As of today, according to YouTube’s stats there are over 1 billion unique users on YouTube each month. That’s very significant because video is a very powerful medium in which to tell the story of your brand. Companies have been using video longer than YouTube has been around, in the form of TV advertisements. It’s important to consider using video as part of your content marketing mix. Here are eight reasons why.
Link – YouTube stats
1 – Video is Popular
On any given day there are 4 billion YouTube views. This constitutes a very powerful, though crowded venue that you need to be using to market your business, spread brand awareness and make your mark.
2 – YouTube isn’t the Only Game
There are other up-and-coming video hosting and sharing channels like Vine, Google and Vimeo, but none of them have the power of YouTube. Thankfully, you can place your videos on many different services without worrying about duplicate content. Just change the text descriptions and tags a bit and you can be seen everywhere.
3 – We Have the Technology
With the advent of streaming capable smartphones and tablets video, viewing is only going to become more prevalent as time moves forward. This means that you need to find a way to take part in developing and publishing videos for marketing your business. You simply cannot afford to miss out.
4 – Video is Second Only to Text
According to eMarketer, video and text-based content are the most common forms of marketing today, but videos are shared more frequently than plain text-based content. While textual content still shares the lead in popularity, it is declining. Text-based content will never totally go away, but video is going to take off and be more popular than ever over the next year or so.
Link – eMarketer
5 – You Can Say More in Less Time
You’ve likely heard the saying that a picture is worth 1000 words, right? Well, video is worth even more than that. You can say so much more in a short three to five minute video than you can say in a 500 to 1500 word article.
6 – Video is Easy to Understand
You can also make it more understandable with visual elements that help the viewer understand more. Because of that, and the small amount of technology you need to make truly good videos, you would be crazy not to start taking advantage of this method of marketing as soon as possible.
7 – It’s Easy to Get Started
If you’re nervous about getting started, begin with something that doesn’t require you to be in front of the camera. Instead, start with asking your current clients via a contest to submit testimonials on YouTube. They should talk about what they love about you, your products and/or services and recommend you via their video. You can offer a prize to the most liked video which will be voted on by likes and shares via the YouTube community.
8 – People Love Videos
The truth is that people simply love watching videos. They are fun, and videos get results. If you want great marketing results, start adding video to your content mix on a regular basis and watch what happens. You shouldn’t make it all video all the time, but video should definitely be in your content mix.
Today, almost anyone can create a YouTube video that is just as effective as any TV advertisement – maybe better since most videos that small business owners create are more informative than advertorial. People love information over being sold to.