Lights, Camera, Action: Video for Demand Generation

The way people consume content has changed dramatically thanks to the rise of the internet and smartphones. Content is now available to virtually anyone, anywhere, at any time. Because of our increasingly digitized lifestyle, our attention spans are now shorter than that of a goldfish—so it should come as no surprise that it is harder than ever for marketers to gain the attention of their buyers. With your buyers now skimming emails, articles, and social media posts, you have to do things differently to stand out from all of the noise. Allow me to introduce you to something that 87 percent of businesses are already using as a marketing tool: video.

Video is a powerful way to grab and hold your buyers’ attention, strengthen your brand message, promote brand recall, and build better relationships with your buyers. Here are six reasons why you need to start using video in your demand generation efforts right now.

1. Video Helps Engage the Increasingly Distracted Buyer

I’ve already mentioned how short our attention spans are. The modern lifestyle makes it hard to thoroughly read long product descriptions or spend hours researching different vendor options. Video is a quick and easy way for your buyers to consume information about your company. Educational videos and explainer videos can teach your buyers something new or help them better understand your business and solutions and why they need them—in just minutes.

2. Video Helps Build Trust

You can use video for things like telling your brand’s story, sharing customer testimonials or expert interviews, and engaging your buyers directly. Video can be especially beneficial during the sales process. It is more personalized and gives off the impression that it took much more effort than an email or a phone call. It’s a great way for a salesperson to stand out and connect with a buyer on a more emotional level. If your sales team can’t meet with buyers in person, video is the next best thing.

3. Video Content Is Preferred

HubSpot research shows that more than 50 percent of consumers want to see video from brands. This is more than any other type of content, including emails, social images, and blog articles. A different study found that 68 percent of consumers prefer a short video when learning about new products or services. Video preference in consumers should be a driving force to start adding video strategy to your content marketing and demand generation efforts.

4. Video Attracts Mobile Users.

Mobile video consumption doubles each year, and 75 percent of all video plays are on a mobile device. Additionally, 92 percent of users watching video on mobile share it with others, and social shares can increase traffic to your site. With the number of smartphone users continuously growing, the audience for video will only get larger and larger.

5. Video Helps with SEO

Google search bots look for video content. This is because videos often lead to higher engagement and an overall better user experience. Since people prefer watching videos, Google will display them on SERPs when applicable for certain educational and informational queries like “how to” or “what is”. Because video is so engaging, people are likely to spend more time consuming it—which means a longer session and dwell time on your site. Companies that use video marketing see 41 percent more organic traffic than those that do not.

6. Video Is Better for Information Retention

When watching a video, viewers on average retain 95 percent of the message compared to just 10 percent when reading it via text. This is because 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text. Videos use the powerful combination of both sight and sound, increasing the rate at which we retain the information.

Video marketing is amazing for demand generation and can be used in every part of your flywheel.

• Attract: You can attract your customers with thought leadership videos or explainer videos.
• Convert: Convert your customers with product demos, webinars, or case studies.
• Close: Close customers with testimonial videos from current customers or personalized videos that explain how your product or services could help their business.
• Delight: Delight customers with a thank you video to welcome them or an onboarding video to help make sure there are no hiccups early on.

If you’re worried about budget, HubSpot research found that consumers and customers actually preferred lower quality, “authentic” video over high-quality video that seems artificial and inauthentic. And if you’re worried that video is only for millennials, we’ve used video for our senior care community clients who have racked up nearly 10 thousand plays and a 34 percent engagement rate.

No matter what, marketers, salespeople, and service teams alike can no longer ignore the growing popularity of video (or that goldfish have us beat in attention span length). Start adding video to your demand generation efforts before you get left behind!