Video advertising has quickly cemented itself in the marketing pantheon, and it’s no surprise why. Humans are visual creatures who love a compelling story, and video ads provide the opportunity to do just that: tell a story. If you have yet to harness the power of video marketing, here are 7 important reasons to add videos to your next campaign.
Reason #1: Consumers Make Purchases Based On Emotions
While this is not always the case, there are plenty of consumers who make purchases based on their hearts, not their heads. An engaging video with a message that pulls at the heartstrings in any way fuels buying decisions. Videos that make people feel warm and fuzzy, get them to laugh, or even shed a tear or two often result in hitting the “Buy Now” button because of an emotional connection with the brand and the desire to support it. Adding an outstanding product video on one of your landing pages, for example, can increase conversions by up to 80%, according to an EyeView case study.
Reason #2: Videos Offer Return On Investment
There is always risk involved when you are creating a new ad campaign. No matter how much research went into the campaign, there is still the chance it may miss the mark and not connect with your target audience. With videos, your return on investment is wonderfully high. Some 83% of businesses applaud videos as a fantastic return on investment options, even if they are not the best quality. What matters is the content–if the story is awesome or you explain a product or service in fantastic detail, you’ve got a winning video, no matter how low-grade. As one marketer once said, “Video is like pizza–when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.”
Reason #3: Google LOVES Videos
If you are looking for ways to show the search engine you literally mean business, use videos. Google rewards video producers in a big way, as you are 53 times more likely to appear high on the first page if you have a great video or two. This is less shocking when you consider that Google is the new proud owner of YouTube, but still. Since more than 500 hours of content are viewed on YouTube every day by over a billion users, now is the time to get started on the video idea you’ve been kicking around in your head.
Reason #4: You’ll Appeal To Your Mobile Users
By now it’s well known that mobile-friendly content is key to any successful marketing strategy. Your site and landing pages must fit into phone and tablet screens; otherwise, you are missing out on a significant portion of your target market. According to WyZowl, about 90% of consumers view videos on their phones, and mobile video views have increased by more than 233% since 2013. What’s more, 92% of consumers who view videos on their phones and tablets share them with other people. That’s in addition to 90% of Twitter video views happening exclusively on mobile devices.
Reason #5: Videos Appeal To Buyers With Short Attention Spans
Let’s face it: most people do not have long attention spans. These spans have arguably shortened even more in recent years due to short YouTube videos and the like. Since some (or many) buyers do not have the time or the inclination to read pages of text, appeal to them with a quick, compelling video. They will learn why they need your product or service in their lives in a matter of minutes, and may even decide to share your video with their friends and family.
Reason #6: They Improve Credibility
Part of establishing your company as a known brand is getting consumers to consider you a credible, trustworthy source of products, services, and information. Creating informative videos with viable information you can back up establishes you as a source your consumers can rely on. After all, if people don’t trust you, why would they buy from you?
Reason #7: Videos Explain Challenging Concepts In Layman’s Terms
Maybe your brand’s services or products are not the easiest for the average consumer to digest, such as those involving the medical, heavy industry, and technology fields. Rather than hoping the right audience will find your website and buy from you, take advantage of what video marketing has to offer. Videos explaining a product or service in simple terms open your brand up to everyone within your target demographic, especially if the information is presented in a fun way. Animated videos, for example, explain difficult concepts easily and allow you to use bright colors and fun graphics consumers will enjoy.
A Few Tips To Get You Started with Video Ads
If you are entirely new to the exciting world of video marketing, keep the following in mind:
- Websites and social media platforms remain the most popular video placement options.
- Consumers view the most videos on Wednesdays between 7am and 11am EST.
- The four most common marketing videos are testimonials, explainers, how-tos, and product demos.
- Videos add a highly-engaging element to email campaigns.
- Most consumers would rather watch a video than read bulky pieces of text.
- Video content is what’s most important, not video quality.
- It’s important to optimize your videos for specific platforms, as some benefit from subtitles on one platform and no sound on another.
- Live video streams are likely to become a key component of any video marketing campaign.
- Testing your videos to see what works and what doesn’t is essential–you’ve done it with your other campaigns, so why not see what’s best for your video options?
Wrapping Up
Don’t let this powerful marketing tool fall by the advertising wayside–take advantage of everything it has to offer and put your brand where it belongs: in the minds of your target audience. Get as creative as you want, such as a how-to series concerning how to use one of your product lines or a string of testimonial videos celebrating one of your services.
Softline Solutions is your marketing partner. Contact us today to learn how we will streamline your next campaign.
