Video Marketing is Here to Stay
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Fri, Aug 28, 2009
It seems like these days, everyone is making videos. Some of these are quite good, others are frighteningly bad, and many will haunt their creators for years to come (I told you, the Internet is forever! But you didn't listen, did you?) YouTube is the 4th most popular website in the world, with over 85 million viewers tuning in on a regular basis. Yes, people love their videos.
In case you needed another reason to join the video marketing craze, I've got some more. I've posted about video marketing before, but I don't think it hurts to go over it again as I've heard that some of you don't think the world needs to see what you look like on camera.
I'm not going to address that; however, I will say that if the camera doesn't love you, well, there are ways around that problem. Video marketing isn't about you, silly. It's about great marketing content, slyly tucked away in a format that is easy for people to digest. Your customers love watching videos almost as much as they love shiny things and chocolate.
And humans are visual creatures. So, being the sly and smart marketer that you are, you'll want to take advantage of the opportunity to get your message out there by appealing this.
Here are some compelling reasons why video marketing is a smart strategy:
- Google loves YouTube- Yes, it's true. It's almost as if they had somehow become one...oh that's right, Google owns YouTube. Regardless, videos consistently rank high in the search engines, mostly as a result of the enormous amount of back links and word-of-mouth referrals that good ones receive from social media, etc. Make an inventive, relevant video and it practically puts itself on the first page.
- Videos help you connect- Why remain faceless? Video gives people someone to connect with instantly. Even if you don't want to actually appear on your video, you can do an audio version with visuals and let people hear your authoritative, trustworthy and likeable voice.
- Videos are easy and free- It costs nothing to set up an account on YouTube. Decent video cameras are now available for cheap and uploading your video can be done from anywhere, with the use of an iPhone 3G or Flip video camera.
If you're interested in finding out more about how to market with videos, check out Robin Good's Video Marketing Online. Another source for good video advice is our friends at Hubspot, who have themselves made some rather interesting videos.
And don't worry about the groupies and stalkers- they're actually just customers and potential leads. They can't hurt you.