Why Video Belongs in Your Marketing Strategy

Video marketing continues to grow in popularity — here’s how to make it work for your brand. 

Here, you’ll find:

• The latest statistics and data on video marketing
• Tips for reaching your audience through video
• Ways to measure your video strategy
• Where video marketing is headed

Video marketing is one of the more powerful marketing tools in play right now. Not only can it help initiate an emotional connection between businesses and their target audiences, but it allows you to transfer information in a faster (and often more engaging) way than other content types. 

Still unsure whether video marketing is worth it? Let’s dive into its power, influence, and effectiveness.

A look at video marketing statistics

HubSpot reports that 93% of marketers swear by video as an integral part of their marketing strategy — up from 78% in 2015.

On the B2B front, shorter videos tend to perform better. In fact, “the vast majority (73%) of videos produced by businesses are 2 minutes or less in length,” according to Marketing Charts.

In 2020, Think with Google reported an 800% increase in the global watch time of purchased feature-length and ad-supported videos and movies.

Lastly, the average person will spend an estimated 100 minutes daily watching online videos in 2021. That’s nearly a 19% increase compared to 2019 daily viewing (estimated at about 84 minutes).

There are plenty of options when it comes to affordable applications and software solutions that can help you create video content professionally and quickly. (Image via Unsplash)

The state of video marketing today

Video marketing’s popularity is growing for several reasons. Whether we’re scrolling online via our desktops or on our phones, there’s so much competing for our (and our customers’) attention. The easy-to-digest format of video gives people’s eyes a break from textual information.

This might be part of the reason why YouTube is the world’s second-most visited website — after Google, of course.

Video also gives people a real-life picture of events, and can be easily shared across multiple platforms. And, particularly on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, it fits seamlessly and unobtrusively into timelines. 

What’s more, video is accessible — to watch and produce — to anyone with internet access. Thanks in part to the meteoric rise of TikTok, videos don’t have to be feature film-level quality to be successful.

There are plenty of options when it comes to affordable applications and software solutions that can help you create video content professionally and quickly. 

How to make video marketing work for your brand

1.  Build your plan 

When you’re building a video marketing plan, ask yourself the five Ws: who, what, when, where, and why. 

• Who on your team will be creating, uploading, and sharing this content? Who is the target audience?
• What kind of videos do you want to create? These could be short behind-the-scenes videos of the inner workings of your company, how-to videos, educational explainers, paid social ads, or anything in between.
• When do you want to begin launching your video marketing? Once you know a deadline, you can work backwards to determine when you need things like scripts and deliverables.
• Where will you host your videos? You can have them on your website, in your emails, on your own branded social pages. You can also build a following by hosting them on a site like Vimeo or YouTube. Just keep the video’s intent and the analytics you want to gather in mind.
• Why do you want to invest resources in video marketing? What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll use to measure success? What are your goals?

Once you have a holistic view of your video marketing plan, you can get down to the nitty gritty.

2.  Make personalized video content

Personalized video is a powerful way to capture the attention of your target audience. This type of video marketing has seen an uptick as brands seek fresh ways to connect with their customers. 

Personalized videos also allow companies to engage with consumers and build trust. Forbes notes that 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. Personalized videos allow you to:

• Stand out from the crowd – Personalized videos separate your business from the competition. It shows them that you’ve taken extra steps to create quality content that caters to their needs and interests in an easily digestible way.
• Increase your email open or click-through rates (CTR) – Breaking through the noise, connecting with your target audience, and getting them to take action is a challenging undertaking. Data show personalization converts 202% more than standard calls to action.
• Build a relationship with your customers – Converting a new customer is great, but retaining them is even better. Personalization allows you to build solid relationships with your customer base. Once you earn their trust, they’re more likely to make repeat purchases and spread the word about your offerings.

Pro tip: HubSpot suggests using videos in your email marketing for things like displaying company culture, providing bonus content, announcing an event, and more.

3.  Create a social media strategy

Creating and posting videos on your social media platforms can be a highly effective way to get your products or services in front of a wider audience. But one size doesn’t fit all. Even as you make quality videos, it’s crucial to ensure that they fit within each target social media network’s respective best practices.

Different types of content resonate on different social platforms, and what works well on one might fall flat on another. Along with classic trial and error, there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to posting videos on social media.

• Twitter: Brevity is a critical factor here, so make your video posts short and sweet. You can “pin” new videos to the top of your profile feed for added exposure.
• Facebook and Instagram: These are great outlets for posting quick how-to or teaser videos, with helpful closed-captioning text or subtitles so viewers can watch without sound. In terms of exposure, Facebook favors longer videos. Live videos are also popular on these two platforms. 
• YouTube: YouTube is a massive library of video content where users go for entertainment or education. Establish a dedicated roster of subscribers and grow it using creative, informative, and educational content.
• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is an excellent channel for connecting with B2B customers. It’s also a great place for that behind-the-scenes content that humanizes your brand. 
• Pinterest: Later Media reports that the number of video views on Pinterest last year has grown more than 6 times its numbers in 2018, with organic video Pin views up by 240% year over year. This visual nature paired with the autoplay feature on desktop makes this platform prime for video content.

For more on paid social media marketing, here’s what you need to know.

It can be tempting to obsess over your view count when it comes to videos. But there are plenty more helpful metrics to be gleaned. (Image via Unsplash)

4.  Regularly analyze video marketing metrics

No marketing strategy is complete without set goals and a method of identifying and tracking metrics. Pick one or two goals per video (such as increased brand awareness, conversions, or engagement) and stick to them.

Keep your target audience and buyer persona in mind when thinking about your goals. You can use demographic information like their age, interests, method of consuming media, and even their present stage in the buyer’s journey.

It can be tempting to obsess over your view count when it comes to videos. But there are plenty more helpful metrics to be gleaned. Aim for a holistic approach and focus on metrics that are most pertinent to your goals. These can include:

• Awareness and reach metrics like views, play rate and replays, shares, and impressions
• Video engagement metrics such as likes and positive reactions, dislikes and negative reactions, comments, video completion rate, time-on-page, and watch time
• Conversion metrics such as CTR, traffic sources, buyer and behavior metrics, and viewer demographics

Pro tip: Search Engine Journal reports that now’s the perfect time to add video into your strategy (if you haven’t already) as a cost-effective way to boost brand awareness in a way other ad types can’t.

Where video marketing is headed

Moz recently reported that YouTube had dominated Google Video search results in 2020. This means that, when it comes to video carousel results on the search engine results page (SERP), YouTube videos surfaced most often.

What can that tell us? For one thing, optimization matters. It’s not enough to upload a video and move on. You’ve got to make sure it’s poised for maximum exposure through video SEO elements like a proper title and description, engaging thumbnail image, and accessibility options like captions. 

The takeaway

The creation and implementation of a successful video marketing strategy takes time and effort. But apart from making quality videos, you must also understand how to ensure they resonate with your target audience, attract leads, and — ideally — convert to sales.

Aim to make videos that represent your brand, provide insight to your audience, and connect with your customer base to build long-term loyalty. Video helps boost your SEO strategy, and today’s customer expects it.

This post has been updated and was originally published in November 2020.