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Did you know that Facebook generates 8 billion (yes, with a B) video views on an average day? The demand for video is there - and only growing as we approach 2020. But the last thing you want to do is clutter news feeds with poorly produced, irrelevant, and annoying videos people will just scroll past. Video is important, but as brands, we need to keep our standards high. Before jumping on video as one of the top 2020 digital trends, consider how you will use the medium to grow your business.

Video marketing in 2020 is all about telling your brand story, delivering value, and connecting with your audience.

Tell Your Brand Story

You have a unique story to tell: maybe you’re great-grandmother started the business in her kitchen, and you’re continuing the tradition. Maybe you were down and out and developed an idea to help people improve their lives. Maybe you developed a brilliant tech solution and want to keep innovating. Whatever the backstory, video provides a way to tell it effectively and with impact. 

According to Forrester Research, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words! You don’t have to produce epic tales: use each second to connect with your audience, build trust, and grow your business.

In fact, with a little creativity and the right software, your videos can become an integral part of your inbound marketing strategy.

Software such as 23 allows you to turn your videos into points of conversion for your users. You can edit your videos with links to relevant supporting content on your site, as well as overlay forms right on the video!

For instance, if you have an educational series of videos, you can collect valuable information from your audience, so you can continually provide them with content that nurtures them through your marketing and sales funnels.

Using video in your growth strategy in 2020 will empower you to grow your database with engaged contacts and continue to deliver valuable and engaging content. Your videos will stand out and become your competitive advantage and give you the push you need to become the thought leader in your space.

StAy Top of Mind

People are busy. Surprise, right? Whether you are trying to reach consumers or business decision-making, time is of the essence. Your audience is more likely to watch a video than wade through a long article (at least initially: as they delve into the topic, complementing your video marketing strategy with a strong written content strategy is essential). 

Video can convey key information in minutes; a text version of the same content could take up to 40 minutes. While your videos should be long enough to say what you need to say, remember you can say a whole lot in a minute or two!

Email is a great medium for using video. If you’re utilizing video on other marketing channels, there’s no reason you should exclude email. In fact, videos in email can lead to a 200-300% increase in click-through rates!

As with all things email marketing, you’ll need to relentlessly test your emails. Many email clients such as Outlook have fallen behind and don’t render videos directly in email. However, an image with a play button overlay conveys that there’s a video on the other end of the click and works just fine.

We’ve started doing this for a few of our clients and click-through rates have sky-rocketed. Campaigns with video have had click-through rates of 51% against the email marketing average of 12%. While we made sure we had a solid method of collecting contacts, it’s unbelievable how a simple video can drastically improve your email marketing.

Reinforce Your Brand and product Messaging

Whether you’re creating video marketing ads, brand stories, customer testimonials, or how-tos, your audience is paying attention. More than half (55%) of people say they pay “close attention” when watching videos, a higher rate than all other types of content. 

Moreover, they retain significantly more. When reading, we retain about 10% of the content. When viewing a video, we retain 95%. That is powerful - and it is a great way to reinforce your brand message clearly and consistently.

As for your product messaging, as people are researching their choices on the internet, video can be a great tool to position your product or service as the right decision. In fact, 90% of users say that product videos are helpful in the decision process.

When you’re making these videos, focus more on the value your product or service will deliver. You want to get people to visualize themselves using it, and experiencing that value. Make it all about them instead of all about you. 

When you position yourself as the right solution you empower consumers to choose you over your competition. Not only do people use videos in their journey towards a purchase, but 64% of people are more likely to buy something online after watching a video.

Capture their attention, engage them with value, and offer the opportunity to purchase.

Reach a Wider Audience

Social media offers a cost-effective avenue for brands, but results depend on how many people you can reach - and if you can do so organically, all the better for your budget. The good news is that Facebook videos get 135% more organic reach than a photo and significantly more than status updates and links.

As marketers, we like video marketing stats that blow our minds. The fact that social video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined definitely falls into that category. That’s the power of video. Reach more people and engage them with your brand. Utilizing social media in 2020 to share your videos will generate massive engagement with your content.

When you invest in video marketing, make sure you’re utilizing social media channels such as Facebook to get your content in front of your community, so they can share it with their friends.

Demonstrate Your Value and Gain Buy-in

When looking for a product, almost 50% of people look for a video before visiting a store. Consumers who watch demo videos are 1.81 times more likely to make a purchase, and 39% of executives who watch a video contact the vendor. 

Demos can be utilized effectively with both B2C and B2B companies, and they allow prospects to see how your product/service works and how it can enhance their lives.

Other types of videos can be potent as well: for example, searches for “how to” topics on YouTube have grown 70% year-over-year. It's no wonder the video platform is actually the second largest online search engine. Consumers can get quite a great (and free!) education on YouTube. Be there. Give them the answers they need, and they’ll see you as the trusted authority - the go-to problem-solver they need. Capitalize on the fact that the video platform (owned by Google) reports a 100% increase in mobile video consumption each year and shows no sign of slowing down!

When you utilize YouTube correctly, it combines your content and SEO strategy perfectly. Search engine results pages now pull in video results from YouTube and other video platforms to provide searchers with the most engaging and relevant content.

Optimizing your videos with in depth descriptions, tags, and relevant links to your site will tell search engines what your video is about, and you can drive traffic to your engaging content.

When setting up a plan for video in your 2020 content marketing strategy, make sure you don’t dismiss the written word entirely. This is not only what search engines use to tell what your video is about, but it also gives users the choice between reading and watching. It’s all about creating a great user experience.

Capture interest with Video Marketing Ads

Video marketing ads are far less intrusive than other digital ad formats; in other words, consumers are far less likely to get irritated with you and furiously click the X to close it out. The average click-through rate for video ads is 1.84%, better than all other digital ad formats.

With compelling videos, you have the chance to make an impact on your audience - to stand out from the noise and deliver a message that resonates.

Need Help with Video Marketing in 2020?

The bottom line: video is good for your bottom line! Brands that utilize this tool grow revenue 49% faster (year over year) than brands that do not. If you want to grow your business, video is essential. 

The first step to using video marketing to grow your business is to get started. Start incorporating video content into your 2020 digital marketing strategy so you can jump in and start seeing results.

If you’re unsure of where to begin, that’s alright! There’s a lot that goes into it. We’ve made video a huge part of our 2020 strategy here at THAT Agency, and can help you set goals focused on realistic and measurable business growth.

To see where video can take your business, reach out to our content team, and we can formulate a video marketing strategy for you.