is Video Marketing
In simple terms, video marketing is a process of using and incorporating videos into your small business marketing campaigns and strategy.
Video marketing can be used to engage with customers, promote brand awareness, introduce products and services and so much more.
While video advertising is designed to stimulate interest and increase sales, video marketing content tries to engage with your clients at a higher level.
Video marketing is a quick and effective way of marketing your products and services
If effectively used, Video marketing can help improve your online presence, promote better brand awareness, boost engagement, build trust and generate more sales.
Types of Video Marketing
1. Product
The aim of a product video is to promote and create awareness for a particular product or service.
You can make use of this kind of video to highlight a unique product that your business has and your competition doesn’t.
This kind of video does more than just push a product, they also tell a story while further deepening brand loyalty.
Furthermore, the story should be tailored to your intended audience in order to maximize your impact.
2. Educational
Educational videos typically provide information about a specific topic, product, or service so the audience can learn and become more knowledgeable on the subject.
For example, If you are providing a product or service that is not well understood, an educational video is your first step to securing an audience and captivating potential customers.
Therefore when used in video marketing they either educate the audience about the company itself, or about something related to the company.
For example, as a digital marketing agency, we could create an educational video about content marketing, or how to use WordPress, or how to run Facebook and Google Ads etc.
3. Testimonials
In the field of marketing, people are much more likely to trust a company if a friend, colleague, or someone having similar needs, recommends the business.
Although written testimonials are great, video testimonials are even better.
Sharing your testimonials on your website can help build customer trust and loyalty.
4. Instructional
Instructional videos are those types of videos that tend to teach your audience how to use your product.
For example, an E-commerce site like Afrimash which deals with agricultural products might want to put up some instructional videos on how to use some of the products they sell or on how to book an appointment, etc.
This shows you actually care about your customers and have their interests at heart.
This would increase your credibility and establish a bond between you and your customers.
6 Announcements
Announcement videos help in creating awareness and generate buzz around a new product you are about to launch to encourage an audience beforehand.
You can create several small, teasers to build hype and keep your brand relevant even during long quiet periods between product launches.
A good example is app developers like Canva, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc. newer versions of these apps are being released yearly, which are always better than thier previous versions.
This people make awareness on thier social media page before this apps are released.
Another good example is the Nigerian Nollywood movie “Omo ghetto the Saga” before its initial launch on December 25, 2020 Funke Akindele and other celebrities that featured in the movie were promoting the film on Twitter and Instagram.
Omo ghetto is currently the highest grossing Nollywood movie of all time.
8. FAQs
As a business owner, your customers will always encounter some challenges.
FAQ videos are a great strategy for creating an interactive experience and engaging with customers directly.
You can always visit your social media pages and blog post, to check people’s comments to know what people are talking about regarding your business.
Try to note their challenges and problems about your product and services.
Pick 5 out of the most frequent ones and try and create a video addressing those issues.
Another thing is for you to research keywords related to your Industry.
Check what your people are looking for the most and make some short videos addressing those problems.
The Benefits of Video Marketing
1. Higher Conversion Rates
Video marketing, if used effectively can generate a great return on investment(ROI).
According to Wyzowl , 81% of businesses using explainer videos on their website said that this had helped them increase sales
Futhermore, 76% said that video marketing had increased traffic to their website
Wyzowl also stated that placing a video on a landing page can increase the conversion rate by 80%.
People are expecting to see videos on your website or social media pages. When they do, they are highly likely to watch them.
Research has shown that videos on Facebook get 135% more organic reach
Another research also shows that posts with videos on Twitter are 6x more likely to be retweeted
Short and engaging videos can move a client to make purchases.
2. Better Search Engine Rankings
One of the best parts about the use of video marketing is the benefits it can provide in other areas of your web presence.
Google algorithms have been programmed to recognize quality, relevant and engaging content in the SERP.
Video increases the time spent by users on your website.
This increase alerts Google that your site has quality content, which would lead to a high ranking in searches on Google.
Note that Youtube is owned by Google, this means you are more likely to show up on page 1 of Google if you have a video embedded on your website.
Always remember to put titles, descriptions, or tags that are relevant to the content in your video to aid the Google algorithm to recognize your videos
It also helps to add backlinks so that interested customers can easily find their way to your website.
3. Increase Online Presence
Video marketing can improve your online presence and transform you into a thought leader in your industry.
Without an online presence, people won’t know you no matter how great your product and services are .
If your video is well-optimized( by adding titles, descriptions, tags, etc.) it can easily show up in a YouTube search or even a Google search.
You can also allow people to embed your videos into their own websites to empower and increase your own brand.
Videos also encourage viewers to click a subscription link or visit a website if they like what they see.
4. Builds Trust
As a business owner, trust is essential if you want to expand your customer base.
Customers are always comfortable making a purchase from someone they trust and have confidence in.
Making use of video marketing like educational, FAQ, instructional or product video content, would not only establish your online presence and brand, it would make you into a thought leader in your industry.
Videos tell a story, provoke emotions and appeal more to a larger audience, than text, blog posts etc.
With videos, people get to know you and like you.
5. Videos are Now Inexpensive and Easy To Produce
Creating and editing videos might not be that hard as you think due to the advancement in science and technology.
As a small business owner, you can create professional videos with a smartphone, a mic, and some basic video editing apps.
Although there are some types of videos that would still need the help of a professional in creating.
But for a starter, you can still make use of your smartphones with apps like Viva Video, Inshot, Filmorago, So Loop, etc.
6. Improves Social Engagement
According to statista,the power of social networking is such that the number of worldwide users is expected to reach some 3.43 billion monthly active social media users by 2023, around a third of Earth’s entire population
Engagement is crucial in the digital marketing world.
If the content you create isn’t driving engagement, your conversion rates and traffic will suffer.
Producing educational and relevant video content that your audience wants to see will drive engagement.
Share testimonials, educational, or instructional videos.
Let your video content be relevant, funny, inspirational, and engaging at the same time
7. Video Appeals to Mobile Users
According to Statista, almost 4.66 billion people were active internet users as of October 2020, encompassing 59 percent of the global population.
Furthermore, mobile has now become the most important channel for internet access worldwide as mobile internet users account for 91 percent of total internet users.
Research also shows that YouTube has 2 billion logged-in monthly users, People upload 500 hours of video every minute and Over 70% of YouTube views are on mobile
Nearly everyone carries a device with them with internet service that constantly that allows them to watch video contents.
Whether it’s a smartphone or a tablet, mobile devices are normally accessible to us almost every hour of the day.
Following from the above, it can be deduced that most people consume more video content than texts or images on mobile.
The truth is that most people don’t really enjoy reading on their phone, they prefer to consume more images and videos
However, mobile video views are on the rise, meaning that now is the time to take advantage of this trend.