When it comes to marketing, we always hear how much we should incorporate video components into our strategy. They always say to add reels, Youtube videos, or just a simple video on a page in your website that shows the viewer something rather than having a paragraph explaining it. Has anyone ever explained why this is such a hard-pushed topic? Well, we are about to let you know.
What kind of video is “good video?”
The short answer is all of it.
Today, people are used to seeing videos that are not edited at all, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself to make them “perfect” and highly edited. We get it because we get into that mindset sometimes, too. Whether it is long-form videos like Youtube videos or short-form videos like Instagram reels, it all is great to incorporate into your marketing strategy. It is even beneficial to incorporate stories and posts containing video. A good example of this would be to post an Instagram story that does a “walk-through” of a business's location where they do their work day-to-day. Or even a simple video that shows a behind-the-scenes look at a specific part of a company’s production process. Any type of video helps show the viewer something they would not be able to see in traditional still images. We as viewers and consumers love behind-the-scenes material because it makes us feel more connected to the business, so definitely use that to your advantage.
Why do we want video content - Business’s Perspective
There are many different ways to look at this question. We can look at it from the target audience's perspective and we can look at it from the marketer/business’s perspective.
When approaching this topic from the business’s perspective, you want to incorporate video because it will help increase your website’s SEO. SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it is what helps place your business or company’s website on the page when someone is searching for a product or service related to yours. The main goal of using SEO is to help increase the amount and quality of traffic that is being brought to the business or company’s website. By incorporating video into your website, Google’s algorithm automatically registers your website as one with quality content because it has a variety of text and video content. Google, as well as other search engines, cares about quality and relevance. When they are listing the websites, they are looking for a mixture of text and visual elements, so it is essential that videos are incorporated into the website.
Another way to add videos to help increase traffic through SEO is by utilizing Youtube. Have you noticed when researching something, related Youtube videos are consistently listed at the top of the results? There is a reason for that - Google loves Youtube videos. Did you know that Google owns Youtube? Whether it is a video about the recommended ways to use a company’s product, a how-to video, or a promotional video, businesses should make a Youtube account and post at least once a month to help Google pick up on the variety of content they are offering their target audience.
Google is not the only platform that is drawn to video content. Facebook and Instagram’s internal algorithm loves video content, and you should, too. Their algorithms promote and boost video content to users more than still images, leading to an increase in engagement. (Side note: in early spring of 2023, Instagram updated their algorithm to appreciate still posts more than in recent times, so while graphics and photos are making a comeback, we still need to keep video at the forefront of our strategy.)
More engagement means more exposure. The more exposure a company can get, the higher the chance of it boosting conversions and sales. “Websites see a search engine boost when they add video because it increases page quality and the time visitors spend on the page. More than 60% of marketers say their customer acquisition cost has gone up,” according to Hubspot. With a variety of high-quality content and an increase in traffic, businesses increase their chances of having higher conversion rates. After all, we want visitors to become customers, right?
Why do we want video content - Target Audience’s Perspective
Now let’s take a look at video content from the target audience’s perspective. As a viewer, we take in an astronomical amount of content each day. No matter what platform we are scrolling through, we are constantly digesting content. Because of this, it is hard to catch our attention and make us stop our scroll. We, as marketers, want to “stop the scroll” so they consume our content. Video content can help stop viewers in our tracks if it is done right.
When making video content, businesses have less than three seconds to catch our attention before we scroll right past it. Making the first few seconds unique and engaging is essential to get us to stop. Then once we have them, we have to keep them. To keep them, businesses need to play on our emotions. Video content allows engagement of our emotions and causes us to feel empathy for the message they are trying to get across. It is very hard to cause the same emotional appeal in a still image. Adjusting the lighting, adding audio, and placing clips in a specific order allows them to trigger an emotional response in us. The more connected we feel as viewers, the more we want to be involved with a company or business.
One thing businesses need to keep in mind when making engaging video content is to keep it relevant. When we start to see the same thing over and over again, we become disinterested. It also is important to keep content relevant because as viewers, we associate a business’s voice with their content and branding. When there is a distinct voice with a brand, we feel more connected and inclined to participate in their call to action.
And, remember, while you may be a marketer or play the marketing type role in your small business, you are a viewer and part of a target audience for someone. So always think, would I like to consume this? Do I find it interesting? Would I stop scrolling to take this information in? How is this helping or solving a problem/pain point for my consumer?
Video content is vital in helping your business engage with your target audience, increase your exposure, and have repeat customers. How do you implement video into your company’s marketing?