How Powerful Can Online Video Be?

Miss out on the online video revolution at your peril…

When YouTube announced last year that it receives more than four billion hits per day, brands all over the world sat up and took notice. Today, we’re seeing the results of this rallying cry, which echoed across boardrooms around the world, as some of the most creative marketing forces in business decided to take the plunge and see just how powerful a medium video can be.

Tapping into the online consumer’s voracious appetite for video, brands like TopShop, Virgin Media, Pepsi and Car Phone Warehouse all called in video production experts and have recently rolled out video campaigns based on some of the most watched clips on YouTube – videos like rapper PSY’s ‘Gentleman’ which racked up more than 22 million views in just 24 hours.

When household names jump on the bandwagon and start making viral videos based on a Korean rapper and dancing babies, you know you’ve hit on a trend worth talking about.

But looking beyond online video mash ups, how do you make the business case to your own boardroom? We’ve rounded up some of the most interesting statistics, opinions, polls and surveys from marketing experts to do just that – find out in words, pictures and cold hard cash just how powerful video can be.

1. Content

Online video usage is on the up amongst business to business marketers and most marketers say video production is the one area where they plan to increase spending.

This infographic by Brainshark and Business2Community sheds more light on the power of video from a content marketing perspective: 

How video influences buyers

Key takeaways:

• By 2014, online video could account for 50% of all internet traffic

• 85% of US internet users viewed some kind of video online in September 2012

• Video is now the 6th most popular content marketing tactic, just behind case studies, blogs and email shots

• Online video production can be used to sell, educate and entertain and is quicker, cheaper and easier to produce than ever before

• If you already send out email shots to leads, adding video in the subject title has been found to improve click through rates (CTR) by 13%

2. Online Video Popularity

The warmth of the reception shown to online video has been positively balmy. This insight into the online video landscape, compiled by Clickr, shows that video useage is popular across a range of genres, ages and platforms. In short, your demographic is out there and is probably watching a video online right now.

Inside Online Video

Key Takeaways:

• Over 50,000 hours of video are uploaded daily to Google Video and YouTube. In 2009, 20 hours of video were uploaded to YouTube every minute. In 2011, that had leaped to more than 35 hours per minute. If you’re not uploading videos, your competitors are.

• The moral of these numbers? There is a lot of competition and videos need to be professional, well developed and well put together to stand out. An experienced video production company can help storyboard the video and create a clip that helps you reach your goals, rather than getting lost in a sea of uploads.

3. Purchasing Power

Whatever type of marketing you do, whatever brief you give your video production company, the ultimate measure of success usually comes down to how many more sales you can trace back to the activity in question. This infographic, courtesy of Gafpa, gives a number of compelling reasons why videos make consumers reach for their wallets. 

The World is Watching

Key Takeaways

• Independent studies show that people who watch videos on your site are 64% more likely to make a purchase

• 60% of people prefer to watch a video than read a page of text

• The bounce rate for video is almost 30% lower than for text – which means video viewers tend to stick around your brand and your offerings longer

• 50% of people will remember more from a video than from text based content

• Product videos play a key role in consumer purchase decisions with a 9 fold increase in online retail video views typical around key holiday seasons such as Christmas

• 50% of smartphone users will watch a video on their mobile device, which increases audience potential

If you are looking for online video production then speak to the trusted experts at Stormnet Media. We help lots of companies like you achieve online success. Call us on 01527 910050 or contact us for a free no obligation quote.