Video marketing is an essential part of business
In the near future, will you need to make a video to get anyone’s attention? Will print become obsolete? Probably not. But the trend is definitely towards more and more video. After all, would you rather get this information by reading or watching an engaging video?
The numbers
According to Cisco, by 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic. As a result, businesses must find a way to engage their audience through video marketing.
More than half of the companies in the US are using video, and that number is only going to rise as more and more business people understand the power and influence of video. When you consider that YouTube receives more than 1 billion unique visitors every month, you can see why video isn’t just the future. It’s the present as well! It has arrived.
As you may know, video marketing keeps people engaged on your website longer, viewers are more likely to buy your products and services, and it builds brand awareness and loyalty. Another benefit of video is that it’s easy to digest. Unless it’s an awful video, people are more likely to understand what is being communicated through video than print. They see the benefits of patronizing our business and understand why they should buy from you. Video also conveys emotion and nuance better than the printed page. Axonn Research discovered that 7 out of 10 people view brands more positively after watching interesting and engaging video content.
So you’re sold on video. Now what? How can a small business use this powerful medium? What are others doing with it?
Training videos on the rise
According to Forbes magazine, US spending on corporate training grew by 15% in 2013 to over $70 billion in the US and over $130 billion worldwide. This represents the highest growth rate in seven years! In 2011 the rate increased by 10% and in 2012, it increased by 12%. Clearly, the trajectory is on the upswing.
Video is used in training in many ways. Many sites such as Linda.com, Kantola.com, bizlibrary.com, etc. offer online business videos for a charge or for free. These are generally streamed online, but sometimes available for purchase as DVD’s.
Many companies are making their own training videos. They hire a trainer or use an in-house trainer and don’t want to have to repeatedly hire or use the trainer over and over again. Therefore, they use video to cut costs by shooting and editing once and showing it or making it available to their employees online. Video has the advantage of being repeatable. Sometimes our attention spans are not as good as we’d like them to be. Therefore, if the viewer realizes that they’ve been ‘mentally absent’, they can go back to the place where they ‘checked out’ and resume their lesson. The result is that the employee has the opportunity to get all of the training, instead of bits and pieces that they were focused on.
Companies also appreciate the customization and personalization that comes with an in-house production tailor-made for their employees. As I’ve discussed in other posts, these in-house videos can be home made within the business if the production quality doesn’t have to be that good. Companies are also hiring professional video production companies to do the job as well. I’ve also said, if it has to be good, it should be done by a professional. The reason is that if you want to retain the viewers interest in the production, even if it’s a ‘captive’ employee audience, it has to be interesting and good to be viewable and comprehensible.
Look out for the second part of this article later this week!
If you need help making a marketing video to boost your sales, contact us at (773) 252-3352 or irwin@video1pro.com.
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