Video Content Marketing: How To Approach It & Why It’s Important
When it comes to promoting your business, content is the name of the game. Whether it’s on your social media pages, through your website, or even through your review platforms — the more positive, engaging content you produce pertaining to your business, the better. That said, not all forms of content are created equal. Video content marketing is a remarkable and proven strategy to build your business, but for many people, it’s also one of the most intimidating to approach.
The reality is, any brand or business that isn’t incorporating some video element to their online content could be missing out on a tremendous growth opportunity. As a medium, video works best when it’s expertly integrated into your content marketing program — and luckily, all social media and website platforms are outfitted with the necessary tools to do just that. What video does is capture the more engaging facets of your business and tells an even bigger story, one that potential customers are statistically more likely to connect with — which has made the use of video in content marketing such a powerful tool.
If you need further convincing, just look at the numbers. According to Forbes, “YouTube has over a billion users — almost one-third of all people on the Internet — and every day people watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and generate billions of views.” The statistics portal Statista backs up these impressive numbers, writing that, “As of July 2015, more than 400 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute, up from 300 hours per minute in November 2014.”
All of that considered, what actually makes a good content marketing video? For starters, the video should reflect the voice and brand identity of your company — and the key is to make them as authentic and organic as possible. Kevin Akeroyd, CEO of Cision, told Forbes: “Don’t just create content in a vacuum or on a whim. Advancements in technology allow marketers to truly listen to their audience to uncover insights about what types of content will appeal to them, ranging from subject matter to the channels that they are most engaged with. People think of content marketing as a creative discipline, and it is, but it is also very much a data-driven discipline. Before you even put ideas to paper, analyze your audience to inform your content strategy. Think not only about the topics of the content, but also the format.”