There’s an old but true axiom in the marketing world: consumers justify their purchases based on logic, but they buy based on emotion. Your neighbor will tell you he bought that shiny, new convertible in his driveway because it gets great gas mileage, or performed well in crash tests, or its great resale value. The truth is he probably bought it because it’s sexy and tells you he’s climbing up the social ladder.
Creating that emotional connection with customers sells your products and services. And the best medium to sell with emotion is video. Video brings your company to life and shows rather than tells customers who you are, what you value, and why you’re better than your competitors. Study after study shows that consumers prefer a compelling video about a product or service to a comparable print description.
Question: How Do You Sell Wearable Cameras?
Answer: Rescue a Kitten
GoPro sells wearable action cameras, high-definition gadgets for outdoor sports enthusiasts who want to capture their personal thrill of victory moments skiing, surfing, and skateboarding. In 2013, firefighter Cory Kalanick got the call to rescue an unconscious kitten in Fresno, California. He was wearing a GoPro camera. That video, heart-breaking and hopeful, made its way to YouTube where it caught the attention of 1.5 million viewers in its first few weeks. GoPro saw an opportunity, edited the raw footage, added its logo, and re-released the result (“Fireman Saves Kitten”) on its own YouTube channel. The video went viral, capturing 5 million views in its first week.
Founded in 2004, GoPro racked up $150,000 in sales in its first year. By 2013, annual sales had shot up to more than $985,000. In 2014, that number jumped to almost $1.4 million, taking the company to an IPO valuation just shy of $3 billion. It would be hard to argue that a kitten put GoPro on the map, but it sure didn’t hurt.
Video Sparks Emotion and Emotion Boosts Sales
GoPro isn’t alone in boosting sales and company image by tugging at the heartstrings. For example, Chipotle’s video (and mobile game), “The Scarecrow,” brought awareness to its sustainable farming campaign with images of animal confinement and toxic pesticides. More than 17 million consumers have viewed the video on YouTube.
And then there’s HelloFlo, which sells feminine hygiene products. The company scored big with a video using humor and heart, “The Camp Gyno,” featuring a young girl who gets her first “red badge of courage,” then helps other girls at summer camp. The video cost about $6,000 to shoot, got 6 million views in its first week and was named ad of the week by Adweek.
By the Numbers
The numbers tell the story: video marketing works because it’s what consumers want. Here are 13 facts about video marketing you may not have known:
- Four times as many consumers want to view a product video instead of reading about it
- Half of internet surfers want to see a product video before entering a store
- Consumers who see a video are about twice as likely to buy a product or use a service
- More than half of internet users watch videos all the way through
- Half of the consumers say they want to see more company videos
- Companies which use video grow revenues twice as fast
- 52% of marketers say video content has the best return on investment
- Two of three consumers want videos of 60 seconds or less
- More than 100 billion people are active users of YouTube
- Half of all marketers plan to add YouTube to their marketing strategy in the next year
- Two of five marketers plan to add Facebook video in the next year
- Almost half of consumers watch an hour or more of Facebook and YouTube videos each week
- 80% of consumers say video demos help them make purchases
Conclusion
The video is an essential component of an integrated, inbound marketing strategy. To learn more about the ways you can generate leads and drive sales with engaging marketing content, contact us today.
References:
GoPro
YouTube: Fireman Saves Kitten
Statistics Brain: GoPro Camera Company Statistics
YouTube: The Scarecrow
YouTube: The Camp Gyno
Hubspot: The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics