Video has emerged as the most used and abused go to rich media for all social media channels since we started getting 3G internet speeds on our wifi and mobile device. As a leading digital marketing agency, Prism Digital has been using video to market our client's products and services for several years now but there has never been a more exciting time for video than this day and age.
What is Video Marketing?
So it is a no brainer that video marketing is the business of marketing a product or service through the medium of video and using video-based platforms. A forward-facing marketing strategy that integrates engaging video into your marketing campaigns. Video marketing can be used for everything from building customer rapport, to promoting your brand, services, or products. Video has now become one of the most powerful ways to market your brand products or services. Video marketing can bring you over 157% growth in your online visibility. You can increase your time on our site by over 105% and studies have shown that video can increase your conversion rates by over 2 times the normal conversion rate for all e-commerce products.
It is observed that nearly, 80% of people can recall a video ad they viewed within the last 30 days and 64% of people are more likely to buy a product or service online after viewing a video about it. If you have a video on your landing page, your conversions can increase by over 80 % - 90%. Customers from medical clinics in Dubai have said that videos on their website’s Home page or about us page have helped their clients make up their mind about which clinic to go to, especially for services like OBGYN, Cosmetic dentistry, cosmetic surgery or skincare clinics. Patients always check the online reviews and ratings of the doctors they are about to visit. Did you know: In case you want to do an email marketing campaign the mere mention of the video in your email header or body increases your open and read rate by 19%.
What are the applications for Video Marketing?
The application for video marketing is endless !! But I want to get a little more specific. How can video help you generate sales and leads for your business? Take a look at this visualization of how video can growth hack your business whether you are selling a product or even a service video can help.
If you really want to know how powerful video Marketing really is checking out these numbers garnered from sources like Forrester Research Aberdeen Group, MAF Group in UAE Al Gurg Group Bin Hendi Retail.
Video Vs Text which is better for SEO
One minute of Video = 1.8 million words now that is a lot of words to shove down somebody’s throat. Now look at it we are discussing video marketing and you are watching me on video explaining this concept to you. Imagine if I had sent you a book to read. Would you really read it and more importantly would you actually sign up to spend one week of your time to read all the content that I will be given to you in this one hour? Impossible so the video is THE way ahead for marketing. From creating awareness of your brand and service to use and support of your product or service to encouraging customers to repurchase and refer other clients. There are endless benefits to video but to put it all into perspective let's look at the biggest benefits of video marketing.
What are the biggest benefits of Video Marketing?
- Boost conversion rates so if you are in the e-commerce business you need to listen hard.
- It is a gold mine for SEO … we love it
- A great addition to Email marketing
- Search Engines Love SEO
- You can build Credibility
- Encourage social sharing and therefore
- Build brand awareness
- And increases your online presence
- Bolsters your social media presence
- Video helps you build trust in such difficult times of the coronavirus.
- Improves your search engine marketing capabilities
- Allows you to focus on mobile-specific marketing
- And enables you to convey your message more clearly.
What are the best Video Marketing Trends for 2020?
Trend # 1 Personalized Video Advertising
Personalized marketing involves building a strong relationship with your audience by providing them with experiences tailored to them.
This gives your consumers a reason to address their requirements and pain points. Personalization will help you be present in the minds of your target audience, which in turn would benefit your business. Consumers are likely to purchase from brands that are relevant and provide timely offers and recommendations. Taking this even further Google now enables you to create hyper-personalized video ads to suit say customers with over 300 interest points. So imagine being able to hyper customize your video ad to suit the tastes of over 300 interest points. This is called Hyper personalization and we at Prism have created some whoppers of ads for our clients that are hyper-personalized. These ads generated more than 75% more leads and repeat business for these clients.
Click here to see 2GIS Ad Video
How are the ways you can build a more personalized video Marketing Strategy?
- Understand your customer
- understand his / her needs from your business
- understand how he is currently fulfilling those needs and
- then find out pain points in those ways he is currently doing this and
- Create videos that actually build on those pain points and build a strong relationship with the client by providing digital experiences tailored to them.
Trend #2 Long Form Videos:
2020 has the emergence of long-form videos and the two biggest video platforms out there have been quick to respond.
Youtube and Facebook actually tweaked their algorithms to start pushing more long Form video than short form. So basically if your video is longer you get more views than a shorter video. Instagram also owned by Facebook released IGTV which is a platform solely created for Long form videos
A user basically spends 85% more time watching a long form video.
Trend #3 360 videos
With Go pro launching it new 360 camera in 2019 and several mobile companies also getting on the 360 bandwagons the future looks bright for 360 videos imagine the possibilities where you can have your products and store remotely views and shopped online wouldn’t you like to see the 500 Usd shoe you plan to buy more closely on Facebook or Youtube? Or even travel virtually to a new place before actually booking your ticket to go there? These videos have a 7% high purchase rate as the customers are automatically interested since the brand conveys a unique story and considers purchasing the product already. Other than enhancing brand awareness and engagements, 360-degree videos can help deliver higher ROI than traditional videos. With the coronavirus situation 360 videos are only going to take off so will your brand be at the forefront of the 360 revolutions or will it be stuck in the 2D ERA. If you don’t want to be the latter get in touch we can help you go completely 360
Trend # 4 Integration across Marketing Funnels
Any marketer knows that when a customer buys a product it happens in phases
- Information phase: the customer is searching about your product or service and wants information that will help him fulfill his needs.So he is going to go on Google to search for your service or he goes on YouTube to find out how to do something or what he should do.
- The Flirting Phase: The searcher or potential customer finds out about you and either clicks on a link or comes to your website or watches a video about you posted by somebody else ( proxy dating ). Now what you prefer if you have a really interesting person looking you up wouldn’t you want your best picture or video out there addressing him or her? Right? You would not want some random person posting stuff about you. Now, remember this because we will be doing an exercise in the next webinar about this. Finding the right thing to say is most probably the most difficult thing to do in marketing one wrong word and you could be persona non grata or I hate you instead of I love you.
- The dating phase: the customer has got a crush and wants more engagement and more information on your business offerings and your values etc.
- The serious phase: ( the customer has already purchased and is in a commitment with you so he or she expects flowers and candy and personalized touch in everything you do with them … aka greeting cards and not forgetting engagement or anniversary dates.
- The service phase: the honeymoon period is over and now the customer wants more support and service from you as the brand. This is a critical stage and no mistakes can be tolerated here. If you mess up on this stage, you will witness your customer going across the mall to your competitor. The point I am trying to make is that Video can support you through all these phases and is super important to utilize and use.
How can you use Video in your Funnel?
- Create informative videos about your product or your service and make sure to really personalize it to your customer profile.
- Keep your videos Customer-centric rather than brand-centric. Nobody likes a showoff.
- Make Videos as per the marketing funnel stage you are targeting. For example, if your customer is in stage two. Keep your video more focused on the customer's requirement than on the product but if the customer is in stage 4 then, by all means, go full-on the product or service. Remember, the customer is the 'king' so customize everything for him.
About The Author : Lovetto Nazareth
Lovetto Nazareth is a digital marketing consultant and agency owner of Prism Digital. He has been in the advertising and digital marketing business for the last 2 decades and has managed thousands of campaigns and generated millions of dollars of new leads. He is an avid adventure sports enthusiast and a singer-songwriter. Follow him on social media on @Lovetto Nazareth
