Digital marketing is an absolute must for businesses that want to grow in our technology-driven world. But as more and more companies lean on digital marketing, standing out is the real challenge.
How can you push your digital marketing strategy to the next level?
Well, you can start by putting video at the forefront of your plan. Consumers are drawn to video content because it’s memorable and easier to absorb. Fantastic videos also speak to how professional, polished, and dedicated a company is to making a name for itself among customers and in its industry.
Let’s explore 12 additional reasons why video needs to be at the forefront of your digital marketing plans.
Consumers Love Video Content
There’s been a push toward digital media and content lately that we can’t ignore.
Specifically, people love video content because they get a “show and tell” experience. In other words, they get to see what a brand offers while hearing a benefits explanation simultaneously. Video content also feels more personal and is easier to share across all digital platforms.
Keeping video content at the forefront of your digital marketing plans will help you stay ahead of the push toward video content and digital media. In addition, you’ll be giving the people what they want and love.
Track Consumer Interaction Data
Video is such a captivating and powerful tool when done right. It can garner a lot of engagement, which opens up the opportunity to collect consumer interaction data.
You can monitor how your audience interacts with your videos with artificial intelligence tools. You can lean on these tools to interpret the data you collect about your audience. Artificial intelligence tools can also generate insights about what video content is and isn’t resonating with your audience.
With this information, your marketing team can focus on creating the content your customers love rather than a bunch of misguided video content.
Ultimately, your videos and overall digital marketing plans won’t be as successful as they can be without the effective use of data.
Bolster Your Social Media Marketing Efforts
Social media is likely a significant part of your overarching digital marketing strategy. Although these platforms started with users sharing solely written communication and static images, they’ve since evolved.
The amount of video content on social media is rising particularly short-form content. 15 to 60-second videos seem to be the sweet spot for consumers. Adding short videos to your social media platforms will bolster your social media marketing efforts and, in turn, your entire digital marketing strategy.
More Chances to Experiment
Digital marketing requires experimentation. You aren’t ever going to know what works for your target audience if you don’t try various techniques, tips, tricks, and tactics. Video content gives you another avenue of experimentation.
For example, creating succinct content is typically the go-to for digital marketers. However, many people still prefer long-form content. So, publishing a mix of long and short-form video content is a smart way to experiment and find the perfect balance for your target audience.
In addition, you can also see what kinds of videos do well and which don’t on different digital channels. As a result, finetuning the video content you put on your digital channels gets easier.
All in all, videos give you more chances to experiment and find the digital marketing media mix best for your audience.
Stand Out From the Competition
It’s hard to create good video content. But if you can learn how to produce high-quality videos, across various channels, consistently, you’ll absolutely have a leg up on your competition.
It’s incredible how many of your competing brands and businesses have yet to use video content in their digital marketing plans. So, imagine if you do. How easy would it be for consumers to differentiate your brand from your competitors just by implementing more video content?
After all, standing out from the competition in a noisy digital world is one of the most extraordinary things you can do for your brand.
Increase Engagement
Infographics, stellar images, interactive content, and audio are essential to creating a truly engaging digital marketing plan. That said, your digital marketing strategy will always be incomplete without video content.
More importantly, though, you’ll miss out on opportunities to generate significant engagement from your audience without good use of videos. As we stated above, people love video content. They’re watching it often, engaging with it more than any other type of content, and requesting it from brands they love.
Ultimately, video content can help you increase engagement in your overarching digital marketing strategy.
Create Better Relationships With Your Target Audience
Solid video content can assist you in deepening relationships with your target audience. This is mainly because video content can help you build trust. Viewers can see you. They can see your body language and personality and feel if you’re genuine. Creating that real connection with them only betters your digital marketing.
Videos are also an opportunity to show that you understand your target audience, something integral to your digital marketing success.
For example, you can talk about specific pain points your audience is going through while showing how they can solve these pain points through a product or service demo video. Keep creating content like this, and your audience will grow more and more emotionally attached to your brand.
Given these points, it’s no wonder brands are using video content as the frontrunner in their digital marketing plans to create strong relationships with their target audiences.
Harness the Power of Video Ads
Video ads are powerful for any digital marketing strategy. Not only are viewers more likely to engage with the ad, but it’s also more likely to create a lasting impression on them.
Your target audience will remember your brand and be more willing to carry out your desired action if you can create video ads they can connect with across your digital marketing channels.
It’s all about ensuring your ads are engaging and personable. For instance, if you have access to user-generated content like testimonials from actual customers, using them in video ads can create a sense of trust that makes people want to learn more. This is because consumers trust reviews from real people.
So, putting video at the forefront of your digital marketing efforts can help you use paid media more productively.
Connect With Various Generations
Recent statistics reveal that “Generation Z, makes up 32% of the world’s population and as digital natives, they spend most of their time watching videos on social media with 76% visiting YouTube at least weekly and 74% of Gen Z spending their free time online.” To put it simply, Gen Z is online and all about video content.
Millennials are a bit different. They watch videos but prefer to do it on their televisions versus their smartphones. Still, they visit YouTube weekly and are more likely to purchase after watching a video about a product or service.
Also, to most people’s surprise, Gen Xers and Baby Boomers enjoy video content online. They’re responsible for billions of daily views on Youtube, especially for short, digestible videos with a hint of nostalgia in them.
In any event, all generations engage with video content to some extent, so you can’t go wrong using it in your digital marketing plans.
Leverage Video Content’s Usability and Sharability
Video content is some of the most shared and used content out there. Although there’s no specific formula for going viral, putting out an entertaining, educational, engaging video betters your chances of hitting the virality sweet spot.
Learning to leverage video content’s usability and sharability can improve your digital marketing efforts. If you’re constantly publishing videos that are useful to your target audience and so fascinating that they can’t help but share them, you’ll create more buzz around your brand.
Better brand awareness leads to loyal customer relationships, and loyal customers lead to consistent conversions.
Build a Better Customer Experience
Digital marketing strategies are most successful when they mirror one-to-one interactions. Consumers should never feel like you’re marketing to them. Instead, their experience with your brand’s marketing should remind them of a best friend relationship. Video content can help you create this experience.
Video content can be much more personal than written and other forms of communication. It can make viewers feel like they’re in the same room with you, even if you’re thousands of miles away.
Also, you can personalize video content. When you show your target audience the right videos at the right time on the right channel, the customer experience gets better for them. They’ll feel like you’re paying attention to their needs, interactions with your brand, and interests. As a result, they’ll be more likely to keep absorbing your digital marketing messages.
Become More Mobile-Friendly
Video content puts you on track to become more mobile-friendly. According to recent social media statistics, “Digital consumers are now spending 6 ¾ hours per day online, with 3:18 hours of this time – 51% – spent online via mobiles.”
Whether they’re watching pre-recorded videos, live-streaming, or scrolling through social media, consumers are online daily and spend half of that online time on their mobile devices. Ensuring your videos are mobile-friendly will inspire you to make sure the rest of your digital marketing content is that way, too, so that you aren’t missing any opportunities to connect with your target audience.
Conclusion: Video Content is Key to a Flourishing Digital Marketing Strategy
We aren’t going back to the times of traditional marketing being the only marketing out there. Instead, as technology grows, so will the importance of digital marketing. If you want the best chance at a thriving digital marketing strategy, video content must be at its forefront. Research the above reasons for making video content a part of your digital marketing strategy’s foundation in more detail if you need to. Then, make it a reality.
