It all started in 1888 when the oldest surviving piece of film was made. This video may have only spanned 2 seconds long, but it was 2 glorious history-changing seconds. 

Jump to 1927 when the TV was invented, and video continued its steady rise in popularity. Soon it would become a common household appliance like a fridge or oven. 

Now in the year 2021, video continues to dominate the market. Film and television are some of the most profitable industries, YouTube captivates the attention of the general public, and you can’t scroll through most apps without being bombarded with some sort of video content. 

History has continued to prove that film and creating videos is not going anywhere anytime soon, in fact, it’s only getting more popular. So if you want to make sure you stay on top of your audience and ahead of the competition, you better start taking video content seriously. 

Video content marketing is quickly becoming one of the most effective and profitable ways to market a product or service. 

Here are the top reasons why video is important for your business, and why you should include it in your content strategies. 

Build your brand 

The phrase ‘build your brand’ is getting thrown around a lot in digital marketing circles. You’ve probably come across it quite a few times by now, but that’s for good reason. 

Building trust with your customers is one of the best things you can do to turn those conversions into long term, repeat customers. It’s simply better for business. 

Just like many other forms of content, video is all about telling a good story. You get to combine those visual elements with text and create an even more engaging experience for your target audience. 

With a story, you can build empathy with your clients, and therefore build their trust for your brand. Your clients want to watch videos that are well made and communicate a direct message.  If a potential buyer can see a video of you or your product, it builds up the credibility of your brand. 

Increase your conversions and sales 

At the end of the day, we use marketing tools to increase sales. Videos are one of the most effective ways to improve your sales and conversions, and they also boast an impressive return on investment. 

Consumers are increasingly reporting that they are more likely to buy a product or obtain a service when they see a video of it. People are very visual, so it’s no surprise that videos are effective at selling. 

Including a video on your landing pages is also shown to increase your conversion rate by 80%! That’s a significant amount, so it’s worth investing some of your budgets into creating videos for your brand. 

Wider appeal 

Unlike reading lengthy chunks of text, watching a video can be quite a passive experience. They can be straight to the point and easy to digest. So even the laziest of people will sit and watch your video. Videos are also known to appeal well to smartphone users, as the video format is well suited to mobile devices.

This accessibility increases your chance of appealing to a wider audience. Video combines auditory, visual and text to improve your ability to impress and gain the attention of a watcher. 

Making sure you add accessibility options for your videos such as closed captions can also greatly improve the appeal of your videos and therefore your business. 

Videos are versatile

There are many ways you can incorporate marketing videos into your strategy. A high-quality well-produced video to launch your business, with eye-catching graphics and attention-grabbing music, is a great way to promote yourself. 

A product video is also one of the best ways to introduce a new item. People like to see your product in action, and videos are a very direct way to accomplish that. 

But videos don’t just stop there, you can use them in your social media campaigns, with things as simple as Instagram reels bringing in thousands of views to your page. 

Live videos on social networks such as Instagram can be a great way to increase your engagements with your audience and potential customers.

With advancements in technology, most of us are carrying around a decent video camera in our pockets. A video you take with your smartphone may not measure up to the same standards as a professional high-quality film camera, but often they are good enough for everyday social media content for your business. 

More reach

Video is one of the top shared pieces of content on social media. If you’ve done your job right, and your video is well made and resonates with your target audience, they will share it with their friends and family on social media. 

Videos also rank well in search engines such as Google. If you make sure that your videos are SEO optimised, and you know how to hashtag them right, you will be increasing your visibility online. 

Google’s algorithm is increasingly favouring video content, so including it on your website improves your chance of ranking high on the top page of google when people search for businesses in your industry. 

If you want to continue to be a part of history, all while improving your sales and brand reputation, it’s time to start using videos in your marketing strategies.

Check out our YouTube for more tips on digital marketing and some great video content 😉