Videos remain one of the most effective ways of connecting with audiences and has quickly become one of the best ways to market your brand. Video marketing, a type of content marketing that involves sharing videos of a product or brand, has been tightly integrated into digital marketing by leveraging tools like social media platforms to spread videos far and wide.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at why video marketing is so powerful, how it can benefit your business, and how it can help you engage with audiences on different platforms.
Video Marketing Then and Now: From Analog to Digital
In the past, video marketing was used for television commercials, which made it more limited for small businesses as it required big production budgets, professionals, and expensive equipment. These days, video production in digital marketing comprises anything from Reels on Instagram, to YouTube videos or video ads on platforms like Facebook.
Low budget video making
Video production in digital marketing is a lot more accessible and with the technology available today, any brand can create a high-quality video without breaking the budget.
Why Video Is Essential to Digital Marketing
To better understand why video is so effective in digital marketing, let’s break down some of its core benefits, the different types of videos you might come across, and video marketing’s role in a buyer’s journey.
Benefits of Video Marketing
There are a number of reasons why video marketing is so effective. According to Wyzwol’s 2023 State of Video Marketing report, there are several ways video marketing helps brands grow. A few of these benefits of video marketing include:
- Generates more leads: 90% of marketers say video marketing helps them generate leads
- Increases web traffic: 91% of Wyzwol survey respondents say video marketing has helped them increase traffic
- Provides high ROI: According to the report, 92% of marketers agree that video marketing provides a good ROI
Online Video Marketing’s Role in the Buyer’s Journey
The buyer journey is the process of researching and evaluating products or services before making a purchase decision. Throughout this journey, there are several touchpoints where brands can help potential buyers become more aware of their products or services and educate them on their offerings in order to hopefully lead to a conversion. According to the same Wyzwol report, video marketing is an essential tool along the buyer’s journey. Here’s why:
- 89% of shoppers said that videos have convinced them to purchase a product or service
- Videos help create more brand awareness and reach wider audiences, as 51% of respondents have stated that they’re more likely to share a video with a friend than any other type of marketing material
- When it comes to researching a product, 96% of people said they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more.
Types of Video Marketing
While the numbers surrounding the ROI and effectiveness of video marketing are convincing, not every type of video is going to work for every brand. It’s important to consider your audience, goals, and industry when creating videos for your marketing strategy. Some different types of video marketing that might help your business grow include:
- Animated videos: Animated graphics and characters are used to convey your message in an engaging and visually appealing way.
- Explainer videos: Using short, explanatory videos to quickly and clearly communicate the value of a product or service.
- Product tutorials: Educate your audience with instructional videos to demonstrate how to use a product or service.
- Promotional videos: Typically short videos meant to market a product, service, or brand.
- Live video: Real-time streaming video can help you create a personal connection with your audience.
- Testimonial/case studies: Highlighting customer testimonials or case studies can amplify the power of social proof and influence buyers’ decisions.
- Event recaps: Sharing videos of company events to extend the reach and impact of the occasion.
- Social media: Create reels, TikToks, or paid video ads in order to reach new audiences, create brand awareness, and engage with your audience.
With so many different types of video formats, it can be overwhelming for a brand to create enough impactful content. However, rather than creating several types of videos from scratch, there are AI-driven platforms that can help you use templates to create engaging videos in minutes.
Boost Your SEO Using Video Marketing
Video marketing can be a powerful tool to boost your SEO strategy by driving organic traffic and increasing website visibility. Here are three ways video marketing can help improve SEO:
Search Engines Love Video
Search engines like Google often prioritize video content in their search results as well as websites with relevant videos. Therefore, adding video content to your website can help it rank higher and also also increase your chances of your video itself showing up on a SERP.
Video Enhances Web Content
Using videos on your website can help increase the information you convey to visitors without overloading them with text. This might help keep site visitors on the page for longer in order for them to engage with other content like forms or CTAs. Overall, videos can improve the user experience on a webpage by offering more interactive and engaging content.
Video Increases Engagement
Not only does video increase engagement on a webpage, but off of it too. As SEO uses backlinks to grow in ranks, video can be a helpful tool in getting people to link back to your website as videos are shared more often than most other types of content. As people are more likely to share videos, publishing video content on YouTube, social media platforms, or your website can help you engage with your audience and even reach new customers.
Boosting Social Engagement With Video Marketing
Social media allows businesses to engage with their customers, build relationships, and create brand awareness. With many social platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube focused on different formats of video content, it’s essential for businesses to create video content in order to engage and connect with audiences.
Short-form video is favored by Gen Z and Millenials to learn more about a brand on social media, with 83% of marketers claiming it’s their most successful form of video marketing. Additionally, 68% of consumers agree that content that’s relatable and authentic is most important to them on social media. When brands create content that shows a product, service, or even spokesperson in an authentic way, it’s an opportunity for brands to engage audiences by sparking a conversation that can lead to comments and shares and even higher engagement.
Create More Video Content With Hour One, The Future of Video Marketing Services
The benefits of video marketing are undeniably worth it, however, many businesses simply don’t have the time or budget to dedicate to creating a steady stream of new videos, especially those with smaller teams. With generative AI technology such as Hour One, creating unique videos can be done quickly and cost-efficiently, creating an opportunity for all brands to produce different types of videos for their websites and social profile and support their business goals.
Try Hour One for free
See how it can help you create better videos in a fraction of the time. Check out part 2 of our article to better understand how AI can enhance your video marketing strategy.
