Video Marketing Is About To Explode. Here’s Why.

Video marketing is a double-edged sword. While sleek productions with good visuals stick with the audience, they come with a drain on your business’ time and resources. Not to mention the pain of measuring ROI.

But with recent innovations in online video and social media, it looks like the benefits of video marketing might finally outweigh the difficulties by a long way.

Social Media Embraces Video – Fully

Social media and online video have always had a symbiotic relationship. Videos drive user engagement, and almost every online video platform has in-built social media sharing and interaction features.

Now, the two are inseparable – thanks to the following developments.

• Facebook and Twitter allowing video embeds

Just like YouTube, you can embed videos uploaded to Facebook and Twitter directly on your website. What’s more, comment plugins allow you to sync conversations between your Facebook wall post and your website – breaking the invisible wall between the social network and the rest of the online world.

• Meerkat, Periscope and the rise of live video streaming

The recently launched Meerkat and the Twitter-acquired Periscope allow users to live-stream video from mobile devices. Users can broadcast events from anywhere to their followers, who can interact with the video live.

The Next Era of Video Marketing

This happy marriage of social media and online video has opened up a world of possibilities for brands and marketers. Here are some ways you can make these changes work for you.

1.  Use more videos in your social media campaigns

Organic reach on Facebook hit a dead end last year, leaving photos as the saving grace for marketers dependent on the platform.

Posts with photos enjoyed comparatively higher organic reach. Until now. A SocialBakers study shows that videos have now taken the top spot on Facebook, with 8.7% organic reach compared to 3.7% for photos.

So persist with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. But consider more video posts, and promote them to maximise reach. Embed them on your websites and enable the comment plugin to bring together your followers in one place.

2.  Livestream your events

More than half of B2B marketers find events to be extremely significant lead generation opportunities, according to Regalix. But your online followers need not miss out on these.

Experiment with livestreaming your events to your followers with Meerkat and Periscope. Let your online leads interact with you while you talk with the offline ones.

On the flipside, live events by their very nature are unpredictable. Announce your live broadcast early, rehearse beforehand and prepare your shots – just like in any production.

3.  Tell stories

Apps and video features that promise better reach and engagement are a dime a dozen. These still work only if your content resonates with your audience.

It’s easy to get sucked into the ‘viral’ craze with videos today – but this alone achieves nothing. Vanity fame for a couple of weeks does not amount to an equivalent volume of new leads.

Don’t plan to go viral. Make your videos shareable first. Infuse stories, information, and fun wherever applicable. Keep them short and relevant to be easily consumable online. There is no hard-and-fast recipe for creating a viral video – you can only tell a good, visual story and let the community take it away.

4.  Drive conversion at the bottom of the funnel

Video marketing plays a big role at the bottom of the funnel – be it product demos, case studies or customer testimonials. Here, your leads are looking for that extra something to choose your brand over others. Help them decide by showing them what they can get out of your offerings.

One common way to do this is to embed video case studies on your landing pages, with CTAs encouraging visitors to request a live demo. Many visitors don’t expect more than a ‘Thank You’ on such pages, so putting such a video in front of them there can do a lot to keep contact and conversations going.

As with any new trend in the digital world, content marketers should evaluate how video marketing can be integrated into their campaigns. Experiment, measure and improve, but avoid compromising on content quality.

Are you exploring new ways to use video marketing?

Read more: Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing solutions from GetIT Comms.