Lights! Camera! Conversion!
My great-grandmother Michaelena always told me – ‘you ought to be pictures … you sweety, little boy’. Little did I know she was advising me about my future and the future of content marketing!
More customers consume content as part of their buying journey – a likely mix of short attention span, content clutter, and buyer evolution. In fact, Microsoft reported in a 2015 study that humans have an 8-second attention span vs. a goldfish’s 9-second hold. So, if you are to hook and catch your customer – video seems to be the winning content bait.
Video content is the critical door into the content marketing world of your customers, influencers, and social media tribe – since it’s where the consumption trends and short-term differentiation sit. Brands who understand the potential impact of video can build solutions for the big content equations – finding a way to connect with their customers and differentiate from their competitors!
Research Backing Up Why Video Is The Future Of Content Marketing
Here is research provide some attention-getting insights on video and your customers:
- People consume video content whether or not you create it. 74 percent of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video – suggesting video formats like Snapchat and Instagram, and others will be must-view and must-produce content. (Source: SalesForce, 2015)
- Customers purchase after viewing a video. 64 percent of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it – suggesting you can monetize your video content marketing investment. (Source: Adelie Studios, 2015)
- Video marketing makes your brand sticky—a good kind of sticky. The average internet user spends 88 percent more time on a website with video than without – indicating video can help drive the attention span around your brand. (Source: Adelie Studios, 2015)
3 Key Ways Rock Your Content Marketing World With Video
1. Use video to tell your story. Do you create a video because it’s a cool thing to do? Because of a big event, popular trend, and it’s what you supposed to do? Or, do you tie your video creation to your overall business narrative or messaging house—so it supports your overall story?
2. Develop your video content creation strategy. Do you create video content in a silo with your agency or social media marketing department? Or, do you think about your ‘big content’ strategy – variations of 6-second Vines, Instagram segments, animated GIFs ahead of time?
3. Create your video content distribution strategy. It’s many a person’s dream to be in a video, but is your video content marketing strategy built on a field of dreams? If you create you video and no one views it – did you ever really create your video? A solid video marketing strategy needs to have an organic-first distribution plan including – Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, etc.
Now, I want to point the camera at you. Do you have a comment or feedback on video’s future in content marketing, brand building, and driving sales? If so, please comment below. Or, contact me directly at [email protected].
The future of content marketing is now – keeping your customers in their virtual seats and building a deeper relationship ahead of your competition. Before you pick up the camera and start to film, ask yourself the three questions I posed to help you drive big results from a big content strategy. And remember what my great grandmother told me – you ought to be in pictures.
NOTE: This blog post was originally posted on September 7, 2015, and updated on January 21, 2021.
