When online and using social media, which posts catch your eye the most? If you’re like most people, it’s going to be the posts that have a visual element to them – images, memes, or videos. Focussing on video content (because that’s what we do), when used as an engagement tool online, the results are incredibly encouraging. Some reports suggest that video will account for approximately 75 percent of ALL website traffic by 2020.
But what does that mean for your business?
When you start looking at the numbers, you begin to understand just how important a video marketing strategy and online video content is for your business.
- In 2017, online video accounts for 74% of all web traffic;
- Video is 50 times more likely to get organic page ranks in Google than plain text results;
- Video in search results get 46% more clicks than text listings;
- 500-million people are watching Facebook videos every day;
- 85% of Facebook video is watched without sound;
- 76% of people watch videos online every week;
- 55% of people watch videos online every day;
- More video content is uploaded to the web in a single month, than TV has created in three-decades;
- A massive 81% of people feature their video on their brand website;
- 300 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute;
- 59% of senior executives agree, that if both text and video are available on the same topic on the same page, they prefer to watch the video;
- 75% of business executives watch work-related videos at least weekly;
- 96% of B2B companies are planning to use video in their content marketing THIS year;
While the numbers speak for themselves, it can be a little daunting trying to understand how your business can start reaping the benefits of online video content.
WHERE TO BEGIN…
Producing engaging video content that your customers will WANT to watch begins with a plan, so don’t neglect this critical step. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself before you press record on your camera or smartphone.
What is your goal? Is it to increase website conversions? Increase newsletter signups? Create buzz around a product or service? Build brand awareness? Your answer to the goal is how you will structure your videos, and each video will probably be unique to the goal attached to it.
Where will you use the video? Will it be embedded on your own website, on social media channels, or both? If it’s both (and it probably should be), you’ll want to tailor each video to each place you’re going to use it. Whilst a more corporate video will work fine on your site, you will probably want to have a more informal approach to sites such as Facebook and YouTube, etc.
How long will your videos be? If your video will be embedding your website, a longer video will work best, particularly if it is informative. However, statistics prove that anything more than 60 seconds is too long on social media channels, and people won’t take the time watch it in its entirety.
Whilst video production and management is a creative process, it is important to be consistent and realistic. Producing a video can take a lot longer than expected. If your content strategy is catered around using a lot of videos, aim for releasing one video a month, and then gradually increase it as you get a better feel for the process.
WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU’VE PRODUCED YOUR FIRST VIDEO
You could have the greatest video in the world, and if no one knows about it or sees it, then you most likely won’t reach your goals.
A lot of the principals we apply to website SEO also applies to video. Keep your target audience in mind when coming up with the title of your video, and consider using relevant keywords in your video’s description too. Google looks for this information when deciding if your video is relevant to someone’s search.
Lastly, make your videos shareable and encourage viewer engagement; share it with their friends and colleagues. Most of the major social and video platforms have the ability to share your video content quickly and easily, however, if your video is uploaded directly to your website, it may not be so easy. Utilise features like YouTube’s embed video function when adding your video to your website to ensure it can be shared easily.
Ready to start producing your online video content or need some help with a video marketing strategy? Chilli can help! Contact the team at Pepper Productions today to find out more from our team of experts.
