The real impact of video marketing for business [Updated For 2021]
Updated: Feb 16, 2021
I want to preface this piece by saying: Yes, I am bias. I am a videographer and love creating video for business.
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, I’ll explain in an objective way why video is so important for business. And no this will not be convincing you to use my service. In fact, it may be the exact opposite depending on the marketing maturity of your business.
What do I mean by marketing maturity of your business? There is nothing worse than creating an incredible video for a client, only to see it land (or should I say crash) on an unknown YouTube channel and die.
This is the reality of many great videos. Many EXPENSIVE videos too. It’s so important to have a strategy behind your video marketing. You can’t just order a video, go through the motions, and post it somewhere expecting it to magically gain viewers.
You need to ask yourself these questions before you spend money on a professional video:
Does it connect to a bigger marketing campaign that I would like to execute?
What am I trying to communicate in this video?
Does it appeal to my target market?
How do I plan on distributing this content?
WHY am I doing this video??
If you can confidently answer these questions, then you’re on the right track. If not, do not expect the videographer to help you with all these questions. They’ll give you some ideas and help you brainstorm, but their goal is to bring your vision to life. If you don’t have a vision, then it’s as dead as your last YouTube post 😊
Before we get into the objective and cliché metrics about how important video is… (God I hate the “marketing formula,” but it stands the test of time. I could have skipped the entire value add of the article and explained the numbers, customer testimonials, and a call to action and - BOOM! It would have a higher conversion rate than the higher effort post I’m currently writing)… I would like to share a perfect example of a company that has skyrocketed due to video.
Meet Dr. Squatch
Please, take a pause, and go look at their website: https://drsquatch.com/
This simple website has a few quick tabs: Home, Bundles, Products, and Take Quiz... That’s it. Pretty decent looking website, but nothing special. Packaging of their products looks decent.
What’s my point? The point is there doesn't seem to be anything special about this website or business. And yet, they were able to purchase a commercial spot on one of the most expensive nights of the year: Superbowl Sunday!
How did this happen? What happened that took this soap company from being a relatively uninteresting natural soap substitute to a huge player in the market?!
VIDEO HAPPENED!!!!!
The owner Jack Haldrup spent $20,000 to hire a video production company and actor. He advertised using Facebook ads and was able to go from 11,000 subscribers to 17,000 in only three months!
Haldrup, a 31-year-old (genius) entrepreneur, now owns a $6 million dollar soap company that just bought an ad in the Super Bowl… let that sink in for a minute. He had a great product, but having a great product is worth very little with how big this world is and how many great products are out there. So, he invested in video and had it tied to an effective marketing campaign.
That is a great example of how video completely transformed a business.
Ready to watch the video? Check it out and take notes: https://youtu.be/cjEK7qQKRDY
The video is fantastic, but the most important part of this video is the distribution of it.
If this video was just posted on YouTube or a Facebook page, it probably would have gotten a few thousand views. Worth $20,000? Absolutely not!
Instead, it was targeted to MEN in a certain age range and location. It was advertised to a target market. A market that’s not used to seeing a lot of soap ads. The video appealed directly to these men and kept them engaged. The purpose of this video was crafted around a vision of speaking to a select group of people. The marketing persona was identified and the video was crafted specifically for that person. They were not attempting to, and the video does not, appeal to everyone.
I think I’m beating a dead horse at this point, so let’s get back to your business. I am not saying to go pay a bunch of money to get an amazing video for your business. Start off small. Get a few videos on your phone and send them to Fiverr to get edited for cheap. Get used to understanding which videos work and which ones do not. Once you get the hang of incorporating video into your marketing strategy, then spend a little more money to get something a more professional. Prepare to put some money behind it in the form of advertising and analyze your results.
As promised, here are some boring metrics provided by forbes.com as to why video is so important:
90 percent of consumers indicate product videos directly inform purchase decisions.
92 percent of videos viewed via mobile are shared compared to other modes of access.
95 percent of consumers retain communicated information through video, while only 10 percent retain information from reading.
Companies utilizing video content experience a 41 percent increase in traffic through web searches compared to others who don’t include video in their content strategies.
Video offers the best return on investment, as 51.9 percent of marketing experts agree.
If you’re not using video to help promote your business, then you’re missing out on a lot of opportunity. However, do not jump in with both feet and spend a bunch of money before you know who, what or WHY you’re making the video.
Find a good videographer (like me) and pick their brain. They will be able to help you formulate your idea and potentially provide guidance on your overall marketing strategy and distribution plan. In addition to being a videographer, I run the marketing of multiple local small businesses. If you need help, reach out anytime.
Here's the secret, you don't need big money to have big marketing results. Check out my recent blog to see what I mean!
Thanks for reading!
Taher