Every day your prospects have many opportunities to interact with many different kinds of content. They get emails and phone calls, they subscribe to multiple blogs, they do their own Internet searches and they probably even get some direct mail.
Some of what they receive or find is relevant. A lot of it probably isn’t. The ugly truth is the prospect probably doesn’t know which is which. They may just ignore everything.
That’s the challenge for marketers. How do we make sure what we’re creating is something that stands a chance from within all of the clutter?
There is an option that many B2B marketers haven’t yet added to their content mix. That option is video. Consider these statistics:
- 78% of people watch videos online every week.
- 55% of people watch videos online every day.
- According to Forbes, 75% of senior executives watch work-related videos at least on a weekly basis, and 54% share work-related videos with their colleagues at least weekly.
- 59% of senior executives also agree that they would prefer to watch videos if both text and video are available on the same topic on the same page.
- In a Demand Metric survey, 74% of businesses reported that video content outperformed other content types in driving conversions.
If the statistics aren’t enough to convince you to add video to your content, here are six more reasons.
1. Video is versatile
Perhaps the greatest thing about video is the versatility it provides. There are so many different ways you can use it. The most obvious is on your website. I’m sure you’ve visited a website that has a video front and center on the homepage. Many times these videos are used to introduce a visitor to your company and whatever it is you do. For example, Imagine uses an animated explainer video on our homepage. But it doesn’t stop there.
In fact, in a study by GetResponse of nearly one billion emails, those containing video had a 96% higher click-through rate than those without. That’s right. Video can be used in your email and lead nurturing campaigns. The goals for your campaign will determine what type, how long, etc. The important thing is that video provides another option – an option that gets attention.
Additionally, video can be used in your blog (which I will talk more about later), as a sales tool and even at trade shows. And there’s no reason to constantly be creating new videos. Just like other types of content, video can be repurposed. Try using part of an existing video in an email campaign or in your blog. Use part of a product demo video at a trade show or as a selling tool. The possibilities are endless.
2. It has visual appeal
The saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” is true. As marketers, we’ve been taught the science or at least the facts. Things like the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text and visual content makes up 93% of all human communication. That translates to more engagement. Multiple studies show that including an image with a blog post, a tweet or an email increases engagement by as much as 40 times.
So if a still image or photo can increase engagement significantly, what can a video do? According to Dr. James McQuivey, formerly of Forrester, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. That’s not to say there are 1.8 million actual words in one minute of video. But what it could really mean is that it would take 1.8 million words to describe what the viewer feels, sees and hears in one minute of video.
Whatever you believe about that stat, the point is that video can have much greater impact on the audience than text or a still photo alone.
3. Video generates leads
Remember the stat from earlier in this post? 74% of businesses reported that video drove more conversions than other types of content. Try using a short video on your landing pages to further describe an offer or make a video the offer.
Tools like Wistia make it possible to gate your videos and find out how people are engaging with them anywhere on your site. You can measure how much of the video people watch, how many times they watch it, etc.
4. It’s educational
Video provides a great opportunity to educate your audience. Earlier in the post, I mentioned using video in your blog posts. At Imagine, we have The Demand Creator Minute. Here’s an example where we included it in a blog post. These are short videos, usually 3-4 minutes that are very top of funnel. We use them to teach the viewer about a specific topic.
Video can also be used to teach closer to the bottom of the funnel. Another Imagine example is our webinars. These are 45-60 minute videos describing a topic in greater depth. You can find an example here.
In today’s ZMOT world, it is important that your audience can learn from you without having you in the room. Video provides a more personal way to do just that.
5. It gives your business personality
Just this week, Doug wrote a post that happened to include a video…a Steve Jobs video. The overall message was to stop differentiating and be different. Video provides the medium to do just that.
When someone sees and hears you and your team talking and even interacting with each other, it gives them a sense of your business’ personality and culture. If everyone in the video is wearing a suit and tie, it sends one message. If you're in t-shirts, the viewers get a different message.
Video can help you show how and why you’re different than everyone else.
6. Video allows you to automate common conversations
Do your sales reps or customer services reps have the same conversation with multiple people every day? Instead of continuing with that approach, record the conversation. Answer your customers and prospects most common questions and make those videos accessible to your audience. You can put them on your website or send as an email.
If your company has a demo, record the demo instead of doing in-person demos. Imagine how much time could be saved by automating these types of conversations? Your customers and prospects will also appreciate having the option to watch “on demand” as opposed to making the call or scheduling a meeting.
Video can be a key part of your content mix. If you haven’t gotten started, now’s the time!
