3 Strategies to Leverage the Power of Video in Your Inbound Marketing Campaigns

Study after study confirms what common sense suggests:  when it comes to influencing customers and prospective customers, moving them through the buying cycle or increasing any of the metrics associated with growing your business or boosting your sales, video has no equal.  Video has consistently demonstrated its ability to outperform every other medium in reinforcing brand messaging and driving business.

 

Consider these statistics compiled by HubSpot:

  • Video included in landing pages boosts conversion rates by 80%
  • When videos are embedded in emails, they increase click-through rates by 200-300%
  • 64% of users are more likely to convert after watching a video
  • Combining videos with full-page ads boosts user engagement by 22%
  • Real estate ads which include videos receive 40% more inquiries

Of course, these metrics reflect average performance, and not all videos are created equal.  So, what makes some videos so effective, while others fail to meet marketers’ expectations?  The videos which achieve or exceed their marketing objectives have three traits in common:

1.  They Grab the Viewer’s Attention and Defy Expectations

The increased popularity of online videos means there’s much competition.  Creating another so-so video might get viewers to begin watching, but it is no guarantee they will finish, or that they will think more of your brand or your product.  Grabbing the audience’s attention requires creativity and taking some calculated risks—risks which pay off handsomely when they are successful.

Think of Google Android’s “Friends Forever” video.  The concept is simple enough—Google put together some unlikely animal pairs, like a monkey climbing on a horse’s back and a parrot feeding spaghetti to a husky.  The video was successful because viewers did not expect it—and because the message of shared experiences linked seamlessly into the company’s brand promise.

2.  They Convey Powerful Emotions

The combination of moving images and sound (in particular, music) create a unique platform to build buyer trust through shared emotion.  Consider Reebok’s head-turning video, “25,915 Days.”  The goal of the video is to link the company’s product to undaunted human striving in the face of our ultimate mortality.

Choosing the number of days (25,915) in the average human lifespan for their title was a marketing coup.  Telling the story by playing out one woman’s athletic life in reverse was a stroke of marketing genius.  Framing that story in video makes it compelling by evoking powerful emotions in a way no other medium could have.  Note how the video flawlessly conveys its emotional message through images and music, without a single spoken word.

3.  They Communicate More Information in Less Space

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then a video is worth 1 million.  A well-executed 1 or 2-minute video can convey more information about a company and its products or services than the majority of long-winded eBooks, white papers or product descriptions—a fact which busy consumers appreciate and reward through their purchasing decisions.

When Facebook wanted to educate current and future users of the social media platform about the site’s functionality, they could have delivered a series of lengthy disquisitions which likely would have left those users both bored and unimpressed.  Instead, they created their “Tips” series of videos, each highlighting a particular Facebook function (like how to turn notifications off, add a friend to a group or use stickers to convey feelings that are challenging to express in words) as it relates to real-life application scenarios.  This Tip on how to use labels says everything Facebook needs it to say in just 19 seconds—without fuss, without waste, and without an ounce of excess verbiage.

Video represents a unique opportunity to ramp up your inbound marketing campaigns.  The best marketing videos, like the best inbound campaigns, communicate compelling messaging without an overt sales push.  They present engaging themes which grab viewers’ attention without detracting from brand or products.  They build trust with emotion and pack a great deal of relevant information into a subtle space.

As such, videos are a critical component of your inbound marketing strategy.  To learn more about the ways you can grow your business and drive sales with engaging marketing content, contact us today.


What Does “Video Marketing” Mean?

Video Marketing is one of those things that all of us are aware of, but we do not think about what it is. With so many different forms, and cutting edge digital camouflage, the line between content and marketing has grown thinner and thinner over the years. In some places, it is impossible to tell the two apart.

If you are thinking about turning to video to fulfill your marketing needs, though, it is important for you to know what you are getting into before jumping in with both feet.

What Does “Video Marketing” Mean?

Before we go any further, it is important for everyone to be on the same page regarding what video marketing is, and what it is not. According to the Internet Marketing Dictionary, video marketing is when a company uses short videos to promote their products or services.

That is it. If you are a lawn maintenance company, who makes videos showing your employees in action to entice potential customers to hire you, that is video marketing. If you are a cafe showing your audience how to make the perfect cup of coffee on camera, then that is also video marketing. In short, if a company is making a video whose purpose is to hook an audience to promote themselves, that is video marketing.

Content Marketing, and Changing Perspectives

When most people think of video marketing, they think of commercials. Moreover, while there are certainly plenty of companies who are using the wider reach of the Internet to get more eyes on the sort of videos that look like television commercials, that is not the only kind of video marketing going on. There's also something called content marketing, which has had great success with video.

What Is Content marketing?

According to Content Marketing Institute, it is when someone makes valuable content and offers it for free as a way to build an audience. The hope is that the more people who follow the content, the more people the creator will be able to mobilize to use their products or services.

Let's put that in perspective. If a gardening supply store made a video about how great its products and customer service was, that would be a commercial. You would be trying to hook customers into coming in right away to make a sale. If that same store made a series of videos offering gardening tips, it would not sell any products right away. It is not meant to. However, the series would gain an audience and buy that audience's good will. Later on, when the audience is given a call to action to come to the store and buy their products, they are much more likely to do so.

Put simply, content marketing is a long game, and it is meant to build a following organically.

Why All The Buzz About Video?

There are all kinds of ways you can market yourself, your services, and your products, but why has video risen to the top of the heap? Several reasons, according to the Huffington Post.

First and foremost, video is engaging in ways that print, and still media are not. A picture is worth a thousand words, but video is worth even more regarding traffic and views. The sound, the motion, and the human faces also engage the brain, making people pay attention.

Video requires less effort for those watching, which makes it more likely to be engaging. Video has a better chance to go viral, it makes consumers trust the creator more, and it can be accessed from practically anywhere in our technology-driven world. So, is it any wonder more people than ever before are trying to get into video marketing?

If you need help with your video marketing efforts, simply contact us today!


What is Video Email Marketing?

When you incorporate video into email marketing, you have two mediums that exist in beautiful harmony to help you achieve marketing and sales goals and improve the user experience. Emails help video gain exposure, and video improves click-through rates on your emails and increases audience engagement.

4 Advantages of Using Video in Email Marketing

As you market a product, you want to show the target audience the benefits of your products and services. Before you begin transforming your email marketing, you want to understand the benefits of incorporating video.

  1. Improved Click-Through Rate. Regardless of the email type--newsletter, follow-up with prospects, automated alert--an email that mentions a video gets 3-4 times more click-throughs than ones that don't.
  2. Increased engagement. Getting people to your site is nice. Getting them to stay and engage in your content is better. Those who click through to a video spend substantially more time on your site than regular web traffic.
  3. Finding the right message. Tracking which videos your audience watches and which part they watch will help you deliver better content. If for example, the data shows your target audience prefers how-to videos instead of videos showing the benefits of your products and services, you know what types of videos to do to increase engagement.
  4. Better insight. The more data you collect, the more effective marketer you will become. Video allows you to collect better data. For example, if the only information you receive is who clicks through, then everyone who clicks through is equal. If, however, the data you receive identifies who clicks through, who clicks through and watches a video, and who clicks through and watches a video multiple times, then you have insight into who in your audience should be given the most attention.

 

Building an Audience through Email and Video

Before beginning or altering any marketing campaign or method, it is important to have specific, measurable goals, so you know whether the campaign wins or loses. Regardless of specific goals, all marketing campaigns carry the mandate to grow and build engagement with the target audience.

Here are five simple steps using video and email that will grow your audience.

  1. Compose an email that includes an attractive link to a video on your website
  2. Send the email to your email subscriber list
  3. Your audience shares the video or forwards the email
  4. New viewers discover your engaging content
  5. Your audience grows

These steps are, of course, contingent on a couple of very important factors. The most important consists of creating engaging, valuable content. If the content is not relevant and engaging to your target audience, then it will not matter how many people you send it to. The second important factor consists of having at least a small engaged email list to send it to, a list that has been created by offering valuable, engaging content to your target audience.

Identifying the Goal of Your Email  

What exactly are you trying to do with the email? The most common purpose is to get people to visit your site, consume content, and share content with their sphere of influencers.

If your goal is expanding your audience and encouraging conversions, certain email and video tactics work better than others.

  1. Tell recipients there's a video. You can mention the video in the email subject line, in the text of the email, or with a video thumbnail that includes a play button. The easier it is for the recipient to see there's a video, the more likely they will engage and click through.
  2. Choose an enticing thumbnail from the video to show in the email. Friendly faces entice clicks.
  3. Link the thumbnail to a page on your website. You should have a play button on your thumbnail. The play button will get viewers to click. Clicking on the thumbnail should not play the video. Instead, it should link to a page on your website that contains the video. Unlike a video playing within an email (which can encounter all sorts of technical issues), a video playing on a company website is surrounded by complementary elements that strengthen the company's brand.
  4. Keep the number of calls-to-action limited. You have a high-quality, engaging video. Your goal is to get people to click on it and watch. Stay focused.

HARNESS is a team of digital marketing innovators with a unique focus on inbound marketing combined with video marketing. Whether as a complement to your content marketing team or as your entire marketing department, HARNESS consistently generates leads and drives sales through engaging marketing content.


Video Marketing: Top Reasons Why It's Highly Effective

It is projected that global Internet traffic from videos will make up a whopping 80% of all Internet traffic by 2019. Additionally, 78% of people watch videos online every week while 55% do daily (Source: Hubspot). These numbers illustrate the growing trend of video marketing and the importance of leveraging video in your business strategy.

You see, if you do not currently have a video marketing strategy in motion for your website and social media, you are missing a grand opportunity to reach and engage with your audience. Videos are incredibly effective in capturing attention, maintaining engagement, building relationships and getting viewers to take action. These are key metrics to any effective digital marketing plan.

In fact, here are the top six reasons why video marketing is so effective and the significance of honing this strategy in your inbound marketing.

#1 Consumers Vote Video over Text

Did you know that four times as many consumers prefer to watch a video about a product versus reading about it? Videos allow prospects to see your product in action, getting a full grasp on how it works, the features and its benefits. They can digest the information easier and faster when it is demonstrated through video.

Your customers are better positioned to make an informed decision quickly by watching your video than reading a blog article or social media post. Therefore, give the people what they want by implementing more product, how-tos and demonstration videos in your content marketing strategy.

#2 Moves Viewers to Action Quickly!

After watching a video, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online. When optimized for conversions, videos are incredibly compelling in moving viewers to follow directions and take action quickly. You can bolster your lead generation and sales tremendously by giving a clear call-to-action in your videos that direct your audience to the proper link.

#3 Increases Brand Awareness

Video marketing is also effective in creating more awareness about your brand. From telling your story, sharing customer testimonials, to answering common questions relevant to your industry, your video strategy is the ideal tactic to increasing exposure and expanding your reach online.

With YouTube being the second largest search engine, building your channel with valuable video content is huge towards growing your presence, boosting visibility and getting in front of your target audience.

#4 Live-Streaming Videos Generate Tons of Engagement

People are spending three times longer watching live video on social media versus those that have been prerecorded. Live-streaming apps like Facebook Live, Instagram Stories and Periscope are generating crazy engagement on social media and brands and are taking full advantage.

The beauty of live-streaming is that it allows your followers to join you in real-time. You will quickly build the know, like and trust factor with your audience with these “at the moment” experiences. Whether you are hosting a live Q&A session, taking your followers behind-the-scenes to an event, or reporting breaking news, live-streaming is an excellent way to keep your social audience in the know and connected to your brand.

#5 Highlights Your Brand’s Personality and Culture

Videos have an amazing way of drawing your audience into your brand’s culture, giving them a taste of your personality and passion for what you do. It further humanizes your brand, making you relatable and reachable. People are craving authenticity and transparency, and your video strategy allows you to do both which significantly builds trust with your viewers.

#6 Positions You as an Expert

At the heart of inbound marketing likes sharing valuable content that solves problems, educates and inspires your intended audience. As a result, you will bolster your thought-leadership and position your brand as an authority in your industry. Your video marketing strategy serves as the perfect platform for showcasing your expertise, giving solid advice and tips, and addressing common issues that concern your audience. It is the best way to building credibility fast in your niche.

 

Video marketing is highly effective in boosting brand awareness, generating leads, increasing sales and connecting with your audience. With more consumers leveraging video, it is crucial to begin implementing a video marketing strategy to get in front of your audience. Doing so will yield positive returns for your business.

Much success.

Ready to use video to drive sales? Reach out to us here and discover how we can help you create a solid plan that gets your videos in front of your audience.


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