A recent study by comScore revealed that, in August 2013, 188.5 million Americans watched 46.7 billion online videos. YouTube averaged slightly more than 167 million viewers and over 1 billion views per day. There’s no other way to say it: online video is hot.
There’s no stopping video marketing, and the reason is quite clear: videos engage people in a way that images and static text cannot. If you’re willing to look, you’ll find reports from countless studies that show the power of video to drive sales, encourage viral sharing, boost customer interaction, and build brand awareness. Even more noteworthy is the fact that companies that use video marketing are more than happy with the results.
Here are some ways to use videos to maximize your business potential.
Punch Up Your Website
One of the best ways to keep visitors on your website is to add a video to your home page. Adding a video will increase the time visitors spend on the site, decrease bounce rates, and boost page views – three metrics that will lead to better placement in the search engine results.
Embedding a YouTube video is the easiest way to insert into your webpage. You can also use alternatives like Sorenson Media or Vimeo. Don’t forget to include buttons for sharing on every video so visitors can share them on Facebook, Twitter, and other viral channels.
Use Videos To Increase Sales
Your sales will increase by as much as 20 percent if sales representatives play a video at the start of their sales demo. The video can be an introductory message to your company, a demonstration of how the product works, an introduction to the presentation, or an early call to action. Whatever you do, it pays to be prepared, and the only way to do that is to have an offline version of your video – this way your presentation won’t be interrupted if you lose internet access. You can use services like youtubedownload.altervista.org to download your video directly to your hard drive and play it back in offline mode.
Help Customers See The Value Of Your Product
Instead of telling customers about your product, you can use video to show them the product in action. Create a short but informative video to tell customers how to use your product. The how-to video will dramatically increase your sales and product usage.
Viral Videos
Videos go viral when they’re so compelling that people want to share them. The problem is that most businesses cannot find the balance between creating an engaging, meaningful, or shocking video and connecting it to their brand. If you can successfully find that balance, you’ll increase your business visibility and sales.
Staff Training
Video first gained prominence in the corporate world as an effective training tool and continues to be one of the best ways to use video in business. Online and offline video (for mobile staff) are cost effective alternatives to live training.
The Bottom Line
Online video is a powerful tool in today’s world of digital marketing. There’s no time like the present to get started and increase your company’s visibility. But your strategy must be clear, and your video marketing must work in tandem with paid media, PR, social media, and other marketing strategies. Your customers want video, so why not give it to them? BUT remember to respect IP: TeachingCopyright.org
Photo Credit/Source: Pixabay
