10 Effective Uses of Video Marketing

If a picture tells a thousand words, one expert has calculated that a sixty-second video is the equivalent of 1.8 million words. Video marketing is one of the advertising industry’s 2017 buzz phrases, and a third of all online activity now involves watching videos.

Marketing professionals have unleashed a plethora of breathless statistics to demonstrate how vital videos are in modern business circles. While some of these figures are probably over-exaggerated, we can still benefit from diving in.

Here are ten effective uses of video marketing any company can capitalise on:

1.     To introduce a brand. Nothing promotes a brand like video marketing. One survey reported 75 per cent of companies felt video provided a good ROI. Focus on a sincere story rather than the hard sell, and don’t worry about HD quality or flashy editing.
2.     To attract new audiences. Assuming your website already has effective Search Engine Optimisation – or SEO – and plenty of inbound links, it’s probably reaching everyone it can. Video marketing can open doors to new audiences, such as YouTube’s 30 million daily visitors.
3.     To publish news or announcements. Live video is hugely popular on Facebook and Snapchat these days, so a live broadcast can achieve real traction. Ensure the footage can be viewed later on, and advertise the event heavily in advance on social media.
4.     To capture people’s imaginations. Advertising is designed to compel people to want something, and video can capture the imagination far more effectively than text and static images. A polished video clip will be effective for years, delivering a good ROI.
5.     To bolster SEO. YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine, and embedded video will make you far more likely to rank first on its parent company Google. Videos offer scope for SEO-friendly titles, long tail keywords and extra backlinks.
6.     To drive traffic to your website. Adding a video clip to an email can double or treble click-through rates. A call to arms at the end of a video can drive traffic to your website, and bear in mind that a third of tablet owners watch an hour of video daily.
7.     To keep traffic on your site. Having delivered traffic to your site, current search engine algorithms measure engagement time. Keeping people on the site for longer bolsters ranking results, and embedded YouTube videos will keep people watching.
8.     To make a point quickly. In today’s attention-starved times, getting to the point quickly is pivotal. Keep your video under a minute long, and convey a key message in the first ten seconds – the period when three quarters of ad recall will occur.
9.     To teach people about your products or services. If you sell specialist products or offer an unusual service, illustrate it with video clips. ‘How to’ guides or past project demonstrations will showcase expertise and build confidence in your firm’s abilities.
10.  To sell more. A landing page video can boost conversions by 80 per cent, and click through rates for video ads are far higher than any other digital advertising platform. By making products or services seem compelling, videos can drive conversions.