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It may seem like a lot of work at first glance, but using video in your marketing strategy is one of the best tactics you can employ in 2022. Not only does it give you a new format to spread your message, but it can also help you to smash your sales and marketing goals. After what happened during 2020/21, this is welcome news for any business.
From communicating through video to driving your click-through rate (CTR), here are the benefits of online video so you can transform your business.
Grab attention
By 2022, over 82% of all consumer internet traffic will be video. This rising trend is nothing new. Websites and apps have had a huge influence on video popularity in the digital landscape. Video is the new way to market and if you aren't using it, you're falling behind your competition.
The point of making content that grabs your audience’s attention isn't to pull in the most views, per se. Attention-grabbing content should always impact your audience above all other goals.
With so much web traffic destined to become video-centred, successful inbound video isn’t about shouting the loudest in the crowded room of the online world. It’s about having something interesting to say and making sure the right people hear it.
To leave an impact with video, you need to make sure your videos land in front of the right eyes. Cut through the noise of the crowded online world and grab your target audience’s attention by using video in emails. This helps to humanise the sales approach.
In 2021, stats show that 78% of people watch online videos every week and 55% daily. With such a substantial demographic already consuming content in this format, video is a vital tool for transforming your business.
Adding videos to emails is kind of a new tactic, but the stats are clear - this online video strategy has obvious benefits and can help your business reach the next level.
- Adding video to your emails can increase click rates by 300%
- Email opens increase by almost 20% when video is mentioned
- Videos can reduce your cost per lead by 19%
This strategy is so effective because it isn't yet widely used. The average person gets 121 business emails a day. By adding videos to your emails — something we've experienced the benefits of — you can target specific audiences and capture their attention amid these 100+ other emails vying for your audience’s time.
It's also a proven way to shorten deal cycles and re-engage those cold leads that were previously engaged with your business.
Drive click-through rate
We see video transformation as a way to move customers through four stages: market, sell, communicate and collaborate.
Optimising your video for mobile devices is one of the best ways to see video content lead directly to increased website traffic and is part of the ‘market’ and ‘sell’ stages. We’ve seen our own website traffic double since fully embracing video. That's because we've used it across all business areas, from sales to internal comms — right through to recruitment.
In fact, people are more than 1.5 times more likely to watch video on their phone than any other device and 75% of all video plays are consumed on mobile devices. So, with one million minutes worth of video crossing the internet every second, optimising your video content for mobile phones and smart devices is critical.
Mobile optimisation can be as easy as making your videos square-shaped or vertically oriented (which increases their completion rate by 90%). Some social media platforms, like Instagram Video, now accept horizontal videos too. Make sure you know the best format to use on which platform and tailor your video accordingly. Be sure to include clear subtitles, too and your videos will be good-to-go on mobile.
Optimising your videos doesn't have to be a big task either. Tools like Vidyard easily allow you to add captions and thumbnails with the click of a button, so you know your videos are both accessible and visually appealing.
There’s a strong link between mobile optimised content and website click-through rate (CTR). By optimising your content for social, you’re making it more appealing to your audience, who'll then be more likely to click your call-to-action (CTA).
Using videos, you can Increase your CTR directly from social and improve your bounce rate by embedding your video content throughout your site. All of this leads to a better user experience and a higher chance of converting prospective customers.
Once you’ve enticed the audience to check out your website thanks to your remarkable, mobile-optimised content, they can now sign up for your newsletter, contact you or browse your resources.
All of these provide value and help your potential customers on their journey to conversion. For example, since embracing online video at Digital 22, we’ve won Vidyard’s Video Master Award, seen a 63% increase in form submissions and 10% more price guide downloads.
Simplify your communication
Video is a powerful tool for connecting, communicating and educating others.
Videos allow viewers to retain a higher percentage of a message than written content, often in a fraction of the same time.
As you may have guessed, using video to simplify communication is a big part of our video transformation strategy's ‘communicate’ stage.
Often overlooked is how you can harness the power of video for internal purposes in your business. Not all videos you produce have to be or should be for marketing purposes. There are many ways to use video to streamline your business processes.
Simplify how you communicate with your colleagues, new starters and your clients by creating short videos just for them. Here, using video to communicate with your audience becomes part of the ‘collaborate’ stage, too, as it invites interaction and cultivates a relationship.
While using video this way won’t transform your business by attracting more clients, it can help warm up potential clients stuck in the ‘consideration’ phase of their customer journey.
Using video allows you to be more efficient, save time, reduce ‘Zoom fatigue’ and communicate more clearly with your team or customers.
Make your value accessible
Studies show that more than half of the population are visual learners and many others are auditory learners, so spreading your message via video means your audience are more likely to remember it. The stats back this up too. One study found that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in text.
Keep your existing content at the forefront of your audience's mind by repurposing your blogs' key themes and information to create video content. This strategy means you get more ‘bang for your buck’ from the initial blog research you did and it helps convert viewers as they're more likely to retain your message.
Want an easy way to do this? Why not:
- Create a listicle-style blog. For example, '10 things you need to know about creating your first video'
- Use the content from this blog to make a 2-5 minute video talking about five of those 10 things listed in the blog
- Make sure your video has a CTA encouraging viewers to learn about the other five things they need to know by reading the blog. Also, be sure to tell them where they can easily find this blog
- Post this video to your social media channels or upload it to social and include the blog link and a written CTA so viewers can read about the other five things they need to know that aren’t mentioned in the video
By doing this, you’ve just provided value to your audience, made your content more accessible and helped drive your CTR.
To help get people onto your website and into this cycle, don’t just use video on your social, add it to your landing and pillar pages too. Short, straight to the point videos are loved by visitors and search engines alike.
Video has the potential to be your secret weapon to success in 2021. With so many applications and benefits, you should get ahead of the competition and adopt this revolutionary tactic as soon as possible.
Although it can be challenging to know where to start your video journey, we’ve got your back. With our Video Fundamentals Course, you can make your video strategy the thing that transforms your business this year and helps you reach your sales goals and beyond.
Making video your secret weapon
Sign up for our virtual Video Fundamentals Course to learn about all of the kinds of sales videos you can utilise as well as how to make and share these videos to generate, keep warm and convert your leads.
Whether you’re a marketing professional, business owner or part of a sales team, this course will show you how to use video to reach your transformation goals and take your business to the next level. Get your spot on the course using the button below.