If you hadn’t heard yet, video marketing is the future. Everyone from the Fortune 500 to small businesses knows it and is getting in on the action.

All this is to say, if your business hasn’t yet got a dedicated video marketing strategy, you’re in the minority. Research shows around 86% of businesses now use video advertising in their marketing plans.

Why? We’re answering that very question.

What Is Video Marketing?

When you think of video marketing, your mind might drift immediately to YouTube. YouTube is by far the largest video-sharing platform online. So large in fact that more than 1 billion hours of content is consumed on YouTube alone every day.

But video marketing isn’t just YouTube. You should be using video content across multiple channels and platforms to convey your brand messaging to your audience.

In this sense, anytime you’re using content in video format, you’re conducting video marketing.

It’s by no means a new concept. TV adverts have been around for almost as long as the TV itself! But the channel by which we consume video advertising has changed.

Part of this is thanks to the rise of on-demand subscription-based TV with no advertising. As well as TV advertising is one of the most expensive marketing channels out there. For example, a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl costs $5.6 million!

Digital video advertising is far lower cost, which is one of the first reasons it’s so appealing to businesses. But there are plenty more reasons digital video advertising should be a priority for your business.

The Science Behind Video Advertising

Let’s get scientific.

You probably heard a lot about different learning styles in school. The main three are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. Visual learners make up the largest chunk by far as an estimated 65% of learners are visual.

This means for about 65% of people, the most engaging way of consuming content is something visually-led. Like a video.

Even for those that aren’t primarily visual learners, an estimated 90% of the information transmitted to our brain is visual. Humans are hardwired to intake information through visuals.

All this science amounts to video formats performing better than other content formats. So when it comes to video advertising, it’s hard to top.

Benefits of Video Advertising

In part because of the science above, video marketing has some distinct advantages over other types of marketing.

First and foremost, they have better engagement than other content formats. They’re an incredible tool to tell your brand story to your audience.

Because we process visuals easier, this message is more likely to stick with your audience. Think about the last time you read a blog article, how much of it do you remember? Whereas remembering a short TV commercial is much easier.

This is why so many businesses are changing their long-winded text-based “about us” pages into engaging short videos that show your audience what you’re all about.

Google Loves Videos

A knock-on benefit of video marketing is how much Google loves videos.

The goal of any good digital marketing strategy is to get your brand or product in front of more users online. This is why SEO (search engine optimization) makes up a huge portion of digital marketing strategies.

Your video marketing can fit perfectly into your SEO strategy. Because Google loves video results. A well-optimized video result sits at the top of the search results these days.

These videos can appear on your website, YouTube, and across your social media platforms. This increases the chances of them appearing high up in the search engine ranking positions for relevant key turns.

Improve Brand Visibility

The theory is simple here. The more types of content you create, the higher the chances of someone finding it.

Video content is great for creating related content around your brand. Things like explainer videos, how-to videos, and product reviews to name a few all perform incredibly well in terms of views and engagement.

It’s a great way to organically reach your audience and provide valuable content under your brand name. This builds awareness and trust long-term.

Putting out great video content has the additional benefit of being more shareable. This means your audience is more likely to spread your message for you, free of charge, to more potential customers. It’s a rare win-win situation.

Improve Conversions

For businesses, using video advertising can substantially increase conversions or leads.

Being able to watch a demonstration of a product and see the dimensions and functions is so much more appealing to customers than reading about them. It can clear up common questions and doubts much more effectively than text can.

You can and should add product videos across your site wherever applicable. You should also ensure where you have videos appearing on other platforms or sites, there’s a clear call-to-action to your site or service linked within the video or description.

Types of Videos to Try

So you’re ready to make an advertisement video… but what type of video do you start with?

There’s no end to different types of videos you could do. Which performs best will depend on your industry, niche, and the quality of the content itself. This said we’ve got a few examples of popular small business video advertising types.

Product Demo

If you’ve got a product to sell, show it. These videos can be used both as advertisements in themselves and on product pages to better inform customers.

Informative

Research common problems your audience is facing and create a how-to video to solve them. You can do this by conducting keyword research on YouTube and seeing what content performs well.

Brand Story

Educate your audience on who you are and what you’re all about. You can use this video across your site, as well as in video marketing campaigns to build brand awareness.

Succeed with Viva

Video advertising is well-worth investing in for your business. It allows you to engage your audience and reach more people. But it’s a time-consuming affair, which is why so many businesses choose to hire a video production agency, like Viva Media.

We provide beautiful, high-quality videos tailor-made for your brand and business to wow your audience. Just get in touch for a free quote within 24 hours.