“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”
Michael Porter
The demand for video content seems to be insatiable. Social media platforms such as Facebook now generate 8 Billion views per day and 5 billion views are generated on YouTube daily. YouTube audience alone consists of 1/3 of the world’s online population. Including video content in your marketing strategy seems a compelling choice.
If you are unconvinced by the audience demand argument then here are 5 reasons why you should include video in your marketing strategy.
1.People Learn Through What They See
It is no secret that a large majority of the population are visual learners. They like to see what you are trying to tell them in order to understand your message. This makes it quicker for them to understand your message and as we all know” lost time is impossible to get back”.
Video content is all about visual storytelling and using visual learning to share your story.
2.People Like Human Contact
Social media networks have become a successful marketing tool because people like dealing with other people. Your audience wants to know the person behind the brand. They also want to know if that person shares their values and their view of the world.
Video works because of the same principal; it allows the viewer see the person behind the brand. This allows for an emotional connection with the story because the viewer can see the emotions being portrayed and this allows the viewer to connect with the brand on an emotional level.
At the end of the day the old adage that “people buy from people they like” is still true.
3.People Like To Share Content They Value
Your audience likes to share with their networks content they emotionally connect with and gives them a fresh insight. Video content is ideal for sharing as it can be edited into various formats suitable for different network. Video content is definitely “not a one size fits all option”. It can be tailored for the particular characteristic of each social media network. Think about longer educational formats for YouTube, shorter entertaining tidbits for Facebook and helpful short format for Twitter. The key for social video is to tell stories and there is no better way to tell a story than video content.
Given the options for distributing video content such as, social platforms, brand websites, specialized video hosting platforms there is no better way to ensure your message is shared.
4.People Want To Know What To Do Next
The best marketing strategy is all about enabling the customer journey. Your customers want to know what they can do next at each stage of the customer buying cycle and your “call to action” should never be a mystery to them. Video content is ideal for leading the customer through the buying cycle. It does not matter which stage a customer is at there is a video to help, from creating awareness to clinching the deal to supporting the customer afterwards to building brand ambassadors.
The “call to action “ on your video content should be clear and precise and inline with your marketing strategy.
5. Was Your Video Successful
It seems obvious but this is where most video content fails. Video campaigns often do not contribute to achieving brands goals because they are not properly reviewed and measured. Video statistics can give some of the most insightful marketing campaign insights because they allow us to see exactly what works and what doesn’t.
You can see what exactly attracts your audience to your content and where they lose interest. You can set goals for video and measure if these were achieved and why they did not work. It is not only about views, it is also about engagement and this is where you get the most valuable marketing insights. Measurements like relevance (was the video in the right location for your audience) and conversion statistics help to give the full picture. Video content can give a wealth of feedback that can be used to create even better campaigns in the future.
“If your stories are all about your products and services, that’s not storytelling. It’s a brochure. Give yourself permission to make the story bigger.” –
Jay Baer
The key to incorporating video content in your marketing strategy is to embrace storytelling. It is the stories that you tell that will engage your audience. When you include video content you are adding an extra depth and breadth to your storytelling doing it the justice it deserves.