Three Reasons Why Video Should Take a Starring Role in Your Content Marketing Strategy

As a content marketer, you understand that the messages your company provides to its target audience are critically important to their conversion, satisfaction, and brand loyalty. You also know that we live in a tech-savvy time that’s enabled advertisers to create more dynamically and diverse messages than ever before.

Now, you can simply hop online and reach a mass amount of global followers in seconds, far quicker and more effectively than you ever could before. Yet, with so much capability at your fingertips, are you still churning out the same text-based content as before? If you’re integrating dynamic visuals into your campaigns, that’s a start, but it’s time to take it a step farther. Here are three reasons why video is quickly gaining speed as the number-one content marketing strategy, and how you can integrate it into your outreach strategy today.

1. It’s an SEO booster.

Today, the power of a company’s online presence is determined by its Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. If yours is strong, your website will appear high on virtual search results, such as those curated by Google. If it’s weak, you’ll be lost amid the higher-number pages and could miss out on critical business. As such, it’s important to understand how SEO works and incorporate content marketing practices that boost its potential. From designating short and long-tail keywords into your blog posts to building up your internal and external linking program, there are myriad ways to maximize your SEO.

One proven way to grow it? Include videos in your content. Some studies reveal that putting a video on your website can improve your odds of making it to the front page of Google by more than 50 times. As long as it’s fresh, engaging, relevant and informative, go ahead and turn that content into an interactive video that draws your online visitors in and encourages them to explore your page more.

2. Your customers have short attention spans.

Sure, you could ramble about your new product offering at length in a long, text-heavy blog post. If you go this route, you could cross your fingers and hope that each reader makes it to the good part amid all the inevitable fluff. Or, you could introduce it via a video and capture your audience’s attention immediately.

Research shows that the average person now has an attention span of only eight seconds. That’s shorter than a goldfish’s. As such, to reach them quickly and retain their interest, there can be no room for filler material or lead-ins. In other words, you need to cut to the chase and do it as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that a majority of your online readership is also accessing your content via a mobile device, such as a smartphone. They’re on the go and don’t have time to spend scrolling along your page to get to the point. If they’re forced to, they’ll likely close out that browser and could even move on to a competitor. Video grabs their attention and encourages them to listen, and your content can take it from there.

3. It’s easier than ever before.

Only a few short years ago, only advanced videographers could produce the kind of video marketing campaigns that are on the market today. Now? Thanks to the rise in digitization and advanced software technology, the process is much simpler and accessible. That means that anyone, from a tech-savvy owner of a Fortune 500 company, to a crafter just looking to explain how to knit a scarf, can produce a rich, clear and smoothly operable video. There are also myriad editing features that can be utilized to give each video a stylistic touch.

Even if you’re not interested in creating the video yourself, there is now an incredible amount of talent available to take the reins for you. When determining your video production budget, weigh the costs against the speed of the process and the overall quality you’ll be receiving. You may be surprised to find that it’s ultimately cheaper to outsource this step to a professional than to tackle it yourself, though recent technology developments have made that possible.

At the end of the day, it’s just wise business sense to invest more heavily in video production as a part of your company’s overall content marketing strategy. It’s one of the most technologically advanced, yet user-friendly, ways to engage your core audience, deliver the interesting and informative messages they crave, and keep their attention for the long-term.