Video is taking over marketing and sales communication. Growth in the use of video has exploded at a rate never seen before. Video drives sales results in clear and direct ways.
Here are some *data points to explain why smart sales and marketing pro’s are going with video:
- Video in an email leads to 200% to 300% increase in click-through rates.
- Including video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80%
- 50% of executives look for more information after seeing a product or service in a video.
- 65% of executives visit the marketer’s website and 39% call a vendor after viewing a vendor
And that is just a small sampling of why leading sales and marketing leaders are all-in on video.
Video is exploding and one of the main drivers is the continued growth and most people would say domination of mobile devices to consume information. As viewers, we prefer to experience online activity that flows smoothly from one screen to the next, allowing us to rapidly view, and act on content anywhere, anytime.
The explosion of video creation tools has created an environment where any business or individual can be a content-producer. With a smartphone in hand, you are ready to broadcast to the world – literally.
Video distribution was limited to services like YouTube, but now Facebook, Twitter Instagram, Snapchat and others has increased the number of places and platforms that your content can be shared. LinkedIn is the only laggard here, but they cannot be far behind.
So, how do you go about getting video in to your sales and marketing outreach and campaigns?
Facebook Video – Facebook now boasts 2 Billion users logged in every month, and they are watching a mind-boggling 8 billion videos every day! Many industry analysts claim that the majority of marketers now choose Facebook as their most important social media platform. Mark Zuckerberg has stated that by 2018, 90% of content in your Facebook feed will be video-based. If you want to have your business messaging and presence be relevant in today’s marketplace, video must be a priority. The numbers speak for themselves – video on Facebook enjoys the highest organic reach in the news feed, so learning how to create and share it is required to generate a wider reach and drive more revenue and growth.
The types of video content on Facebook include:
Pre-recorded – This is the most familiar for most of us. It is pre-recorded and then uploaded to the news feed.
Facebook Live– Facebook is pushing their LIVE functions harder than ever before! The popularity of Facebook Live is seen with the growing number of third-party vendors adding enhanced capabilities to your live stream by adding scheduling, multiple people on the screen at one time for interviews or team meetings, and the ability to add viewers to your live stream with the click of a button to increase viewer engagement. Live streaming is great for Q & A style videos, real-time events, and behind the scenes footage.
I will be providing a full review of several of the companies providing these new tools for Live streaming here in July.
Instagram Video – Instagram is an app originally based on imagery and is therefore incredibly visual. It also boasts over 500 million active monthly users and is growing rapidly! After being bought by Facebook for $1 billion in 2012, Instagram released video onto the platform in 2013 and the rest is history!
The types of video content on Instagram are:
Prerecorded-This is where videos are recorded and uploaded to Instagram. A key difference to Facebook is that Facebook videos are viewed on both desktop and smartphone, whereas Instagram videos are mainly aimed at mobile users. Instagram only gives you 60 seconds of video, so you have to be creative to get your idea across quickly. You will notice that a trend across all video platforms is towards a short, focused, snappy video. Behind-the-scenes “b-roll” video works very well here.
Instagram Stories- stirred up some controversy as a copy of the original Snapchat feature in which images and video show up in your ‘story’ for 24 hours and then disappearing. Stories allows you to create video in your business rapidly, giving your followers quick insights into your business. It is a perfect method for you, a time-poor business owner, to capture more video content in your business and share it with your audience!
Instagram Live– is more like Snapchat than Facebook because the video disappears after the stream ends. When someone you follow is live, the video will appear in the Stories section with a LIVE icon underneath.
YouTube– is ranked the second most popular site in the world. It is also the 2nd largest search engine in the world being Google itself. Consider these facts for a moment – 400 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute and 1 billion hours of videos are watched every day. If you can get your videos optimized and effective on this platform, you will reap significant rewards in both increased sales and also reputation as an innovator. used and optimized correctly, it’s a powerful way to promote your business. Consider using YouTube to express your brand’s personality, share information, provide entertainment and inspire your audience to get involved with your business. Longer video content is perfect for YouTube because many of us treat it like a Netflix alternative!
Snapchat Video– has exploded to 10 billion daily views of videos and snaps. Part of the fun of Snapchat is that it’s casual. It isn’t usually used to show the kind of professional content used in marketing, but this can be to your advantage.
Develop posts that are raw and authentic, have fun with it, and be creative! Let your viewers get to know your business on a personal level by treating them to behind the scenes footage they would normally not get it see! Bring us along on a tour of your factory or distribution center. How about a walk through your offices, or even video conversations in the field with happy customers.
Special thanks to Rob Osborne from Red Knight Solutions for the video above
There is overwhelming evidence and data to prove that video should be a key element in every business endeavor. It takes some change in thinking, but the rewards are significant. Make sure you are investing in the tools, training and talent to add video to the core of your business sales and marketing efforts.
*Data derived from http://www.insivia.com/27-video-stats-2017/