Thoughts on using video in marketing strategy?

[Will Richards]

Hi all,

I'm writing a couple of blog articles on this subject and would love to get some feedback from 'real people' to help highlight areas for research.

Would like to know....

1) Do you currently use video to promote your business or plan to in the future?

and

2) If not, then why? – e.g. too expensive / don’t think it works / too complicated / don’t understand process etc…

If yes then what have the main challenges been? - e.g. successful? / good ROI? / any bad experiences / things you wish you knew more about etc...

Would be really grateful for any thoughts / experiences, and of course happy to share the resulting blogs when completed

Thanks,

 

[fisicx]

1. No
2. The people who use my services come from resources that don’t use video.

Video is great if you want to find out how to do something. It’s not so good if you want to find a local plumber.

 

[justinaldridge]

As a business we don't currently use it but it's in the plan over the coming months. I think its very important, especially in helping potential clients know more about us before they get in touch with us.

I have my own personal YouTube channel (only 9000 subs so far) and have spent many years experimenting with video. In my previous business I used video a lot to sell products and it's highly effective.

The problem most face is time, cost and awkwardness when a camera is pointed in their faces (this happens to my business partner).

It's definitely part of our strategy going forward but we are coming up with a different angle as most SEO related videos are terribly boring.

 

[BustersDogs]

1) Yes.

 

[BustersDogs]

sorry forgot to add the challenges. I make all my own videos, except one that I paid for. Challenges are using the technology, which is why I paid for one to be done. So quick compared to how long it takes me, but I try update them annually with new pets, and I don't think they bring in direct money, it's just my website they help keep at the top of google. I couldn't afford to have the amount of videos on my site, updated so often if I had to keep paying for them.

 

[fisicx]

How do the videos keep you at the top of google?

 

[Mr D]

I plan to use video over time on a project over the course of a few weeks. A plant germinating and growing to harvest. Probably not a banana tree or cocoa plant!

Be a while yet and may do it myself rather than use a professional, see how that turns out for the promotional video.
Can always redo later professionally if can find a local business to do it. Failing that a local kid with suitable equipment.

 

[BustersDogs]

How do the videos keep you at the top of google?

I did a business training day on google and linked in and they said keeping people on your pages for longer got you rated higher, so short videos was a good way of doing that.

Hopefully people see what the pets are doing and want that for their pet too, but the real idea was to keep people on the page. No-one reads the entire webpage judging from the questions I get asked (that are answered on the pages), so I'm assuming they just grab the contact details then bounce off, videos should keep them there.

 

[fisicx]

Whoever told you that didn’t really know what they were talking about.

Videos for a business like yours can help conversions but they won’t help ranking.

As to not reading the whole page, a lot has to do with how it is structured. This is a something Google does take notice of.

 

[justinaldridge]

Whoever told you that didn’t really know what they were talking about.

I have to disagree. It depends on the search query and the user intent. If someone clicks on a search result but the time they spend on the page is not in line with what's expected for that query, then yes, it can negatively impact rankings. There are several Google patents that talk about this.

For example, I have many travel related websites and have a ton of weather pages. Those pages have a time on page of about 10 seconds as people check the weather and leave. That's expected. But for the pages which are actually important to me, such as location information for booking a trip, they have 2 - 3 minute times. If the times dropped on these pages, they may not match the general time on page times expected for these search queries and that can impact rankings. Google is always trying to judge if the result displayed is delivering on the intent.

At the same time, if Google thinks that video could be helpful for that search query (and there are ways to determine that) then it's also a good idea to ensure that you have video content on the page.

So, yes, page engagement definitely plays a part in rankings these days and @BustersDogs is probably doing the right thing.

 

[fisicx]

I have to disagree.

I agree with everything you say. But there needs to be a reason to click on the video. @BustersDogs is the sort of site where this can work. But is you sell cheap socks then I doubt a video is going to get much engagement so adding it to the page won't do much.

Keeping people on a page is easy. You don't need a video for this. But if it helps then great, it's not going to work for everybody though. I've got sites all ranking well with almost zero imagery and no video.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

I have a production house with B2B tech sector customers.

I'd strongly suggest picking a market because different things work in different areas. It's all about commercial objectives. And even saying 'B2B tech sector' is massively broad as there are significant differences within this market.

 

[TODonnell]

Video production is a solution in search of a problem to solve.

I would guess that is a CEO who is a good presenter can help sales; we relate to other human beings. Or if you can get a nice tour of your company done so that clients feel they know you before they call you, that maybe could be good.

But putting a corporate video up on youtube and expecting it to bring in sales ... um ... not really, unless you're in a quirky, expensive, low-competition niche, like starter motors for mid-range yachts, or somesuch.

Bog-standard me-too cost-cut "we are great" vids for your printing biz won't do much if put up on youtube and just left there.

 

[UACU]

Video marketing is not working well for all kind of business, however on Facebook marketing with video works

 

[Mr D]

Once 5G is up and operating across the country expect to see a LOT more video marketing.

 

[fisicx]

Once 5G is up and operating across the country expect to see a LOT more video marketing.

What a depressing thought.

 

[Impounded Car Insurance]

The main issue with videos for me is that it takes a lot longer for the information to be given to me, I can read the same information a lot faster than it s presented to me in a video.

I personally think as part of a strategy video can be very powerful to help establish your self as an authority in a sector and if you're known as the expert for something, I think people are more likely to come to you direct.

 

[Ashley_Price]

As others have said above, it very much depends on the industry you are in. Videos can also be great for those who find reading difficult. I don't have difficulty reading, however, when I go on a tour I always go for the audio guide if they are available. They are so much better than reading reams of text.

However, something I am often annoyed about with sales and presentation videos is the lack of captions or subtitles. There's two reasons why these really should be added:

1/ Around eleven million people in the UK suffer from hearing loss, so having subtitles on your videos will help them to "hear" your sales message.

2/ Often people using social media don't (or can't) have the sound on, so if your message is going to be lost if they can't hear your video. Having subtitles means they still get the message.

 

[Impounded Car Insurance]

As others have said above, it very much depends on the industry you are in. Videos can also be great for those who find reading difficult. I don't have difficulty reading, however, when I go on a tour I always go for the audio guide if they are available. They are so much better than reading reams of text.

However, something I am often annoyed about with sales and presentation videos is the lack of captions or subtitles. There's two reasons why these really should be added:

1/ Around eleven million people in the UK suffer from hearing loss, so having subtitles on your videos will help them to "hear" your sales message.

2/ Often people using social media don't (or can't) have the sound on, so if your message is going to be lost if they can't hear your video. Having subtitles means they still get the message.

Good point regarding the subtitles, I've sometimes found myself in a public space without my headphones and not wanting to have my phone blasting away, I've had to save / bookmark the videos for viewing later.

 

[lazypbx]

An explainer video is great if you have a complex product and need to educate your audience. I would recommend, keep it below 1 minute though ..(look at dropbox examples on youtube for example). However in general video production is expensive, so not generally worthwhile as a strategy for online business (leave it to vloggers). One caveat is when you have high value products which deserve a demonstration, then you can get some value from video (a good example is hobbyking.com's product demo's where they show RC cars, drones etc.).

 

[P19Johnson]

I have found a video is a great way to show my customers the ins and outs of what i do and hold on to the attention .

 

[AndrewJhnsn333]

We are a development company, and currently, we are making tutorial videos from the computer screen and then add voiceovers. We both believe that this kind of video content will be useful for the community and will gain a solid number of views.

However, we are now searching for a new, more sophisticated video format to diversify our YouTube channel

 

[DigitalSheppard]

Video is a really great marketing tool but it really depends on if your target audience would be interested.

Furthermore, even if you have a great angle, there is the problem of over-saturation. Explainer videos are a fantastic resource but searching for 'how to replace a tyre' or something similar will return numerous results. Making your video stand out from the crowd can be a challenge to say the least.

Point is, videos are always worth considering but I'd ask the following questions before pulling the trigger:

Will my audience care?
Will my audience find it useful?
Will this help my audience convert?
What is already out there? How can we make ours better?
Will creating a video give a good ROI?

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Video statistically, generates more leads than any, other form of marketing. The reason it's powerful is because it generates responses because it gets viewers to take action. So I'm going to try to summarise:

MIT, Harvard and Berkeley surveyed 127,000 viewers who watched 6.9 million videos (excluding people who watched them for 5 seconds and turned off). Google surveyed 3,000 B2B buyers asking them about how they buy (video was a major part) as did Hubspot and published the results.

Statistically, they discovered certain types of video generate lots of responses. E.g. in certain circumstances, the data shows you get 150% - 250% more responses with video than if you just send someone an email with a document / pic.

The data is absolutely consistent and although I have it, I can't post it because it's contained in my videos and that constitutes self-promotion.

 

[SmilePrint]

£345
45-60 second promo video.
Properly copywritten 125 word script
Professional voice
Images sourced or licensed.
Headline texts chosen and animated.
Background track.

DFY Video is within the reach of any business.

Or pay £1500 for a vanity project.

The content, the purpose, the placement... well thats a whole other question only resolved by a proper marketing plan and execution.

Video is only a method (albeit an increasingly popular method) of delivery of a message.

 

[StevePoster]

We can use video to teach, help, discuss something that will really help the target users but not for promotional business. Don't take video as your purpose to get ranked.

 

[Dotzo.networks]

No, People are not much interested in video as they take a lot of time to watch,people don't like to waste time by watching. I prefer Image marketing. They are quick and easy methods of marketing.

 

[gpietersz]

I am not sure about that @Dotzo.networks . I certainly prefer to read something because its faster, but a lot of people seem to like video.

I am seriously thinking about trying video on "about us" and "what we do" type pages.

 

[EddyRock]

1. Currenty not but I will need a video in future.
2. Too expensive. I have no idea about the video. I'm afraid the video maker will cheat me. I’m not sure if it’s worth the money I paid.

 

[Dotzo.networks]

yes, that's a good idea.some of the strategy to increase the audience is through replying to the comment, Quality content, increase your video SEO ranking, promote your video link in other social platforms.