Content is king when it comes to the digital marketing world. It is one of the most effective marketing tools that allow online businesses to boost brand visibility, increase customer engagement, drive website traffic, and generate quality leads. The content that you create and publish can also bring short-term and long-term benefits to the performance of your ecommerce store or website. However, it’s important to utilize the right type of content in order to get the most out of your content marketing campaign.
Video content is one of the newest yet most popular content types in recent years. As video media sites such as YouTube and TikTok become increasingly popular, marketers also jumped into the opportunity to utilize video content as part of their marketing strategy. Today, nearly 90% of online businesses believe that using video content has a significant positive impact on their business growth and performance.
So, are you thinking about adding videos as a way to improve your marketing efforts? To give you a better idea of how video marketing works, here’s a quick overview of video content creation and how to use it for your business’s advantage.
Why Use Video Content For Marketing?
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Many digital content marketers include videos as part of their marketing operations. But what exactly makes videos suitable for bringing in leads, boosting customer awareness, and more?
For one, video marketing has a proven track record for increasing conversion rates and online sales. According to recent data, 95% of web users noted watching an explainer or introductory video in order to know and learn more about a topic, product, or service.
With this, businesses experience notable improvements in brand awareness and customer engagement. Using quality video content can help effectively share information that sets your company as a reliable and reputable source.
But why is video content any different than blog posts, ebooks, or infographics? Many believe that animation and animated videos are more effective tools as it brings a certain degree of entertainment. Videos are consumed both visually and auditorily, allowing viewers to engage with the content in more than just one sense.
Another benefit of video content marketing is that search engines recognize and prefer video content above others. Search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo look for relevant, valuable content that is also entertaining and engaging for the users. Adding or using videos to share your content can significantly improve your search engine results page (SERP) ranking and thus boost your online presence and visibility.
Short-form vs Long-form Video Content
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When you think of using videos for your marketing campaign, do you think of short and snappy TikTok ad videos or the usual 10-minute or 20-minute YouTube vlog? Aside from just the duration of the videos, there is a significant difference between short-form and long-form video content. Depending on the purpose and application, some may say that one form is better than the other.
But first, let’s start by defining what short-form and long-form video content are. Generally, short-form videos are those under 10 minutes long. This can be anything from a 15-second TikTok video, an Instagram reel, a 2-minute promotional video, and more. As long as it’s under the 10-minute mark, it is considered short-form video content. On the other hand, long-form videos are those that exceed the 10-minute duration. This can be a 15-minute influencer vlog, an hour-long documentary, or even a 5-hour webinar.
Popular social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok typically feature short-form videos. These sites even integrated this form of ‘snackable’ media through the likes of YouTube shorts, Instagram stories, and Facebook reels that are typically only a minute long. This is because short-form video content is easier to consume, making it the ideal format for campaigns with the purpose of entertaining as well as raising brand awareness and general audience interest.
Longer videos are most commonly used in a more formal and professional manner. People can find a variety of long-form videos on YouTube that are designed to inform and educate. The longer video format is best suited to fit as much possible valuable content and information that can be shared with its viewers.
However, there is still the question of whether short-form or long-form video content is better for marketing purposes. To settle this, it’s important to understand that both formats have their advantages and disadvantages. The suitable video length typically depends on your marketing goals.
One example of this is when it comes to boosting your online presence and brand visibility. Short-form and snackable videos are easier to bring up on people’s feeds considering this marketing goal. In addition to this, social media users are also more likely to share videos that are short and to the point instead of taking several minutes to get to the highlight. One benefit of short-form videos is that it does not require high-quality and costly production. Even a short behind-the-scenes snippet would be enough to keep your targeted audience up to date and engaged.
On the other hand, long-form video content is suitable for educational purposes and lead generation. People who are looking for answers are more likely to turn to a longer explainer video than short 30-second video ads. Much like written blog posts, long-form videos are able to provide the same amount of information and detail but with more entertaining and enticing visual elements.
Video Marketing Trends To Watch Out For
Video content creation is nothing new. However, content marketers are finding new and unique ways to utilize video in marketing to the best of their capacity. Find out what’s next for video content creation with these marketing trends.
Video as an essential marketing tool
There is a significant increase in the use of video marketing among digital marketers and online businesses. A whopping 86% of businesses say they create video content as part of their marketing efforts. However, research shows that 99% of marketers plan to continue their video marketing campaign for the next years.
The continuous rise of short-form video content
Many social media sites already included video content creation features. However, many believe that the popularity of video content will open the possibility of monetization. Aside from that, these platforms will be further developed and optimized for short-form video content. This includes features such as enhanced video editing tools, better UI, and even the opportunity to integrate online retail and ecommerce transactions.
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