Why Video Marketing is a Big Deal (And How to Pull It Off!)

Digital marketing is in a constant state of evolution, and video marketing is an essential part of this development. In 2019, videos serve a more important purpose than simple entertainment.

Video can increase your ad click through rates and conversion rates. They are now an essential tool for digital marketing.

After all, videos make sense in today’s world. The typical consumer’s on-the-go lifestyle can be tailored to with short videos that they can access via different devices.

Let’s explore why video is such a big deal and how businesses can take full advantage of videos as a marketing tool.

Five statistics that demonstrate why video is such a big deal

1. 87% of businesses use video as a marketing tool in 2019, which is a significant increase from 63% in 2017.
   
   
2. 54% of consumers want to see videos from brands more than any other type of content, like articles, infographics, and manuals.
   
   
3. 85% of users watch online video content monthly in any of their devices, and the time they spend watching on smartphones is growing over time.
   
   
4. People spend most of their online time either on social media or watching videos.
   
   
5. While 20% of people will read the text on a page, 80% of people will watch a video. Not only is this the preference, but audiovisual media leads to better retention of information. Viewers are 95% more likely to remember a call to action after watching a video than after reading it.

Ten video marketing best practices

1. Communicate visually and don’t rely on sound to convey your message. Most Facebook users tend to watch videos muted as they autoplay when they scroll through the platform.
   
   
2. Grab your audience’s attention -- make the first few seconds count. This is important to engage any audience, but social media users tend to scroll down their timelines quickly, so give them a reason to pause and watch your video.
   
   
3. Think about your thumbnails in advance! While you can (and should) upload custom thumbnails on Facebook and YouTube, Instagram does not have this option, so you must rely on a still from the video. Make sure you are thinking about this during the production of the content.
   
   
4. Have a clear call to action that does not require much effort from the viewer. Take Instagram as an example. You should add a “Learn more” or “Shop now” call to action to the video ad, rather than tell the viewers to go to your profile and click on the link in your bio.
   
   
5. Optimize your video content. If you’re uploading your videos to YouTube, you should have an appropriate title, tags with relevant keywords, and a solid description. This not only helps search engines understand the content of your video, but they also make video content accessible to more audiences.
   
   
6. Test like you would with other marketing material. Just because you put out a video doesn’t mean it will necessarily be successful with your target audience. Create different versions of your ads and test what produces the best results.
   
   
7. It’s 2019 – your content better be mobile-friendly! 70% of YouTube views come from mobile, and over 90% of Twitter videos are also watched on mobile.
   
   
8. Consider what type of video works for you. Video marketing includes how-to videos, brand videos, interviews, consumer testimonials, and much more. Keep in mind, 72% of people would rather use a video to learn about a product or a service than another type of informational content.
   
   
9. Consider the dimensions of your videos to make sure they always look good. Different platforms have different specifications you should follow to ensure your video will perform well. This handy, always up-to-date guide can help you figure out the dimensions you need to follow.
   
   
10. Last, but not least, make sure there is a clear goal behind your video content.  You should choose key performance indicators to track the success of your videos and analyze its performance to continue producing the most appropriate content to accomplish your goal.