In 2005, after working for months on a new website with his friends, Jawed Karim uploaded the first-ever YouTube video of himself at the San Diego Zoo.
Thus, the most successful video-sharing platform was born. Sixteen years and billions of YouTube videos later, video streaming continues to surge, with an estimated 86% of businesses using video marketing in 2021, according to HubSpot Academy.
Video marketing has been projected to boom for a while now, with most social platforms now offering video-sharing features. This makes it easier than ever for businesses to share how-to and informational videos of their products or services.
Of course, while it is easier than ever, it’s still not exactly the most feasible option for production. However, the return on investment (ROI) is substantially higher than single image campaigns. According to an article published by DreamGrow, 74% of customers who watched an informational video explaining a product or service ended up buying it.
The effectiveness of video marketing is indisputable. Since we at Rizco are always using fresh industry trends to distinguish our clients from the competition, we decided to put together this list of the top three ways to use video in your digital marketing strategy.
1. Social Media
Nowadays, having some sort of social media presence is the bare minimum, and there are always new trends popping up within platforms that business owners need to stay on top of to keep their content relevant. The most recent? Video. We could write a book on utilizing video in social media, so for now, we’ll stick to the two most recent trends.
Live streams, one of the many crazes brought on by the pandemic, are now offered on multiple platforms such as Facebook Live and LinkedIn Live. Live streams give users a chance to connect with brands directly and more authentically since there is often a feature where users can send in comments or questions directly to the host as the live stream is airing. Hosting a Q&A with users is an excellent way to increase interest, and essentially trust, with potential customers.
Short-form video or video content that is no more than two minutes long, is another current trend creating serious waves. According to Vidyard, 53% of videos that are ninety seconds or less are watched to completion, versus videos of thirty minutes or more being watched at only 10% of completion. And as we noted before, consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service if they watch a video on it first.
Creating informational, educational short-form videos on a product or service can intrigue potential customers and increase brand awareness too. These videos can also take on a life of their own beyond your follower-base when users share them. So, even if someone sees your video and isn’t interested personally, they can still send it to someone they think will be, thus broadening your business’s horizons.
2. Website
If a picture says a thousand words, you can probably guess how much more a video says. Having a video on your website can help you stand out from your competitors and tell your story in ways that no written content can. You can give tours of your facility, a welcome video of your staff, or a clip of your product being used; the possibilities are truly endless.
Not only does video make your website more appealing, but it also pays its dues to search engine optimization (SEO). According to Moovly, your website is fifty-three times more likely to show up first in Google results if it features a video. Of course, curating videos isn’t cheap, but with statistics like that, rest assured your ROI will make it well worth the initial investment.
Do you want to see an example of utilizing video on a website homepage? Click here to check out how we incorporated a video on our Rizco site.
3. Advertisements
Google and Facebook ads have long dominated digital marketing and showcased their effectiveness to spread brand awareness and convert customers. Video only emphasizes that effectiveness, with the average click-through rate of video ads coming to a whopping 1.84%, according to Invesp.
One way to utilize video in your ads is with colorful graphics and frame-by-frame messaging. For instance, let’s say your company is having a sale of free shipping on all orders $75+. With a standard ad, you would see a static image giving information on the sale and your business. While this may work for some users, most will scroll through without a second thought. Video, on the other hand, stands out immediately. Our team at Rizco can help curate digital video ads with bright graphics and seamless transitions that catch the users’ attention, give them all the details about the sale and entice them to click on your ad. Creative, easy, and effective.
At Rizco, we aim to be transparent and upfront with our clients from the start, so it is worth noting that Rizco recommends a $6,000 minimum spend for Google pay-per-click ads. This will promote more successful engagements with the ads and a longer running time.
There you have it, the crash course on using video in your digital marketing strategy. Now that you know the ways video can increase engagement and convert users to customers, you can start planning your next move.
At Rizco, we’ve been helping businesses tell their story through marketing and branding efforts for over twenty years. So, if you want to start using video in your strategy but don’t know where to start, we can help.
Contact us today to get started!
