In 1992, Congress decided the Internet could be used commercially. Major businesses scrambled to create websites to take advantage of this new way to reach their fans and potential customers. Nowadays, having a website is pretty much a given if you have a business of any size.
I believe that in the next few years video, will become as ubiquitous as the website (or at least should be). If you have a website, you should also have video content. This is why.
1. Make Them Feel It
Pages on a website are great, but with a video, you can engage your audience in a deeper way. The viewer can connect with a person rather than just reading text on a screen. The video can tell a story, and the tone (of the presenter, music, graphics, etc.) can invoke certain emotions that you could never access with text or even pictures only.
2. Mobile Users Love Video Content
More and more people are using the Internet on mobile devices. In 2013, mobile videos got almost 3 times the engagement of desktop videos. Half of YouTube views are on mobile devices. Most social networks support videos in some way with Facebook and Instagram even having autoplay features. Mobile users are looking for videos. Make sure your content is there to be seen.
3. Show Don't Tell
A picture is worth a thousand words, but a video (according to Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research) is worth 1.8 million words!
When making online purchases, you’ve probably noticed an increase in product videos. That’s because website visitors are 64% more likely to buy after they’ve seen a video for a product. In fact, 90% of people say that videos are helpful in making a purchasing decision.
4. It's a Natural Visual Evolution
Let's say you have a product page. You can have text that talks about the product. Then you can enhance that by adding photos. THEN you can enhance it again by having video. With each step, that product page becomes more engaging and helpful.
To sum things up, your customers probably expect you to have a website. Many probably expect you to have some type of video content as well. Even if they weren’t expecting it, it can be a nice surprise and can make them feel better about your company.
You may not be able to compete with national brands on reach and budget, but you can compete on quality user-facing content. It doesn’t take a massive budget to create a handful of quality videos. You can even make them yourself! People are looking for video content, give it to them! Check out this blog on some ideas to help you get started.
Bonus Stats:
“When marketers included a video in an email, the click-through rate increased by 200% – 300%”
-Forrester
“The chances of getting a page one listing on Google increase 53 times with video”
- Forrester
“The average Internet user spends 88% more time on a website with video.”
- Mist Media
“Three-quarters (75%) of executives surveyed said they watch work-related videos on business-related websites at least weekly; more than half (52%) watch work-related videos on YouTube at least weekly.”
- Forbes
“Visitors who view videos stay on web sites an average of 2 minutes longer than those who don’t view videos.”
- comScore
For more information about how we help you use videos as part of your marketing strategy, contact us!
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