YouTube, Instagram video, Facebook live, Snapchat, Periscope, musical.ly. What do all of these things have in common? Any company or brand that wants to have a web presence must be on at least one of these platforms. Why? Because Content is king, and in his kingdom a new king, his heir, has risen to the throne, and he goes by the name of Video Content. Now with new leadership in the kingdom, it will be difficult for you to survive if you do not follow the laws of his rule.
As a marketing company, the request for videos from clients has increased heavily recently and even our video output for our own marketing has increased. We have even gone as far as expanding our film and photography team (more info on this coming soon) to make sure we can continue to fulfill our clients’ requests in the way that we have for them in the past with other marketing initiatives and deliverables.
But, we understand something being popular doesn’t always justify it as a smart business move. So why should you believe us when we tell you that video is a necessary marketing investment for your web strategy?
Well, here are some key reasons.
1. Video Levels the Playing Field
Once upon a time, the only place to show a promotional video or video commercial was on TV. TV had a near monopoly over the distribution of video content, and only those who had the wealth to play could distribute their messaging and brand through this platform. That is no longer the case, and it is essential for companies and brands to take advantage of this. With the Internet, whether through social media or website ad space, the distribution of video has become a much cheaper and easier way to reach your target audience. Now small companies can cast their nets wide, without needing a large TV budgets and an expert in television ad buying, to show off their product or service.
2. Video Expands Your Branding Tools
The goal of good branding is to get your audience to remember who you are and what you do. But that does take time, and when your only reminder is a logo on a t-shirt or marketing collateral, then branding your full message into people’s minds takes even longer.
Many brands for years have used elements like jingles, color, or even an aesthetic overall, to create deeper and more memorable branding. Now with video, your brand has the opportunity to do even more. Moving visuals, sound, and diversity of imagery are all tools that video has added to your branding arsenal.
With video, a customer no longer has to visit your Instagram or website, call your customer service, and see your product to understand who you are and what you do. You can deliver that message clearly using layers of visuals and audio. If your brand is classy but casual, showing visuals of people casually dressed, while playing jazz or classical music in the background, can help send that entire brand message, in one shot. That is the power of brand in video.
3. Video Is an Attention Grabber
Humans are wired to focus their attention on moving objects; it’s a part of our DNA. With the functionality of auto play, businesses can take full advantage of this. With the amount of information being thrown at a person on the daily, whether it’s on the street, on their timelines or news feeds, or on a webpage, grabbing that attention is key to an impression or a conversion. Video is the secret sauce in that formula. The second your video starts on the screen, you’ve won half the battle of attention. With the right creative team you can win the second half as you hold their attention and possibly get a new customer – or at the least, have someone retain your brand.
4. Video Is Easy for The Consumer
This point is last not because it’s the least important, but because it is in fact one of the most important. Video makes the life of the customer easier. It relays a large amount of information, in a brief period of time, with little effort.
Between narration, dialogue, music, captions, and the number of visuals a video can hold, a lot of information about a company can be distributed. People don’t want to work hard, and they don’t want to waste time. Reading leaves a lot of room to miss vital information, and it takes a larger amount of focus and energy to consume said information. Video is the lazy river at a theme park, while reading is canoeing with a paddle – all in all, it takes effort and time that people just don’t want to expend anymore.
It is 2017, and video is essential for successfully marketing and reaching your audience. That is why as you move forward, planning the rest of this year’s marketing initiatives, or starting to think about next year’s, video has to be a part of your plan. Whether it is live streaming, promo videos, Snapchats or even STY (straight to YouTube) commercials, video is essential for a web marketing strategy in this day and age, and cannot be overlooked.
If you need help determining how to implement video into your marketing and web strategies, want to create marketing videos, or just have questions about what we discussed in this post, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We are always ready to help.
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