If you’re already convinced your business needs an inbound marketing plan, your main concern may be how to execute it. What mix will work best? Should you emphasize written content, or should your marketing dollars lean more toward video?

The best strategy is to combine the power of multiple media experiences. For example, the stories and examples used to create white papers serve as great foundational pieces for developing video strategies. When you add video to complement your print’ elements, you boost the results of your inbound plan. Here’s why.

Video is more shareable.’

You don’t see articles share nearly as often in social media as video. Tweeters retweet video 150% more often. And tweet receivers click 18% more often on video images, and they favorite videos 89% more often.[1] Your followers boost your results for you!

Social Media Icons On A WallVideo leads to higher conversion rates.

One of the primary reasons for this is a simple fact. Visual learners dominate at 65% of your audience. These customers learn best by seeing, with hearing complementing the learning experience. In fact in one study found on demand access to interactive/visual content is important to 86% of buyers during their decision-making process.[1]

In its 2015 Video Marketing Statistics report, CodeFuel and Content Marketing Institute share some interesting statistics.[2][3]

  • Video converts better than any other medium according to 70% of the marketing professionals they surveyed.
  • Watching a video encourages 64% more buying activity.
  • Landing pages with video increase conversions by 80%.
  • 60-second videos retain 59% of their viewers at the end.
  • 30-second videos retain 80% of their viewers at the end.
  • 6-second videos retain 100% of the viewers at the end.

Don’t let information overload rob you of engagement opportunities. Give your target audience easy-to-digest information via video.

Video is Targetable.

You may argue that written content also has this quality. However, based on the statistics above, video’s ability to connect with a broader base AND with niche segments makes it an essential component of your inbound strategy.

Businesses of all types have discovered the power of video to reach specific market segments. For example, consider Bread N’ Butter Productions. They’re producing videos to target business versus leisure flyers at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. They’ve also developed a Facebook app.

Bread N’ Butter’s marketing design focuses on serving up videos for business travelers about the airport’s best restaurants. Leisure flyers see different options. Facebook users see video ads based on their likes’ history. Interested in health? Your video might introduce you to a restaurant with vegan or salad options instead of pizza.

Just as you target your blog and white papers to specific customer types, you can do the same with video. In addition, you’re far more likely to see these different target groups responding positively to videos when they weren’t designed specifically for them. After all, as The Guardian.com published, “Video is peerless.[4] Readers, in contrast, tend to be harder to engage.

Video Is Just as Measurable.

While the majority of marketers still report that they’re not using analytics, the technology is available. Collecting analytics within marketing automation and CRM platforms ensures data becomes actionable.

As Chris Trimble writes, “If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million.[4] As long as you always consider who your audience is, you’ll see results from video. Keep your content relevant to your prospect—not relevant to you. Your audience doesn’t care what obstacles you had to remove to bring your product to market. They care only about the difference your product will make in their lives. Video offers creative ways to show that.


A Marketer's Guide To Live Video Streaming Call To Action

Sources:

[1] http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-content-marketing-strategy

[2] http://www.codefuel.com/blog/video-marketing-statistics-for-2015-the-next-big-thing-is-here/

[3] http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/10/thriving-video-content-scene-types-brand-videos/

[4] http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jan/14/video-content-marketing-media-online