Video marketing is something that businesses still often stay away from, putting them at a great disadvantage when compared to their competitors that do use this effective marketing strategy. With today’s technology, virtually anyone with any level of skill can create a professional and effective video for their company, products and services, something which is important in today’s marketplace.
1. People Like Videos
It’s been known for a long time now that people prefer video over reading tons of text. Why? Videos give you information in a quick, succinct package. Reading a ton of text on a computer screen is also quite a strain on the eyes and can be rather headache inducing, which will stop any potential customers from reading your sales copy. But apart from the simple fact that videos are easier to digest than a ton of text, they also offer businesses a number of fantastic opportunities, which we’ll discuss as we progress through this article.
2. Customers Can See The Product Or Service In Action
The one thing that is a real drawback to having your business on the internet is that people don’t get to feel that immediate connection with you. You’re just words on a page on their computer. Any product or service that you advertise is just words on a screen and a picture or two attempting to show customers just what it is that your company’s selling.
But having a video changes up everything.
A video allows for your potential customers to actually get a 3D look at the product or the service that you have for sale. They can see how it works. They can see how it looks from every angle. Watching it in action helps them visualize themselves using this product or getting this service. Internet research studies have shown that products and services that have a video have a much higher conversion rate than those products and services that don’t have a video. If you want to boost your sales, you need a video.
3. Videos Create Trust
This pretty much goes hand in hand with point #2. A customer being able to see a product, service, or even the face of the person or persons behind a company in a video creates an instant trust that text and images just can’t offer. It allows them to feel as if they have gotten to know you. People prefer to buy things from people that they know, and will often even pay more money to buy something from someone they trust rather than get a better deal from someone they don’t know.
4. Videos Will Boost Your SEO
Want to see an immediate improvement in your search engine rankings? Then get your company in on a video marketing campaign. Studies have shown that search engines are beginning to include video marketing SEO as a way to measure where websites should be in the rankings more and more. Search engines are placing more and more stock in video content as they begin to recognize just how much more important and valuable it is to people.
Having a video as well as an article or a blog that are about the same keyword will also give you a huge boost in the rankings for that specific keyword. You can also target a lot of longer keywords with a video which you can’t do as easily with text.
5. Videos Are Easy To Distribute
Getting your marketing videos on the internet could not be any easier than it is today. Right after your video has been edited and is ready to go live, you can post it to a number of sites, like YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo (or you can use tools like “TubeMogul” and “Hey!Spread” which will distribute your video immediately to a number of video sites).
Even more importantly, videos can easily be added to any of your social network accounts (and if you don’t have a Facebook page and a Twitter account for your company yet, you need to get one NOW). More and more people are flocking to social media and gathering their information from places like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. Add your 2 minute marketing video to your social media site and you’re sure to get a lot of viewers. Better yet, if you make your video enticing enough, they may “share” your video or retweet it so a boatload of new viewers can potentially view it and learn about your company, product or business.
6. Smartphone Users Prefer Videos
Almost everyone has a smartphone these days. Smartphone users are a bit of a different breed from those who are sitting at home and browsing the internet with their PC or laptop. Smartphone users are on the go. They want information, and they want it FAST. As mentioned before, videos allow you to give people a quick message about a product, service, or your company, so smartphone users can easily gather the information that they need from your video.
Here’s another reason why you need to appeal to smartphone users: smartphone users are often using the internet on their phones to investigate a purchase. They can even be standing in your store and speaking to a sales representative about a product, but before they make a purchase, they will go onto the internet through their smartphone and do a further investigation on your product.
They’ll quickly look up your website, watch a video, and read reviews and testimonials, all within a span of 2-5 minutes, and then make a quick purchase – if they think that your company, product or service is worthy of their hard earned cash. There is no other better tool to convince a customer to buy into your product or service than a video.
7. Video Marketing Can Be As Cheap Or Expensive As You Want It To Be
There has never been a more flexible time than now when it comes to how to make marketing videos. You can go as basic as using a home camera to showcase a product or your company, or you can pay thousands upon thousands of dollars for a professionally done video. And the funny thing is, the more expensive and professional videos are not necessarily better or more effective than a video you make with your webcam, so before you lay down a ton of cash, really think about what you’re trying to convey with your video and which method would work best for you and your business.
