Video marketing has been on the rise for several years now, but 2016 really saw it take off. Several of the big giants, like Twitter and Facebook, invested heavily in developing their own video platforms. They’ve integrated video into social media. As a result, video has become the solid core of all good content marketing plans.
That doesn’t mean blogging is obsolete in the slightest, not even slightly.
It does mean is that you will get a lot more mileage out of your content if you record it in video format, and present it in written blog format at the same time.
This isn’t an either/or thing, okay? It’s not, ‘You should do video instead of blogging.’ It’ is, ‘You should do vlogging as well as blogging.’
Don’t worry, that’s not going to take you twice as much time. Once you have your content in video format, you can get it transcribed and put into written format. Or alternatively, you can write your content like you normally would for your blog, put it on an autocue, and record it by reading it straight from that.
So it doesn’t have to double your workload. It will take you a bit more time overall, but it is so worth it. Here’s why…
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Why Video Is The Perfect Medium For Marketing…
Simply put, video is the perfect medium to use when connecting with potential customers. Video marketing is the best and fastest way to build the Know, Like, and Trust factor. It’s excellent at forming really strong, lasting relationships with potential clients. It’s the best way to convert those potential clients into paying clients. It’s also the best way to establish yourself as an expert in your niche. Videos are also a great way to educate people on the importance and value of your products and services. It’s also how you educate people on your core values and beliefs, as a business, a thought leader, or just as a person.
The best way to get your message out there, whatever your message might be, is video marketing!
The Statistics…
At the end of 2016, Syndicate put out up-to-date statistics that estimated that, of all the content online in 2017, 74% of it would be in video format.
74%!
Not only that, just including the word ‘video’ in the subject line of your newsletter will increase your open rate by 19%. It will boost your click through rate by 65%. That is insane! At the same time, (if that wasn’t an incentive enough to get vlogging and start doing all your content marketing in video format!), your unsubscribe rates plummet by 26% when you start using video.
That really is a no-brainer!
Those statistics alone should be enough to convince you that video marketing is the way forward. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
[Tweet theme=”tweet-box-shadow”]#Content is queen in the world of #marketing, but #video is king. And it’s not just king, it is THE KINGDOM![/Tweet]
Video is the way forward, people, join the revolution!
Exactly What Is So Powerful About Video Marketing?
Facebook were actually the ones that first tipped us off to the awesome power of video in terms of content marketing. They announced in 2015 that video view rates had more than doubled. It very quickly became obvious that the amount of interaction and organic reach that you got out of videos was massively superior to any other kind of content.
SEO…
From an SEO perspective, video will hugely impact your rankings. Next to Google, YouTube is the biggest search engine going and it is entirely video-based. Not only that, it is owned by Google. If you have a YouTube channel with lots of good quality content on it, you are more likely to have your videos come up in search results than you are to have your website come up in search results.
Google Algorithms…
Even if you have the videos embedded in your website, because of the way that Google algorithms work, they like to provide multimedia search results. If they can find videos that match a certain search criteria, they will show videos along with other media (posts, images, news etc.). You’re more likely to get your video on the first page of Google than you are your blog post, even if it contains that video.
If you want to rank highly, you need to be recording your content in video format.
The Growing Importance Of Video Marketing…
Given how quickly video marketing is escalating, how fast the integration of video marketing is improving, and how important video is becoming to marketing in general, the impact video marketing is going to have on your SEO is only going to grow. It currently has a huge impact on your SEO, and having a YouTube channel, and videos on your website is going to do wonders for your SEO. As time progresses that impact is just going to escalate.
In short, the sooner you start investing in creating regular video content the better.
The Lazy Factor…
One of the reasons video is so popular is the fact it provides people with easy viewing. You can sit back, relax and watch, rather than having to read.
Or why not watch or listen while you’re doing something else?
You can seriously multitask if you have content in video format, as opposed to blog posts, which require your full attention. A lot of people still love reading blog posts. Personally, I do both, I still read a lot of blog posts online, but I also watch a lot of video.
Vlogs Are Preferably To Blogs For Some Topics And People…
I don’t know about you, but there are certain people I follow who I wouldn’t follow if they didn’t have a vlog. The best example I can think of is Cupcake Jemma, who is one of my favourite YouTubers. She has an amazing YouTube channel and almost 1 million subscribers. She teaches you how to bake cupcakes and other amazing things.
Cupcake Jemma started her whole business through her YouTube channel. She has a bakery in Soho, London, which she set up and funded through her YouTube channel. She had no bank loan, she had nothing, she just started making videos. It took off and was so successful, and so popular, that she now has a thriving business in the heart of Soho.
That is the power of video.
But if she was blogging about cupcakes I would not take the time to read that blog. When it comes to written blog posts, the only ones I read anymore in written format are ones that relate to work. Even then, there are a LOT of newsletters that land in my inbox, snag me with an interesting title, then lose me when I realise ‘Urgh, I’ve got to read it!’
If it’s something vital to my business I’ll take the time to read it.
If it’s something that’s just for fun, or useful but not utterly essential, I very rarely read a post on it.
The only exception to that is The Bloggess, who is an awesome author that I’ve been following for years.
Easy Viewing…
Video is really easy viewing. It gives people the chance to take in content they otherwise wouldn’t prioritise. They might not have time to sit and read your blog post, but they can listen to your vlog (or podcast) while they’re doing the dishes; they can watch your vlog while they’re relaxing on their lunch break, having a coffee, or before they go to bed.
Video gives people a really easy way into your content. It makes it far more likely they will actually go to the bother of looking at your content than they would if it was in written format.
That is simply because, people are fundamentally quite lazy. The easier you make things for them, the more likely they are to do it.
Virality…
The other amazing thing about video is its virality. I do mean virality not virility (that’s a whole different thing!). I’m talking about the likelihood of a piece of content going viral.
[Tweet theme=”tweet-box-shadow”]#Video is far more likely to go #viral than any other kind of #content; it has a greater #OrganicReach.[/Tweet]
If you post a written post on Facebook, and a video post on Facebook, with exactly the same information in it, watch the organic reach of both posts. You will see exactly what I mean. The video will get a lot more organic reach than the written post.
You don’t have to advertise it, you don’t have to do anything with it. Just stick them up and watch what happens.
Videos naturally get far further than any other kind of content. If you add advertising to that, and advertise your video content, its reach is phenomenal.
Conclusion: Video Marketing Is Awesome…
In short, video is a phenomenally powerful tool when it comes to marketing. It raises awareness of you and your business. It raises your engagement level. It drives sign-ups and sales. It promotes confidence and gives you an air of trustworthiness. It improves your Know, Like, and Trust factor no end. And it converts people into paying clients, and often dedicated members of your tribe, who will come back to you again and again.
Now, if you’re sat there thinking, “God, I want in on this action. How do I start vlogging?” Don’t worry, I’m going to be back next Tuesday with another post that will teach you exactly how to set up a powerful vlog for your business. You can also download my brand new freebie, which includes all the workflows I use in my own vlogging. It takes you through, step by step, the exact process you need to follow to set up a really powerful vlog.
Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss the video, or sign up to my newsletter and I’ll send it straight to your inbox…
[…] year I put together several blog posts on the power of video marketing, including one to help you start a vlog for your business, and one that gives a very detailed […]
[…] Video marketing is incredibly powerful, so rather than just blogging, start a vlog. Get all your content in video form, post it to your site with the video and the written version, and consider going further still and converting it to a podcast, adding an audio option too. […]