We live in times where the only constant in life is change. What is famous today can be forgotten tomorrow. What wasn’t even heard of yesterday could become viral now. This isn’t just in regards to business, but about jobs, technology, clothing…in other words, everything. But for right now, this article refers to marketing. To be more precise, video marketing.
What Is Video Marketing?
It is a relatively new form of product promotion, which can be highly effective if used properly. Even though it was already used for a while – as TV commercials, it is slightly different in some important ways. It is vastly becoming very popular in the online world.
In a short definition, this represents creating a promotional video for a product or service and uploading it onto the Internet. Usually, the idea of video marketing is not to rely solely on words, but to create a ‘buzz’ around the product – to make it viral, therefore to increase the sales. It is more efficient and cheap than classical advertising because most websites allow free uploading.
What the Numbers Say
(they never lie!)
- 45.4% of the Internet Users watch videos, from which 100 million users watch videos daily.
- The average user is exposed at 32.2 videos per month.
- 75% of executives told Forbes they watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, where 50% watch business videos, and 65% stated they visit the marketer’s website.
- The value of one minute of video is 1.8 million words, according to Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research.
For more information about numbers, check this article from Videobrewery.com.
Why Aim For Videos?
First of all, they improve your search engine visibility. As you may already know, the first 3 results are usually videos. Therefore, if you decide to do video marketing, you will be among the first in searches.
Secondly, everybody goes on YouTube when they want to search something on ‘how-to’, even if it’s about stringing a guitar, braiding hair or how to paint your sneakers, or even more important things. This is especially great for bloggers, if their niche is related to something practical.
If you have a product you want to sell, video marketing is the best choice because it’s engaging. Through video you can demonstrate how it works, illustrate your point and also use words and music to persuade future customers. If you use a little creativity, you can make it popular. For instance, Blendtec made a viral campaign entitled “Will it blend,” where they promoted their product by blending different products. Needless to say, it became viral.
What’s also really great about videos, is that if you have a website, you can link it with annotations. Also, you can get mileage out of one single video. You can promote it on your blog, on social media and in a newsletter.
If you’re camera shy, no problem. You can always promote just your product, not yourself. Or, if you can afford it, you can always hire a celebrity (remember Van Damme doing a split on two trucks? @Volvo) or you can hire actors and make it very subtle( First Kiss, marketing campaign for clothing company Wren Studio), and if you have a tech blog, you can make tutorials and voice them over later. There are so many possibilities!
It’s not that expensive to make a video campaign. Nowadays, there are plenty of options. If you own a smartphone or a camera, you’re set and ready to go with the technical part, unless you are a serious business. As a blogger or freelancer, this might be enough. For instance, when Fiverr launched their “I will paint your message while wearing an owl mask for $5,” it became viral in a couple of weeks.
Another reason why you should aim for video marketing is that it may help you engage a different audience. Forbes reports 6 out of 10 executives would rather watch a video than read text. There are plenty of people who learn easier by watching. You can also provide a transcript version for those who prefer reading, but not going video you’re shutting the door on a lot of prospective customers.
The video will continue to perform, therefore you might get constant traffic. Last and not least, video inspires trust in consumers. In 2013, Mediapost reported that 57% of consumers say that product videos make them more confident in a purchase and less likely to return an item, up from 52% the previous year. Meanwhile, Internet Retailer had a study that showed the visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not.
How To Go Viral
There is no guaranteed recipe on how to go viral with video marketing, but most of the tips consist of: constant promotion, think out of the box and be original. For more information, you can check this article on kissmetrics.com.
