Marketing is all about the latest and greatest ways to reach consumers, and consumers are all about trends. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the marketing industry is one of the most trend-filled industries of all.
Insert video content marketing. What exactly is that, you ask? By my own definition, VCM is creating and delivering content through a storytelling medium that sets out to appeal to an audience through an emotional or relatable message. That’s basically my fancy way of telling you that consumers connect to video marketing in a unique way.
How do I know that’s true? First of all, I spend about an hour a day scrolling through and occasionally sharing funny— and often pointless— Facebook videos with about 500 other people who are doing the exact same thing. That, my friends, is how I know video is a trend in today’s society. But what makes video a unique marketing tool?
Here are three reasons to market through video content:
1. As I mentioned above, it’s unique because it’s emotional.
Video content has the ability to tie consumers to a brand, cause, or message by appealing directly to their senses in a way other, more traditional forms of marketing might not be able to: through both sight and sound. Think about it… most marketing efforts are able to appeal to at least one of the two senses, but not both. For example, traditional methods, such as print, outdoor advertising, and radio, all rely on only one of the two senses. Making television video marketing’s biggest competitor— and even that’s quickly becoming outdated.
If you can think of a better way to reach an audience than by resonating with them on a personal level, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Because time and time again, I come to the same conclusion about this subject: a large amount of today’s consumers are emotional buyers. As a result, appealing to emotion through video content is a great way to help you build and maintain consumer loyalty.
2. It’s unique because it saves consumers time. In comparison to other marketing efforts or information-obtaining techniques, video content takes up very little of an audience’s time. Let’s face it, no one wants to spend hours upon hours sifting through 3,000 words on a topic they only half-care about just to find the one tiny piece of information they were looking for. That’s why the average blog today sits at between 300-1,000 words.
Marketers realize that the attention span of today’s digital consumer isn’t what it was in the newspaper era. People want to be able to click on and obtain the information they’re interested in in under 5 minutes. Anything beyond that and they begin to get bored or annoyed. Because of this, sites are becoming more video-centric in order to satisfy consumers that are living in an instant gratification generation.
3. It’s unique because it provides consumers with the ability to experience events and emotions in real-time. Without VCM, these events and emotions that have become so important to consumers are unreachable. And today, if a consumer can’t join in on the latest debate over popular opinion, they feel like their voice isn’t being heard.
Video allows people to be a part of a movement that could be happening across the world from the comfort of their couch. And while that may not be ideal for all cyber-situations, it’s an extremely handy technique for marketers who are interested in reaching these audience members.
Stick around for next week’s article for more about real-time media and the trend it’s forming in today’s digital society.
And while you’re here, check out Matt Bowman’s article The Future of Content Marketing for some interesting statistics and more unique insight into video marketing today.
Want even more? Here’s another Forbes article in which writer, Robert Wynne, provides 10 Great Examples of Video Content Marketing. Check ‘em out and let us know what you think about video content marketing in the comments below or on social media!
As always, thanks for reading and happy marketing!
—Amanda Myers, Copywriter at BoydTech Design, Inc.
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