Content marketing was the hot topic in 2013, leading marketers to rush to produce engaging guides, e-books, white papers, infographics, and blog posts to draw in and keep customers. This trend is still going strong this year, but there’s a shift – video is becoming more powerful and is now leading the content marketing scene. It appears to be the new must-have!
The reason behind this trend is video’s potential to reach and connect with millions of viewers worldwide. With video, the message is immediate, interactive and influential – something that a page of text is not.
Video is often the preferred method of communication for consumers, with video accounting for 78% of online traffic. This number continues to rise, with Cisco predicting that video will account for 84% of all Internet traffic by 2018.
If this prediction isn’t convincing enough, here are 4 more reasons why any business, regardless of size and budget, should use video in their content marketing strategy:
- Video content is faster to produce than an online guide or e-book.
Many people think that making a video is hard and takes a lot of time. From my experience, I can say that creating a 30-second video is simpler than outlining, researching, writing, editing, designing, and publishing a good e-book, and it usually costs less in the end. Just picture having a video for every landing page, email, or campaign. It can be done.
- Video production is scalable.
Innovations in crowdsourcing methods have made it quick and easy to produce many videos across multiple locations. The days of contracting large agencies (and incurring large agency fees) to produce video content in volume are gone for good.
- Video is great as a content amplifier.
Written content isn’t going anywhere but the way that it’s promoted is starting to change. Try using a short, 15-30 second video to promote your next guide, white paper or e-book. Include the video in emails, on your guide’s landing page and in your social channels. You’ll see higher CTRs in your email campaigns—Zapier saw a 300% increase after including a video—and higher conversion rates for your guide as well.
- Integrating video into campaigns has never been easier.
Marketing automation platforms like Marketo and Eloqua have made it easy for marketers to incorporate video into content marketing and lead nurturing efforts. By adding online video apps to their platforms, marketing automation companies now allow businesses to order the production of video content, efficiently add video to email and landing pages, track their results and feed lead nurturing efforts.
Video: The Future is Now
No longer is video reserved for when viewers have the time to sit down, download and relax. Now over 9 in 10 consumers are watching online video on their mobiles, tablets, laptops and desktops, with 40% of 18-24 year olds watching video more than 10 times per week.
Because of this, businesses need to make sure their marketing strategy falls in line with what consumers want – and it is clear that consumers want video! With video being a clear winner in generating responses and shares, it’s time to consider how you can include video in your content marketing tactics. Could your next blog post be conveyed as a video instead of written words? Or maybe a case study?
If your business hasn’t already begun implementing its video marketing strategy, you’re falling behind. So sit down, start planning, find your video production partner and start filming, because now is the time to start!