Video marketing has become critically important for businesses scrambling to navigate and adapt to a rapidly developing marketplace. The use of video—already on the rise—catapulted to new heights during the pandemic.

There’s no disputing that more people are online than ever. Given our recent reliance on web-based platforms, is it any wonder businesses have prioritized their customers’ online experience?

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With the onset of the pandemic, online consumer use rocketed, and video content quickly shifted from a nice to have for businesses to a need to have overnight.

Not only has video gone mainstream, but everyone from kids to seniors has been pumping up their tech muscles and using it for everything from shopping and school to telehealth appointments to staying in touch with family and friends.

On top of that, consumers have invested in better gear and greater bandwidth to step up their online experiences—making video all the more accessible to a wider and more captive audience.

It’s easy to understand why video marketing is fast becoming indispensable to businesses as more and more consumers turn to web-based platforms to research and buy goods and services.

If ever there was a time for investing in high-quality video content, this is it.

Read on to learn

• What video marketing is
• Why consumers prefer videos
• When and where to use videos for maximum impact
• How video marketing benefits your business
• How to put a video strategy in place
• 5 ways to start using video today

And more.

Let’s get started!

What is Video Marketing

So let’s back up for a sec and talk about what video marketing is. Most likely, you intuitively know. In simple terms, video marketing is using video content effectively to promote your business.

Certainly, it goes a bit deeper because bona fide video marketing is aligned with a tailor-made plan for your business.

It employs a strategy that uses video content to reach and engage your prospective customers and, ultimately, inspire them to act. We’ll get to that in a minute.

Why Video is so Powerful

For starters, video is intimate. It brings you closer to your audience and helps them get a feel for your brand. It has the added advantage of being a one-on-one medium that allows you to speak directly to your customers. And in times like these, when direct contact is scarce, face-to-face contact through video can make all the difference between a memorable customer experience and an uninspiring one.

For consumers, video is more convenient. It’s fast, easily accessible, and simple to use. And for businesses, video not only keeps people engaged with their content longer but also provides a powerful way to promote products and services. It’s a win-win.

Plus, consumers overwhelmingly prefer this type of content when conducting research before they buy. Ninety-four percent of marketers say video has helped users gain a better understanding of their goods and services.

What Kind of Videos Should be Included in My Video Marketing?

There are a variety of video types that you can use to market your business. Some of the most popular include

• Brand
• Explainer
• How-to
• Promo
• Testimonial
• Thought Leadership

The Benefits of Different Types

The beauty of the different types of video content is that each has its own unique benefit. Here are a few examples to illustrate the point:

• A short promo video introduces your business to consumers and can be used to explain how your products and services provide the best solution to their problems.
• A longer brand video establishes an emotional connection with your viewers by compellingly showing your brand story and building trust along the way.
• Sometimes nothing is more valuable than seeing for ourselves. This is where how-to videos come into play. Showing your product in action while addressing common questions your prospective customers may have is a great way to bolster your brand.
• For boosting conversions, testimonial videos work well in email campaigns, on social media, and spread across your website, especially in areas where you’re closing a sale.

As you can see, you can use different types of videos to personally engage with your audience and achieve different results.

[ Read: 6 Types of Video to Showcase Your Business ]

Tip: We’ve found it helpful to put a plan in place to develop different types of videos over time. This way, you can feel confident knowing that you’re building ongoing content that consistently provides your customers with the most relevant, helpful, and engaging information possible.

Do I Need a Video Strategy?

Video is here to stay. Having a long-term strategy for using it that’s unique to your business is a smart move. Producing videos merely for the sake of having this type of content on hand is no longer going to cut it. Sooner rather than later, companies will want to abandon any scattered approach to video content for a more strategic approach.

[ Read: Video Marketing Strategy in 5 Simple Steps ]

Tip: To keep things simple, include your video marketing strategy within your overall marketing strategy.

Video creates synergy. Not only does it complement your other marketing content and make it more impactful, but it can also take you places you’ve been unable to go before.

Take, for example, YouTube, the second-largest search engine on the internet. You can use the platform to reach out to consumers with helpful information they’re already searching for.

According to Google, 65% of people use YouTube to solve a problem or learn how to do something. This is why how-to videos are among the most popular videos on the platform.

You may also opt to promote your business on YouTube with pre-roll and between-roll video ads.

The best approach lies in identifying the opportunities to market your business with video content that is likely to be successful. Then, evaluate the capacity that your company has to leverage or take advantage of these opportunities.

What Can Video Marketing Do for Me?

• Video drives sales. Use it strategically to convert your browsers to buyers. Align useful video content to each stage of your customer journey to help consumers feel confident throughout the process.
• Video increases engagement. Video keeps people engaged with your content longer. Average users spend 88% more time on a website with video (Forbes). Plus, it can be used to direct consumers to your website from other online platforms.
• Video boosts SEO. Sites with video content have better SEO rankings, making it easier for your customers to find your business online. You can optimize your videos to be indexed and rank on the search engine results pages for relevant keyword searches.
• Video meets customer needs. Consumers prefer video to other forms of content. It’s readily available, more convenient for them, and more likely to be used.

Let’s look at some stats:

• 72% of customers prefer to learn about a product or service by watching a video (HubSpot).
• 90% say video content helps them make buying decisions (Forbes).
• 64% say that seeing a video makes them more likely to buy (Forbes).

Here are a few examples to shed light on how you can build video content that helps consumers better understand what you have to offer while also ensuring a satisfying customer experience:

• Brand awareness—build a narrative or story around your business that creates an emotional connection with your customers.
• Establish authority—provide demonstrations, tutorials, and other helpful videos that address common questions in your industry to make your business a go-to resource for consumers.
• Drive sales—use more in-depth demos and testimonials that underscore your sales message to lead to conversions.
• Broaden your audience—use closed captioning and transcripts in addition to web-safe color contrasting for your calls-to-action to make your video content accessible to everyone. Not only will it help you reach more consumers, but it will also boost your SEO.

How to Get Started with Video Marketing

Interested in pivoting to video? Here are 5 ways to get started today!

1. Product and service pages: use video content here to explain what you offer and illustrate how your products and services can solve problems for your customers.
2. Blogs: make your posts more dynamic and impactful with videos that keep your audience engaged with your content longer.
3. Email: add videos to your email campaigns to boost open rates and drive viewers to your website, where you can continue the conversation.
4. Online store: add testimonial videos to your checkout cart to increase online sales and minimize shopping cart abandonment.
5. Branded content: take a PR approach and create informative videos in line with native advertising rather than actual ads. Then, pitch these to publications in your industry to illustrate your authority and boost your brand.

Using Video in a Post-Pandemic Marketplace

It’s clear that video—now essential to any online strategy—will maintain its relevance in a post-pandemic marketplace.

And although this has been an unprecedented crisis, there is a silver lining. Businesses have connected more deeply with their communities, reinvented and streamlined their offerings, and returned to take on new challenges with fresh eyes.

“There’s no better time to create change than when you have events that cause people to start doing things differently.” – Mikkel Bülow-Lehnsby

Today, consumers are more reliant on digital platforms and more open to digital offerings, too. Marketers expect this to be a permanent shift.

Online sales have grown. As consumers, we have made a practice of buying online goods and services for quite a while now. This consistency in purchasing habits presents a tremendous opportunity for businesses to fine-tune their digital content strategies.

Industry experts expect trends in video use to continue rather than subside. According to Cisco, online video use is expected to increase 15-fold in just five years to make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic.

Use this window of opportunity to ramp up your video marketing and engage consumers in a meaningful way that not only meets their needs but also adds value to your products and services.

At Loyel Media, we offer a range of digital media services, including video marketing, to help you successfully reach and engage consumers. Since 1997, our advertising campaigns and marketing content have helped clients elevate their brands across digital platforms and grow their businesses.

Want even more ideas about creating and launching video content for your business? Download our FREE 40-page, step-by-step Video Marketing Strategy Workbook and get started today!