Marketing

Next Level Marketing: Why Video Brings Life to Your Digital Marketing Strategy

We are devoting a few weeks to a deep dive into the world of effective, results-driven digital marketing.

It’s important for all businesses and organizations to understand that having a website alone isn’t enough to make headway online.

There are a host of elements that must work in harmony to underscore your brand message and pave the road for customers to locate your digital front door. Today we focus on why video is an integral component of your overall marketing strategy.

Video can make a remarkable and measurable impact on the effectiveness of your web presence, and subsequently, the ultimate success of your digital marketing efforts. From a previous post, we learned that video increases purchase intent by up to 97%, bolsters brand associations by up to 139%, and boosts conversion rates by up to 80%. Not to mention, 64% of all consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it.

Here some of the most common types of videos we produce for our clients and how each different video type can make your website more effective strengthen your brand’s online presence:

Brand Videos

A brand video is the essential video to have on your site. When visitors land on your webpage they want to quickly understand who you are and what you offer them. Better yet, they want to understand how your product or service will be of benefit to them and—subconsciously—they want to know how you can help them be a hero in their own narrative. The benefit of any marketing video to a business is that there are many ways to share a video and lead people to your website.  

Roots Flower Farm in South Central PA is a thriving small business with good relationships and strong roots in the community. However, they wanted to a creative way to showcase their unique “farm to table” approach that differentiates their brand in the industry and grab the attention of customers looking for a truly unique floral experience. Our solution was this day-in-the-life brand video:

The results speak for themselves. In the first three days, Roots Flower Farm’s brand video garnered over 10,000 views, over 75 shares, over 40 comments, and more than 200 “likes” on Facebook. A website on its own cannot generate that level of social engagement.

Brand videos add value to both corporate and non-profit strategies. Take for example a video we produced for the South Mountain Partnership, a regional, landscape-scale conservation project in south-central Pennsylvania. The video and associated digital marketing strategy we deployed for South Mountain resulted in the following staggering statistics:

• Post Reach of 15,560 (note: typical SMP Facebook post is generally in the 100-500 range)
• 268 “Likes,” including 46 direct to the SMP post
• 51 comments, including 9 direct to the SMP post
• 99 shares, including 95 direct to the SMP post
• Further, the video was viewed 4,400 times; this number is perhaps a touch misleading, but luckily Facebook’s Insight metrics provides an opportunity for more detailed analysis. Of those 4,400 views, 879 lasted at least 30 seconds in length, and fully 10% of viewers (approximately 440) watched the video in its entirety (~2 minutes and 30 seconds)
• Across the three-week period of the campaign, a total of 11 posts were made to the SMP Facebook page, with a cumulative total reach of 23,869

By far, brand videos have the ability to take any brand’s online exposure from good to great, sometimes in a very short period of time.

Explainer Videos

An explainer video is a little different from typical brand videos. In fact, 97% of businesses using explainer videos on their websites say it helps users understand their business better. These are often animated videos using motion graphics to visually describe what something does or how something works. Explainer videos can also be useful in communicating detail-heavy information like end-of-year reports. If your product or service is difficult to explain, videos like these enhance your website by clarifying your message and reducing your bounce rate.  

One of our clients, Menno Haven, asked us to create an explainer video for them to describe the process and services they offer to their clients.

Product Videos

Product videos are an integral part of e-commerce and should not be omitted from a product brand’s website. This blog post goes into detail about how to create a great product video. Showing consumers exactly what you’re offering can increase their buying potential. Almost 50% of web users look for a video before visiting a store,  79% of consumers prefer watching video to reading about a product, and 84% of consumers have bought something after watching a video. Ignoring these stats could leave you at the back of the marketing pack.

This video we created for Abednego Coffee Roasters is part product video and part brand video. Marrying the story with the images gives the consumer a clear picture of who they’re helping and how their purchase makes a difference far beyond a sustainable cup of Joe.

Testimony Videos

Customer testimonials are highly effective marketing tools for any business or organization. They establish credibility and trust while shining a light on the benefits you provide to your customer, the hero. Video testimonials take testimonials a step further by making a stronger personal connection between your organization and a prospect than words on a screen can accomplish. A few examples can give life to the power of a video testimonial.

This video we created for Shalom Christian Academy gives prospective students and their families a first hand look at what current students, parents, faculty, and staff have to say about campus life at their school.

If you’re hungry for more, here are a few pro tips to help you get started with adding video testimonials to your website.

Interview Videos

In addition to customer testimonials, employee testimonials can pack a powerful punch by giving customers an inside perspective on a brand’s unique personality. Executive  interviews can be a great way to help secure funding and investments, employee interview videos can be useful for connecting employees with their company, and interviews with employees about the products and services that their company offers—and what makes them unique—are a fantastic way to connect with potential customers.

Here is a great employee testimonial we created for Memphis, TN based Patrick Accounting and Payroll:

Event Videos

Event videos are primarily used to promote and/or highlight events hosted, sponsored by, or served by a brand. Using a landing page with an event video on your website has the potential to increase your conversion rates by 80%. Penn State College of Medicine called on us to capture an event video for a very special event for their graduates called Match Day.

Event videos have a long shelf-life, too. As participants relive and share the event with others your event will enjoy organic exposure and growth, thanks to a creatively produced video.  

Social Videos

Online social video is set to dominate in the coming year. Youtube is already the number 2 search engine in the world (right behind Google), and major platforms like Facebook and Instagram have created quick and easy ways for their members to create, post, and share their own social videos. Of course, these social videos vary in quality across the board but smart brands are using short, professionally produced videos to stir up social engagement with their customers online.

Quick social videos strategically shared through social media channels can generate significant traffic to your website through search engine optimization, paid advertising, and through good old fashioned word of mouth as people share videos with their friends.

All of these videos are helpful but need to be incorporated strategically to see measurable results. But it’s worth the effort because videos can draw in more qualified leads than your website can do on its own.

Ready to Start?

There are many considerations to keep in mind as you begin adding video to your website and digital marketing strategy. It’s important that you fit videos into your overarching marketing strategy. You could give it a go on your own, but that comes with its own set of pros and cons. If you’re unsure where to begin, we would love to walk you through the specifics and work together to come up with a video strategy that fits seamlessly into your online presence. Let’s find a time to talk and we can give you the scoop on everything you need to know to get started with video.