By Mara Zinda: Client Relations Intern

The year 2017 will be the year of the video. Just about every social media application now has a video feature with live streaming gaining the most attention. According to a recent study conducted by Cisco VNI, over 70% of web traffic in 2017 will be video based. If that statistic doesn’t stand out to you, here are a few more reasons for why video will be instrumental for your marketing endeavors in 2017:

It’s Informative and Entertaining
One of the biggest benefits of video marketing is being able to entertain your target market while simultaneously informing them about your brand. While the visuals of your video should be entertaining, they also need to put a “face” to your brand that people begin to recognize, such as this testimonial video we helped create for HireAble:
 

Utilizing video marketing gives your brand the ability to include all things necessary to entertain the consumer, while simultaneously informing them about key points in your brand.

Social Media is Key
As live video streaming on Facebook and Instagram grows, it’s no surprise social media will be a key component for video marketing in 2017. A recent study by Brightcove found that 46% of consumers said they’ve made a purchase as a result of watching a brand video on social media. This is because videos instantly catch the eye of consumers on social media and allow people from all over to view and share content with their friends. Social media video is the middleman. It builds your brand’s face and gives consumers the ability to interact directly with others through your brand.

Less Effort to Consume
These days people are always in a hurry to get from one place to another, but that doesn’t stop them from consuming or wanting to consume media. What stops them is having to exerte extra energy, and who can blame them? If you were given the choice between a three page article or a two minute video that would both provide the same information, which would you choose? A majority of people would choose the video because it takes less effort and brainpower to consume. In addition, videos are accessible across a variety of devices, allowing your video content to go where your audience is, which is especially important because they are always on the go.

Improves Your Website’s SEO
One benefit that is not often mentioned when talking about video marketing is how it benefits your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). While the visuals and content of the video are important, it is also important for the keywords on your website to match the keywords in your video so consumers can easily find it. Search engines use keywords to find and rank content in the search engine results. In general, the more keywords you have in your videos, the higher your content will be in the search results. For example, you could embed your video within a related blog post and Google will utilize the text in the blog, helping people find their way to your video. Using keywords in the content that goes along with your in a good starting point, but here are a few other methods to increase SEO.

  1. Incorporate Closed Captions: Having closed captions on your video gives search engines more words to index, which will help your videos rank higher in organic results when people search terms related to your business. In addition, many people tend to watch videos without the sound when they are in loud places, such as bus stops and gyms.
  2. Transcribe Videos on Webpages: Similar to closed captions, transcriptions also allow your video to climb organic search engine rankings. Some people also enjoy having the content of the video to reference in text format. TedTalks are one master of this method.  
  3. Add Multilingual Subtitles: If you translate your closed captions into multiple languages, you will expand your reach and increase the accessibility of the information you’re sharing. Of course, this method is dependent on the demographics you are targeting.
  4. Utilize Multiple Platforms: As mentioned above, this method allows you to go where your audience is to increase brand exposure. The one caveat here is to make sure all your videos link back to your website in order to streamline the search engine indexing and drive traffic to your website.

If you need help incorporating video into your marketing strategy, give us a call at 701-478-1111 and ask to speak with a Marketing Advisor or visit absolutemg.com/contact. We have a full video team with the expertise to deliver high-quality, high-impact videos for your brand.