Video is everywhere, so it is no secret that it is becoming a vital part of any content marketing strategy.
2013 was a great year for video. We saw the emergence of new video platforms, such as Instragram Video and Vine. They soared in popularity among customers of all ages very quickly because they make it very easy for a person to create a video and share it. Some of those videos went viral and received millions of hits.
But the question at hand here is why video is so important to a marketing plan?
First of all, marketers know that the business needs to be present in the same place as the audience or they are not going to get the exposure that they need to land the conversions they require to be successful.
So where is this audience found?
Simply look at the rocketing number of users that are found on the new social video sites. The numbers are in the millions and that makes them some of the hottest seats in town for businesses to sit and make themselves known via video.
Expand Your Reach
Being visible on these new channels opens your brand up to an entirely different audience. Any marketer knows that it is good to appeal to the target audience on different platforms in order to maximize exposure. This is why you will find a business releasing professional video productions on YouTube, but they are also on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and the other networks. They will share their releases on their social networks. The business that doesn’t reach out to these audiences in these ways is missing out on a major portion of the Internet.
Video embraces what is called “cross-platform marketing.” This allows brands to create an approach that is sought after. They integrate it with their strategy and it can thrive on any channel, whether that channel is Facebook, Twitter, Google, Instagram, or YouTube.
Consider this: there are thousands of Tweets occurring every second and at least five of those tweets are sharing a Vine link.
That is pretty incredible.
Google Will Like you
When you engage an audience through video, the audience will like you and so will Google. Static websites are no longer the preference of Google. Instead, it places a great deal of emphasis on websites that produce content that is of a high quality and is fresh. It especially likes video content.
These days, a site has to be interactive and dynamic in order to be heard above all of the noise on the Internet. Video can help the site stand out. However, there is a balance to ensure that users are not overwhelmed by too much information at once or they’ll leave the site. On the other hand, video is easily digestible and the consumer doesn’t have to put in much effort to watch a video. Combined with quality written content and an organized and authoritative online presence, the impact on your brand is positive.