It’s 2014 and streaming online videos couldn’t be more commonplace.  In fact, more than 100 million people will watch a least one every day.  Video now accounts for more than a third of all online activity, and Youtube quietly became the second largest search engine in the world (only behind Google).  So, like we said, it’s 2014; and, if your business hasn’t started creating videos for the web, you are missing out on a tremendous amount of traffic, leads, and/or sales. 

Let’s look at some more statistics:

• 75% of internet users go to a marketer’s site after watching one of their videos
• 80% of internet users remember the video ads they watch online
• 12% of viewers will purchase the product they just saw in a video ad

Additionally

• Landing Pages are 50% more likely to rank organically with a video embedded
• That’s why 63% of marketers plan on increasing their spend on video ads next year
• It’s because 82% of marketers said that their video marketing strategies reach their goals

Is there anything else really to say?  We’re going to assume you are now ready to start your next video marketing campaign.  So, where should you get started?

The most important parts of video marketing are content and context.  Your content needs to be solid.  Filming your assistant doing a mindless task is not going to attract any customers.  Think of ranking your videos the same way you rank your landing pages.  They need good title and meta tags.  They need quality written content; and, of course, they need to engage their users in ways that demonstrate the user’s needs for the products and services being promoted.

Unlike landing pages, videos rarely stand alone as a marketing channel.  They work with your pre-existing channels in order to enhance the experience.  For example, you won’t see very many web pages that solely contain a video.  You will more likely see a blog post or a landing page, with written content and a video that re-enforces the content and makes it even stronger.  Video can also be used as an advertisement like in a Youtube ad.

We are big supporters of Dharmesh Shah and the Hubspot concept of inbound marketing.  They believe in moving away from the concept of disruptive marketing.  We have similar beliefs.  We also believe in inbound marketing, but we haven’t given up on the traditional disruptions that ad agencies have capitalized on for years.  Our theory is so: “If you’re going to disrupt someone’s day, make it worth their while.”  Engaging a user via video is much easier than engaging someone through text, a conclusion based on the ever-shortening human attention span.

Now you know that you need video marketing and you know where to start, if you still need help then give us a call!  We’re always happy to help.