What are the benefits of video marketing?

We know it well by now: video plays a crucial role in increasing traffic to websites and digital channels, it enables greater visibility, it motivates users to continue down the funnel, and it drives conversions.

Video marketing makes it possible to translate data-driven marketing strategies into action. Thanks to digital video marketing, marketers are able to monitor and measure the engagement of their audiences with increasing accuracy for each piece of content published. Using video analytics, you can enhance the flow of information from different touch points and personalize the customer experience against increasingly rich and comprehensive user profiles. Video marketing is perfect for building credible narratives within a branding process that today has expanded to encompass any interaction with customers, both acquired or potential.

Video marketing benefits are multiplying as technological evolution makes new tools for communication and promotion available. This is perhaps the real strength of video: the ability to adapt to the changing context, to take advantage of every contact opportunity to tune in to an often elusive and unpredictable target audience.

Video marketing benefits: that’s why video is the best asset

Video is everywhere. And that’s the first reason why adopting a video marketing plan is a highly valuable strategic choice. The fact that every platform is constantly being updated to accommodate videos and maximize their reach is a testament to their versatility and expressive power. It is therefore not surprising that more companies are choosing to integrate videos into their marketing strategy, making them the key element around which to organize the entire corporate messaging system.

Video is the preferred content for consumers and companies

For several years now, statistics clearly record the unstoppable success of video marketing and testify to the trend of content consumption habits being increasingly geared toward enjoying  videos. According to HubSpot, viewers are much more likely to choose to watch a video from start to finish than to watch other types of content. The discrepancy is even more pronounced when we compare video with text content (news articles, social media posts, reports, etc.): consumers definitely pay more attention to video.

While video is the preferred form of content for 54% of consumers surveyed—followed by email and newsletters (46%), social images (41%), social video (34%), blog articles (18%), and downloadable content such as PDFs (17%)—this preference is also shared by insiders, business decision makers, creators, and marketers.

A particular feature of today’s video production process makes video more effective than any other form of virtual interaction and therefore a compelling choice: the efficiency achieved through technological development. Indeed, digitization and automation have made video the most convenient way to establish and maintain a brand-customer relationship over time and to foster meaningful conversations.

Video evolves at the same time as digital transformation, which is why identifying the benefits of video marketing is not a trivial task. The list is likely to be incomplete and almost certainly never definitive. In any case, we took a stab at it and collected the benefits of video marketing into two major groups: the first is related to storytelling, i.e., the way a brand tells its story; the second has to do with the ability of videos to improve performance and business results.

Video marketing benefits: a boost to corporate storytelling

Video (and specifically digital video) makes the message you want to convey both memorable and measurable. This makes it a key component of any content strategy. Thanks to video marketing, companies can tell the brand story, make complex concepts immediately understandable, and create more authentic connections. These video marketing benefits have a long-term impact and can influence the perception of the entire customer experience.

Videos tell the brand story 

Video marketing is an exceptional corporate storytelling tool. In the opportunity-rich but extremely chaotic reality in which we live, to be successful, corporate communication must do many things simultaneously. For example, it must build and reinforce the brand’s reputation, perhaps through anecdotes that contribute to the foundation of visionary leadership; it must convey business proposals in a way that resonates convincingly; it must showcase the exceptional nature of a service by making it stand out among those of competitors. While videos are most useful in all these cases, within an overcrowded context they can be decisive in making brands known, recognized, and remembered.

The power of visual storytelling

To be memorable, nothing is better than stories, especially those that can inspire emotion and empathy. Video marketing works so well precisely because it arouses emotions. Visual storytelling, a mode of storytelling in which the visual plane is absolutely preeminent, helps keep the viewer in the narrative. In the case of marketing communication, visual storytelling is in the service of staging the brand, of furnishing fictional worlds created to match the imagination of its audience.

Video marketing is thus one of the most advanced forms of visual storytelling. Employed to reinforce brand awareness and nurture lasting engagement, video creates a space where the creative idea can become a memorable experience. Videos leave a lasting impression on the viewer and set the stage for building relationships with new prospects and for strengthening relationships with existing customers. 

This is not a purely ideal endeavor: investing in defining brand values informs the entire business activity. It is incorporated into various tactics and influences more sales actions. Videos promoting individual offerings will need to align with respect to the institutional narrative to avoid the risk of offering a disunited, inconsistent, and confusing brand image. Only a coherent story can be distinctive.

Videos make complex concepts immediately understandable

Video can be used to teach complex concepts, explain phenomena from different points of view, and highlight technical features and advantages of a product in the simplest and most immediate way possible. Stories told through videos derive greater authority and are perceived as more reliable if they are based on data and if they bring statistics and information (preferably from official sources or qualified parties) to support the topic described. Through visual support, data visualization was born to provide all the information necessary to describe a given phenomenon or process. It is an exceptionally effective mode that makes even very educationally dense concepts understandable and translates data into visual knowledge, conveying the message clearly and comprehensively. Video takes this mode of communication to a previously inconceivable level: it integrates data into narrative structures, projects them into stories, and “humanizes” them by enriching them with emotional nuances.

There are a number of proven best practices for effectively visualizing data through video. Here are just a few of them: using eye-catching and functional animated graphics, including “data telling” elements, personalization (achieved by designing communications based on the target audience), and optimizing videos from an omnichannel perspective. If video content incorporates data analytics, it can contribute greatly to building a relationship with the viewer. Data analytics, once embedded within the video marketing strategy, performs an essential function: it enables marketers to design increasingly personalized content and helps establish a more authentic connection with viewers.

The economic impact of video marketing benefits

By harnessing the power of video marketing, companies can provide customers with all the content they need: from how-tos to learn how to use all the features of a product, to tutorials on the onboarding procedures of a service, from videos that illustrate corporate culture, to testimonials from influencers and experts who share their experience of a given product or service. Consumers’ decision-making processes are developed across multiple channels and through a series of parallel and complementary actions such as web searches, active inquiry on virtual forums and message boards, or participation in conversations on social media promoted by the brand. 

Before accessing the actual transaction, the video marketing and sales funnel is divided into a series of moments, all of which are equally important: from the research phase through the formulation of informed decisions to the purchase.

From this premise, we can now try to answer the question: what are the financial benefits of video marketing?

• Increased revenue. Video marketing can be used to create targeted ads that drive sales. High-quality video content that resonates with viewers not only produces greater brand awareness and engagement but also persuades viewers by gently nudging them to subsequent conversions through clear and complete information. Moreover, video is a key resource for fueling engagement and encouraging people to share the brand message. Sharing widens the network of people reachable and, as a result, increases the likelihood of intercepting potential customers. 
• Influence purchasing decisions. Consumers are more likely to rely on a moving image narrative when deciding which products or services to purchase. This is because videos trigger a particular mnemonic mechanism: viewers more easily remember information presented in video format than in text format. In addition, videos do not merely describe in words how a product works but show it in realistic contexts of use; customers thus feel that they are making a more informed decision.
• Increased web traffic. Optimizing videos by carefully choosing industry-related keywords is essential to being found more easily by the algorithms of search engines and social media platforms. When optimized, videos help to intercept people as they are actively searching for content relevant to their interests. To improve the SEO rankings of the SERP (Search Engine Results Pages) and increase organic traffic, it’s not enough for our video to be smooth, interesting, and technically well done. It must also be shared on the “right” websites: this makes it possible to create an effective network of backlinks and consequently appear higher in search engine results pages. A better ranking means that more traffic will be directed to the website and more potential sales opportunities.
• More conversions. A video, preferably one that incorporates eye-catching visual and audio elements, can capture viewers’ attention and also hold it much longer than text content. Calls to action (CTAs) inserted at strategic points can encourage viewers to take specific actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading an ebook directly from the video. Users usually don’t have a lot of time on their hands, or if they do, they have to divide it between other, often prioritized, activities. So, an informative video, preferably a short one, is the most effective alternative to pique their interest and quickly communicate key messages. In addition, the video analytics tools available today can let us know precisely when viewers watched your video and for how long.

The video marketing benefits that companies can enjoy have immediate spillover effects on business results: from increased visibility, engagement, and conversions to the ability to reach purchasing decision makers, end customers, and B2B buyers more quickly.

Any marketing strategy today must include video. The benefits are too numerous and too significant not to include them in any communication, promotion, or sales project. Videos are now an indispensable way for companies to accrue a competitive advantage over competitors, establish relationships with customers, create a solid and credible digital presence, and improve sales performance and results.

Babelee

Copywriters, video creators, digital marketers and developers: this is who we are! Young, passionate, geeky and very keen on media and technology. Fancy to meet the team? Contact us or submit your cv, we love talented people.