First, look where the money is for proof. Every social media platform out there has invested in video features. This would not be the case if videos were a passing fad. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat all have their own video features and favor video in their algorithms. Video on social media generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined.
What’s more, YouTube sees 5 billion views daily and Snapchat and Facebook each see more than 8 billion views per day.
In the most recent earnings call, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described video as a “megatrend on the same order as mobile.”
In fact, according to the KPCB Partners report, 74% of all Internet traffic will be video this year. And Cisco projects that global internet traffic from videos will make up 80% of all Internet traffic in 2019, just a year a half from now.
These statistics point to two crucial take-aways:
1) Your potential customers are watching more video than ever before. Millennials are not the only group devouring video (though it’s crucial not to ignore this audience because by 2020 they will make up 50% of the U.S. workforce). Video resonates across all age groups. Facebook is the most popular social network across generations and YouTube is a close second. Did you know that Baby Boomers actually consume more content than Gen X or Millenials? More than 25% of Baby Boomers consume 20 or more hours of content a week.
What's more is Livestream’s 2016 survey found that 80% of their respondents would rather watch a live video from a brand than read their blog. According to Forbes, 59% of executives would rather watch a video than read text. And 75% of executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week.
And then there’s this: A 2016 survey by the Web Marketing Video Council found that 61% of business are using video as a marketing tool.
But here’s the real kicker:
In the previous year, 66% of those businesses were not using video at all.
That leads us to the second crucial take-away:
2) Your competitors are already using video to reach your potential customers. Now is the moment you need to decide if you will jump on board or get left behind.
Here are some quick stats that show the benefits of using video:
- Companies using video enjoy 41% more web traffic from search then non-users.
- Retail sites with video increase conversion by 30%.
- Including a video on your homepage can increase conversion rates by 20 percent or more, according to Unbound.
- Businesses using video grow company revenue 49 percent faster year-over-year than organizations without video.
- 72% of businesses who use video believe it has improved that conversion rate of their website. ‘
- An introductory email that includes a video improves an increased click-through rate by 96%.
- Email open rates with video in the subject line have a 19% higher open rate and click through rate of 65%.
- According to Forrester Research, One minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words
- 92 percent of mobile video consumers share videos with others, according to Invodo
OK, so how do you get started?
First, decide on the goal for you video. Is the goal to drive awareness? Drive leads? Reduce consumer confusion or reduce support queries?
Second, decide on a look and feel. e.i. interview driven; b-roll driven with a voice over; a mix of both; etc.
Third, decide on a video production partner to produce your video for you.
"Well, wait a second," you say. “I could easily get Jennifer from marketing to film a video using her iPhone / prosumer camera and it wouldn’t cost us anything.”
Before you go down that route, let us tell you why you should hire a professional to produce your video.
First, these statistics:
23% of people who have been presented with a poor quality video experience would hesitate to buy from that brand.
62% of consumers are more likely to have a negative perception of a brand that publishes poor-quality video.
And then there’s this: Filming a video may seem easy (it isn't, btw). But editing a video is decidedly not an easy task. The time it takes to edit a video versus filming a video is 5-to-1, and that’s if you are a pro. While you may feel that you’ve saved money by having an internal employee produce your video, in reality, you have not.
You’ve taken them away from their regular tasks - the tasks you hired them to complete for you. And you’ve put them on a project that could take months to finish. In the end, you may not be satisfied with the video and need to re-film it anyway.
Trust us. We’ve received calls with this exact scenario.
We strongly suggest hiring a production partner. If budget is a major concern, consider starting small.
Consider having the business owner or someone from the C-Level suite speak to camera rather than hiring an actor or actress. Or decide on a b-roll package of your product with a voice over. Talk to your potential production partners about what it may cost to have single camera coverage rather than multi-camera coverage. And make sure you and your team are prepared for the production day to avoid extra charges, like additional filming days / editing days.
Good luck! And if you're currently shopping for a video partner, check out our Spring Offer below. We call it the Content Marketing Tool Kit. It includes a video and limited photography.
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