A picture speaks a thousand words. This famous idiom depicts the beauty of marketing;  how one image can portray even the most complex of ideas. Now imagine how powerful a tool a video can be when marketing your brand, service or product. By this logic, at a rate of 30 frames per second, a 60 second video has the potential to speak 1.8 million words. Furthermore, video marketing has never been more accessible, with YouTube and social media sites such as Facebook, providing platforms to access millions of people worldwide. With an estimated 69% of all customer internet traffic being accounted for by video by 2017, video holds a bright future within content marketing.

Why should companies use video?

Research by tech giant Microsoft suggests that humans have an 8 second attention span. When compared to the 9 second span boasted by goldfish, this is a short amount of time to hook your audience and reel them in. Luckily, video provides a naturally engaging blend of audio and visuals to emotionally engage customers, giving them large amounts of information which is easy enough to digest and keep their attention. This makes video a powerful tool that allows potential customers to really experience exactly what your company is about, who you are, and how you can benefit them, an experience incomparable to paragraphs of text. With a such a large online audience, video seems to be the ideal bait for a big catch.

Video can be accessed by customers across a range of platforms. YouTube alone receives more than one billion unique visitors per month. Along with video access via Snapchat, Instagram and Vine (just to name a few) small businesses can access audiences cost effectively and conveniently. What’s more, 1 in 10 videos are played on mobile phones and tablets, allowing content marketing to occur almost anywhere.

Therefore it’s no surprise that video has had a monumental impact on conversion rates. After watching interesting video content, 70% of people viewed that brand in a more positive light. In addition,  after watching a video, 64% of consumers are more likely to purchase that product. This could be the gateway to success for your business, increasing sales as well as your market share.

How should it be done?

There are number of ways videos can benefit your business, but here are a few things that need to be considered:

• Who is your target audience? If video isn’t an appropriate means of accessing them, this could be problematic. Ultimately, you need to attract the attention of the correct people.
• What is your message? What do you want your customers to see and hear? A video can provide with a powerful story and greatly influence branding. This could outline a big event or directly link to your overall business narrative/story.
• Content Creation Strategy. How will you create the video? In order to grab attention, your video must be professional and high quality. This could be the difference between a few views and thousands.
• Distributing your Content. Potential customers need to see the video in order for it to have any impact. This could mean that a range of platforms are needed, from your website, to YouTube, to your company’s Facebook page. Therefore a distribution strategy is essential.