The Power of Video Marketing

Over half of the world’s population accesses social media and the internet as a whole, and as marketing and advertising evolve, so do consumer preferences. Video advertising has become increasingly popular in recent years, and it continues to grow as businesses are seeing an influx of engagement and increased return on investment (ROI) by providing product and service overviews through videos instead of writing. Users spend more time on websites that have videos, and viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading it in the text. 

While it is still equally important to consistently offer your audience blogs, case studies, white papers, and other written marketing material, there’s no denying the effectiveness of video marketing, and you may be missing out on a huge brand-building opportunity by straying away from it.

Start With Your Website 

While there are plenty of video-friendly social media platforms, a great place to start is on your own website. Including a video on your landing page will increase the amount of time visitors are spending on your page, which, in turn, is an indicator to Google that your content is performing well. The most used video publishing platform to do this is YouTube, which is conveniently owned by Google. It’s important to optimize your video using keywords in the title and the description, and always link back to your website. Including a video on your website significantly increases the likelihood of appearing first on Google's Search Engine Results Page.

Marketing with YouTube

With over one billion hours of YouTube videos watched every day, this is a great place to market your brand. YouTube has offered several different types of video advertisements on the platform for years now, but the return on investment is larger than ever before because of audience targeting methods which ensure the right people are viewing your ads. The platform collects data on both YouTube and Google searches, videos watched, demographics, keywords, interests, and other distinguishing factors to match advertisements with specific viewers who would be the most likely to be interested in your products or services.

If you don't have a YouTube channel, you'll need to create one in order to upload your video advertisements. YouTube makes the process of creating a channel very easy.

Types of YouTube Ads

YouTube currently offers five different types of video advertisements: skippable in-stream ads, non-skippable in-stream ads, in-feed video ads, bumper ads, and YouTube Masthead ads. 

Skippable and non-skippable in-stream ads play in the middle of videos. The most obvious difference between the two is skippable in-stream ads allow the viewer to skip the ad after five seconds of it playing, and it is recommended that the video advertisement is less than three minutes in length for optimal results. For non-skippable in-stream ads, your ad must be 15-seconds or shorter, as there is no option to skip it.

In-feed video ads appear in YouTube search results, “watch next,” and the app’s Home Feed. These are more likely to reach your target audience because YouTube places them alongside content that is likely to be viewed by the customers you are trying to reach. In-feed video ads are a great option if you are catering to a narrowed audience.

Bumper ads are quick six-second videos that play before, during, or after a YouTube video and cannot be skipped. These types of ads are ideal for reaching a broad audience with a brief, bite-sized message. 

YouTube Masthead ads allow you to showcase your brand in the YouTube Home Feed across all devices and are ideal for businesses trying to drive massive reach. 

TikTok & Other Video-Geared Social Media Platforms

While B2B video marketing is still in the early stages for many platforms, it’s worth noting that there are other social media platforms you should keep on your radar. TikTok has exploded since its launch in 2016 with over one billion monthly active users worldwide, and it is the first non-Facebook app to hit three billion downloads. Needless to say, there are endless opportunities to reach a wide variety of audiences on this platform.

Although mostly B2C right now, TikTok ads reach nearly 18% of all internet users, which is nearly 885 million people. TikTok offers six types of ads, four of which are video-focused. Even if you don’t want to invest in ads on TikTok yet, it’s crucial you begin establishing your brand’s presence by creating an account and publishing content. This way, when you do decide to start ads, you’ll have a solid foundation of content to link back to. Other platforms to consider investing in which all offer video advertisements include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.