The Benefits of Video Marketing

In a single minute, 4.3 million YouTube videos are viewed and 266,000 hours of television are streamed on Netflix. Every day there are more and more videos being shared on social platforms.

Video marketing as a strategy has become very important in recent times. It is one of the most effective methods to market products and influence buying decisions on-line so you do not want to miss out on this when preparing your 2019 marketing plan.

Since the advent of YouTube, in early 2005, and the arrival of other social networks such as Periscope and Vine, video and images have won the online audience and increased engagement across the board.

Consequently, other social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat have integrated video into their functionalities with great success fueling continuous growth of video content.

More and more people are streaming YouTube on the television set and it is surely becoming the television format especially with younger generations. Together with on-demand video streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, it is taking over our living rooms.

In the last two to three years, video has totally exploded and became extremely important on all platforms. It is very easy to consume, hence the huge increase in its popularity. As we often say in inbound marketing, “Follow the attention!” It’s clear that customer attention is increasingly on video so it’s a good idea to leverage its advantages and have a sound video marketing strategy and integrate video into your marketing plan.

Video is no longer just a small piece of a company’s marketing plan. It must become central to the overall outreach strategy, especially across all social platforms.

According to the comScore study, Internet users average 16 minutes and 49 seconds watching videos every month on the Internet. More than 50 percent of viewers prefer to see videos from brands versus other types of content.

To prove my point on how video is totally dominating social channels, HubSpot claims that out of the top six channels where consumers watch videos four are a social channel.

Close second—believe it or not—are emails and newsletters. (Have you read my previous articles on email marketing?)

If you want to get a higher interaction rate, and fewer cancelled subscriptions, add videos to your emails. According to a study conducted by Implix, emails with videos receive 96 percent more clicks than those without. According to another study by Forrester Marketing Group, emails with videos received between 200 percent and 300 percent more clicks versus others without video content and the email unsubscription rate dropped to 75 percent.

More than 50% of viewers prefer to see videos from brands versus other types of content.

There are rumors that in less than five years Facebook will be an all-video platform. Facebook has already become the second most popular video sharing platform after YouTube and is catching up fast. After these two giants come Netflix, Instagram, Amazon Video, Twitter, Snapchat and Hulu in terms of popularity to watch video online.

Video and the Aftermarket

So how can you use video marketing to promote our aftermarket imaging products?

A video can be a great tool for your salespeople in any given situation. A corporate video can be played at the beginning of a meeting, can be looped on your tradeshow booth to catch attention and shared across your social channels. Short product specific videos can be produced and used as “video data sheets” of your newly developed printer cartridge. You can be assured it will get customers more engaged with your message.

Here is a quick practical list, in no specific order, of eleven marketing videos you can produce to better engage your audience in 2019: