The Surprising Power of Online Video Marketing

In today’s web-savvy society, competing for view time on the Internet is a challenge for many businesses. It often takes a multitude of digital marketing approaches to achieve success, including paid ads, solid content, and more. Video marketing is quickly becoming one of the most popular and sought after ways to promote products or services and for good reason. The power of video marketing today is surprising, and here’s why.

Do Users Want Video?

Unequivocally, the answer is a resounding, “yes!” VentureBeat reported at the end of 2015 that YouTube is bigger than even Facebook (by 11 times), receiving four billion daily video views. While YouTube is trouncing Facebook in terms of video views, Facebook is seeing some steady growth in terms of viewership of their natively posted videos. In fact, Social Bakers report that videos uploaded directly to Facebook have ten times the viral reach of YouTube video links and have double the engagement. eMarketer suggests that four times as many users want to see videos regarding a product they may be interested in buying versus reading about it on a blog post or in another form of written content.

This data can be boiled down to one simple concept – today’s web users want to see video.

Better Reach & More Social Shares

Content is still considered “king” by web marketing gurus (and Google’s complex algorithms),  and video is becoming an integral part of the content marketing mix. Brightcove released in early 2016 that videos get a whopping 1200% more social shares than content and photos combined.

In a world where much of social media is “pay to play” and shares are hard won, this data proves invaluable. Businesses who want to really get on the field of social media should consider creating and publishing high quality, glossy videos that showcase their company in the best possible light.

More Traffic, More Conversions

While it’s expected that publishing videos would increase traffic and conversions, the data on just how much is truly surprising.

Increased Traffic

Aberdeen reports that companies who publish videos on their website see 41% more search engine traffic than companies who do not. Overall, video drives an increase in organic search traffic of an astounding 157%, according to Brightcove. This means that if you’re publishing videos, you’re most likely going to start seeing a positive uptick in traffic that may be significant.

Increased Conversions

Videos are doing more than just bringing users into a company’s website. They’re increasing conversions at a spectacular rate. Vidyard estimates that 70% of digital marketers say that videos convert more users into customers than any other type of content, including eBooks, blogs, and infographics. Aberdeen also reports that while conversions for websites who don’t use video average 2.9%, conversions for video users soar to an impressive 4.8%.

To add to the mix, Visually reports that landing pages specifically enjoy a conversion increase of 80% when a video is placed on the page, and websites with a video on their home page see about a 20% uptick in conversions.

This information helps marketers to reach two equally critical conclusions: that businesses who use video will likely see more traffic and conversions, and businesses who don’t are missing out on a significant amount of leads.

More Revenue

When traffic and conversions go up, it’s expected that revenue will also go up and the data certainly proves this to be true. Aberdeen reports that businesses who utilize video marketing grow their company’s revenue 49% faster than their peers who do not in a year over year comparison.

The Importance of Mobile

Today’s web users are not only getting more involved with engaging videos on websites and social media, they’re using their mobile devices more frequently to access this content. YouTube itself suggests that more than half of their global viewing time is on a mobile device, and the year over year watch statistics are up over 100%.

Twitter users have also dug into mobile video, and the social media phenomenon reports that a whopping 90% of their video views come from mobile devices. Video increases conversions on mobile websites as well, and according to Adobe, approximately 40% of users suggest that they would be more likely to purchase a product on their mobile device after watching a video.

Businesses shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to harness the benefits of the growing trend of consumers using mobile and video to make buying decisions. By having a multi-device friendly website that features easy to watch videos, a company can appeal to the savvy shoppers of today’s generation of web users.

Can Bad Videos Have a Negative Impact?

While good videos naturally make a positive impact on a brand, there’s always the other side of the coin that needs to be considered. Poorly made videos or videos that don’t do a good job of showcasing the benefits of a particular product or service can have a negative impact on a brand. Brightcove suggests that well over half – 62% – of consumers are likelier to perceive a business in a negative way if the business published a poor quality video.

This means that before jumping on the video marketing train, it’s critical that you have a plan to produce high quality videos. Good video can help catapult your company to unanticipated success, but bad video can do just the opposite.

How to Harness the Power of Video Marketing for Your Business

It’s clear that video is one of the most powerful tools in a digital marketer’s tool belt. When combined with other proven strategies like podcasting, blog posting, social media sharing, eBook publishing, and more, a company can increase public awareness of their brand, gain more traffic, and increase their number of high quality leads and conversions.

Consider how your business can employ video marketing to your advantage. A simple video introducing your team can help consumers get to know you, and a video that showcases a product or service can be a great way to influence sales for that product or service. At McDougall Interactive, we can help your company  with high quality video marketing services, so you too can enjoy the success that comes with a well thought out video marketing strategy.