Online video has come of age. According to a recent Nielsen report, Americans spend more than 33 hours per week watching video across our various screens.71% of adults who go online watch video (PewInternet). YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. YouTube boasts 490 million unique users worldwide per month, spending a staggering 2.9 billion hours on the site each month (as of February, 2012). More than 70% of all web visitors watch online video according to The New York Times.
A video is a reason to click, a unified, simplified way of communicating with your audience, and a face or voice for your company that can travel to any computer or mobile device with video capabilities. Video gives a voice to your brand online. In and email video adds visual flavor and intrigue andentices users to click and provides a seamless entry point to your brand or website. On a website videos give users a reason to watch and take action.
Six Tips for Online Marketers
1. Use Online Video. We all like watching video online, and we tend to click on videos. Shoppers who watch video on retail websites spend about 2 minutes more on those sites and are 64% more likely to buy compared to shoppers who did not watch videos, according to a 2010 study by Comscore. 65% of senior execs visit a vendor’s website after watching a video (Forbes). What's good for eyeballs is goodfor search results: Web videos are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google than text or static images. take action.
2. Incorporate Online Video Into Emails. According to a (slightly old) 2009 Forrester report, incorporating video into emails improves clickthrough rates by 2 to 3 times. A book publisher reported 100% increase in open rates and fully 47% of clicks to the online video. One online shoestore saw a 44% increase in online sales. But don't use the word "video" in your subject line, as that may decrease deliverability.
3. Keep Videos Short and Sweet. Edit your videos so they are short and to the point. Avoid lengthy intros and outros. There are no hard and fast rules, but remember your audience has a short attention span and are ready to click away.
4. Post Videos Online. Don’t make users open the video with a desktop client. Select an online player with a multiple-file capability, such as YouTube or Vimeo.
5. Update Often. Even if it comes at the cost of better video shoots or higher quality, update your video often. Prepare for success: people are going to watch your video.
6. Think Offline Too. Use your videos offline as well, like trade shows and events.
Talk to us about how we can help with your online (and offline) video marketing. Want to see more video stats? Here are a bunch from Engage. How to make your online video effective? Five tips from OneMarket.