Video: the trend that keeps on growing

Back in November, we wrote this Insight explaining why you should be utilizing video marketing. Six months later, the video marketing trend has become an even more effectual marketing tool. It’s projected that by 2016, 1.5 billion people will be online video viewers.

See, we told you so.

Vine and Instagram emerged on the social scene in 2013, and, since then, Snapchat has jumped aboard, too. Video is a powerful tool because it combines visual impact with easy sharing capabilities. Video is as easy to view, comment on and share as imagery, but better, because of the sound and motion qualities inherent in video.

Besides creating Instagram posts in video format (rather than strictly photo) and uploading YouTube videos, brands are launching video marketing campaigns on Snapchat. HBO, Taco Bell and McDonald’s are all brands who have undertaken Snapchat campaigns. We’ll go more into Snapchat for brands in next week’s Insight.

With all this importance placed on video, what guidelines should brands follow to create engaging videos?

Brevity. Recent data shows that viewers decide within 8 seconds whether they’ll keep watching the video. You have 8 seconds to convince your viewer to keep watching. And even if you make it through the first 8 seconds, there’s another steep drop off of viewers around 20 seconds. Keep your videos short and to the point. Consider using platforms like Instagram, Vine and Snapchat if you struggle with this point—these platforms dictate the length of videos. For example, on Instagram, videos must be between 3 seconds and 15 seconds long.

Keywords. Help viewers find your videos with strong keyword choices. If you’re using YouTube, make sure to include a description for every video. In conjunction with keywords, create a strong and relevant title to attract viewers.

Great content. You can use video to fulfill a number of different marketing tactics: to sell, to educate, to provide customer service, to promote events, to entertain. But you need useful, qualified information to achieve these tactics. Sit down and think about your key objectives before creating your video, and make sure you hit those main points in the video.

The best news about video is that it doesn’t need to by Hollywood quality video, meaning you don’t need a big budget to make a giant impact via video. In fact, 45% of animated marketing videos are made by small business. In 2013, small businesses generated 986 billion dollars in revenue. And video was a part of that.

Jump on the video bandwagon, because it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Use these tips to help you get started, and, as always, feel free to contact us for more advice and questions answered.