Over recent years there has been a staggering increase in the amount of videos used as marketing tools. Videos are the new frontier of content marketing. The rise of a generation of ‘YouTubers’ means videos are becoming part of people’s personal (and brand) DNA. YouTube is now the world’s second largest search engine and accounts for over 3 billion searches a month– with the number growing daily. By 2019, 80% of consumer internet traffic will be in the form of video traffic.

Why people are watching more videos

Let’s face it, the majority of people prefer watching an informative video to reading endless pages of text. Videos are more fun, accessible and less time-consuming. Behavioral psychologist Susan Weinschenk has outlined the 4 main reasons people respond to video positively.

The Human Face – when presented by a human face in a video, information is more useful and credible.
Movement – by engaging our eyes and minds, movement helps to keep our interest levels high.
Body Language – We are sophisticated interpreters of body language; the right body language helps us create a relationship with the video.
The Human Voice – hearing a human voice in a video instantly increases the meaningfulness of the content.

Following on from these 4 points, it is estimated that the value of 1 minute’s worth of video is equivalent to 1.8 million words. Video can be a powerful vehicle to get your message out there and create relationships with people faster.

SEO for video (Search Engine Optimization)

Since the introduction of Google’s ‘universal search’ algorithm in 2007, Google has produced search results by merging listings from all its content, including video and images. As videos now had the ability to influence a website’s search engine rank, there was sharp spike in published videos in 2007. There are four main ways that video contributes to SEO: increasing the rank on the search engine results page, improving the click through rate, lowering bounce rates and helping to build backlinks.

Increasing a website’s SERP (search engine results page) ranking

Videos can improve a website’s positioning in the search engine results, because Google ranks websites that have quality videos higher. This was part of the ‘hummingbird’ update in 2013, which meant that quality content is now preferred over key word optimization.

Transcribing videos

One key way to ensure that Google bots can access your video content is to include a video transcription. Transcribing videos can be tedious, but there are service providers that will transcribe your video for you at a reasonable rate (approx. $1 a minute). From an SEO point of view, transcribing videos means you can hit the long-tail keywords and easily show Google that the content of the video is of good quality. From a UX (user experience) point of view, transcribing videos allows people to search for a certain word in the transcribed text rather than trawling through the whole video. It also allows people to ‘read’ the video in public places where they can’t watch the whole thing.

Here are some transcribing resources that could help you:

Clicking with people

Various studies have shown that video results have a better click through rate (just over 1/3) than text results. When people are searching in Google, they are 33% more likely to click on a video link. Adding snippets or thumbnails briefly explaining your video, complete with a screen shot of the video, is a great way to get people to click on your video. Secondly, make sure that you embed the video from YouTube to your own website –embedding a video can also lead to backlinks.

Increasing page authority

Since the implementation of Google’s metric ‘dwell time’ to their algorithm, Google can monitor the amount of time users spend on a website. Videos increase the amount of time users spend on a website, which in turn increases page authority.

Embedding videos helps to build backlinks

You don’t want YouTube reaping the rewards of your hard work – make sure you embed videos so that the video traffic will be attributed to you. You can also create useful backlinks to your site by running a promotional campaign for the new video. Check out this website and see how they have embedded the video at the top of their page to further encourage clicks – does it work for you?

Video analytics are freely available to users of YouTube, and can offer in-depth graphs and charts to help you understand what is working well and what isn’t.

About Author:

I’m Joseph O’Brien and I have years of experience in digital marketing and decided to share my knowledge of video as a form of content marketing.

If your business is stuck in a rut, perhaps video is the way to get it moving!

1. It improves visibility on search engines

When you key in a search string on Google and Bing, have you noticed that the first three hits are inevitably videos? This is because these search engines want to display videos as part of the search results. Thus, you can rank higher on search results by including relevant videos on your website. Add videos to your marketing strategy and you may find that you have beat competitors (who are not using videos) to rankings on search results.

2. YouTube ranks No. 2 in the world in the field of search engines

YouTube is used by people to find solutions to almost all their problems, be it learning how to assemble a product, or fixing a malfunctioning product. Other things such as how to improve one’s e-mail, how to tie a guitar string, or how to wear a tie properly are also searched for on YouTube. If your website provides video tutorial and tips on things related to your business, you will not only be able to attract more customers but you will also be able to grow fast.

Example:

3. Each month, 1 billion people watch a YouTube video

YouTube ranks just behind Facebook on the number of people accessing and using it every month. You definitely want to leverage this number to your advantage by posting relevant and appealing videos about your business.

4. Video is able to engage viewers the most

No surprises here, video is the medium that has the ability to grab people’s attention the most. However skilled you may be at writing engaging prose, it cannot hold a candle to video. If you feature in your video and explain what you would have written, people can see your expressions and the change in the tone of your voice. Sarcasm comes across more effectively and you can make your point with more impact.

If your product is demonstrable, you can show how it works and also how customers can get the most out of it. A good way to promote your product is to post “How to…” videos and “Tips and Tricks.” You can also use music and pictures to add more interest to your video and persuade people to invest in your business.

5. It helps increase online conversions

It has been observed that people who watch a video about a business are more likely to want to buy its products and services than those who just visit the website and read about the offerings. This may be because a video demonstrates how an offering actually works, and thus inspires trust. Thus, potential customers are more likely to want to partake of the services.

6. Create links from within your YouTube videos to your website

YouTube has an annotation page that allows you to create buttons inside your YouTube video that will direct your viewers to your website or your squeeze page. Hence, you can pull your engaged customers to potentially browse through your website and maybe, sign up with you.

7. Gain more mileage out of one video

You can upload your video on YouTube or Vimeo and embed it in your blog. This leads people who have watched the video right back to your blog or your website, where more information can be obtained about you. Not only that, you can also promote the video on other social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. You can also link it to your e-mail newsletter or your podcasts.

8. It doesn’t matter if you are camera-shy

If you start shivering at the thought of appearing in front of the camera, don’t worry. You do not have to be the star of your videos, you can provide pictures and clips or screen grabs, and simply give the voice over. Webinars can be recorded and posted on your website. Certain animation softwares such as GoAnimate and PowToon are either freely available or are relatively cheap to use. You can use these to add more appeal to your video tutorials.

9. Video is relatively inexpensive

Making a video does not have to cost a bunch or require specialized equipment. If you have a smartphone, or a tablet, or a laptop, you have a video camera. You can look for offers and buy a cheap tripod, or you can make one on your own. In order to edit your videos, you can find plenty of free software on the Internet. If you want to do screen captures, you should invest in software such as ScreenFlow Pro.

10. Video enables you to reach a wider audience

According to a Forbes report, 6 of 10 executives prefer to watch videos rather than read text about the areas of their interest. This is seen across all audiences, not just corporate people. For those who like to read, you can add a transcript of the video. In this way, you can cater to both types of people and widen your reach.

11. Videos keep attracting attention

Once a video has been posted on YouTube and embedded in your website or blog or other social media platforms, visitors will continue to watch the video and visit the linked platforms. You may find that videos that you have posted several years ago are still attracting leads.

12. Videos provide incredible return on investment

As compared to print or television ads, a video gives you a much higher return on investment since you practically spend nothing on creating it and posting it on YouTube. A video will generate leads for many years, while a newspaper advert will last only as long as it is in circulation.

13. Video is best for a product that can be demonstrated

It has been proved by research that people are more likely to buy products after watching a video of how they work. Videos engender trust more than a detailed description.

14. Videos can be used to reach the smartphone crowd

As more and more people are switching to smartphones, it makes sense to capture that crowd. Videos can engage the smartphone crowd.

15. Videos help build trusting relationships with customers

Research has showed that watching a video before buying a product inspires more trust in customers and they are less likely to return the purchased product.

Thus, incorporate videos in your marketing mix today and observe your business grow by leaps and bounds.

Author Bio:

Derek Fraser is an online Blogger. He likes to write about various articles related to Web Designing, Home Improvement, Internet Marketing, Business Tips and Eco Friendly Measures. Follow him on Google+.

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