Video has emerged as one of the single most important elements in today’s marketing campaigns. Video engages users and draws them into your blog, website, and social media channels, resulting in visits that last nearly three times the length of visits to sites without video.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Fun Fact: Nearly 75% of shoppers prefer video to text for branded marketing and, according to Cisco data, internet videos aimed directly at consumers is expected to grow by about 30% by 2021. (source)
At the same time, there are plenty of horror stories about videos that go viral for all the wrong reasons or, worse yet, videos that simply gather digital dust. Which leads to the question of whether or not retailers should be incorporating video into their marketing strategy.
To Video or Not to Video?
The short answer is yes, you should definitely include video in your marketing campaigns. The reasons are plentiful – and powerful.
- 52% of marketing professional worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.
- Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.
- 500 million people are watching videos on Facebook every day.
- Snapchatters watch 10 billion videos a day.
- 92% of mobile video viewers share videos with others.
- Social video generates 1200% more shares than texts and imagines combined.
While the answer is clear-cut, there’s a reason why it’s called the short answer. The reality of including video is that it can be a challenging (and overwhelming) process, especially when you’re just getting started at first. The learning curve can be steep and there’s plenty of room for error.
The argument against leveraging video in your marketing strategy is that you could fall short and fail in the effort, thus having an adverse effect on your desired outcome.
In the video below, Flick Fusion COO Tim James talks with us about why dealers, and retailers in general, should and should not incorporate video. Flick Fusion is a video marketing platform for auto dealers.
Challenges in Using Video
There’s a certain ‘Let’s Just Wing It’ approach to business that has been known to result in amazing (albeit rare) success. Jumping into the deep end without a plan and just hoping for the best. It’s part of a romanticized story of overnight success or the great underdog emerging as a giant that everyone loves.
But it’s a complete fairy tale.
The chances of anyone jumping into video production without doing some serious work before they even hit record for the first time is pretty much zilch.
5 Ways to Fail with Video
Here are five sure-fire ways to ensure you’ll fail with video:
- Don’t make a plan
- Don’t invest in tools
- Ignore your target audience (Bonus points if you never bother to define who they are in the first place!)
- Don’t invest in the people and resources that can help you succeed
- Don’t make video production a priority
Video requires a lot of work. A successful campaign includes everything from working to identify your website’s more influential users to using various metrics to determine video content months in advance. And that’s all before you even hit Record on your first video.
Sounds great, right?
Video Risk and Reward
Joking aside, video is a game changer when it comes to marketing campaigns. They potential pay-off in using video can make a huge difference in a company’s overall success. That makes it more than worth the effort. As you get accustomed to the ins and outs of the process, it will become more streamlined, more efficient and, ultimately, more engaging.
There are undeniable rewards to incorporating video into your marketing strategy and, like most rewards, there’s a fair bit of risk. The great thing about combining video and marketing is that there are plenty of experts to help navigate the way. That navigation and guidance doesn’t mean you’ll end up with formulaic or cookie-cutter content, either. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
After all, the term video means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. That diversification includes the types of videos you’ll want to create since that dictates everything from the software worth investing in and the social media platforms best to deliver that message.
There are an impressive and often surprising number of options when it comes to video types, including:
- Value Proposition
- Educational or Informative
- Walkaround
- Customer Testimonials
- Service Diagnosis
- Live Streams
Each video style has its benefits and ultimately, it’s about finding a style that works with your company and with your audience. The process of incorporating videos into your marketing means honing your own brand’s personality in order to connect and engage with your target audience. Videography can give your dealerships that added layer of personality through engagement.
By understanding how and why certain approaches work, you’ll develop a foundation and framework you can use to deliver your message, your way.
Overview of Free Online Video Course for Auto Retail
In this free online video course are 12 videos ranging from 3-5 minutes each, allowing you to watch only the ones you want, when you want. The course is broken into 4 sections:
- To Video or Not to Video
- Types of Videos to Produce
- Equipment and Technology
- Hosting, Distribution, and Data
