Marketing can make or break many small businesses. Even if it’s just word-of-mouth or prioritizing repeat clients, most successful small businesses implement some level of marketing strategy and tactics. A business with the best products or services to offer still won’t succeed if nobody notices. 2015 is the year that more small business owners will take their marketing efforts to the next level by incorporating video.
One of the biggest benefits to using video is that it can easily integrate with your existing marketing program, even if you don’t already have an official plan. But why do it? Consumers are watching video and using it in their purchasing decisions:
- 73 percent of consumers are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video (source: ReelSEO)
- Video is a content strategy cited by nearly 52 percent of marketing professionals for having among the best ROI (eMarketer)
- Videos will be responsible for 74 percent of all internet traffic by 2017 (source: Syndacast)
People these days want you to get right to the point, and plugging videos into your marketing mix can help make your campaigns work even harder and more efficiently. Here are a few examples of how to add video to accelerate the reach and impact of some tried-and-true tactics:
- Blog – If you have a blog, make a video, or vlog, your next entry. Add it to your blog page and you can also post it to video sites like YouTube and Vimeo, as well as consider a shorter version for Vine. The keywords chosen in describing the video can help the video turn up in user searches and enhance the SEO of your website as well.
- Email – If you have an email marketing program, try adding videos to the mix. Use the email to announce the video’s topic and a few reasons why recipients should watch, include a screen shot of the video, and have the email link to the video on your website, blog or YouTube channel—wherever you want to send people.
- Social Media –Small business owners are most likely to use social media for customer service and keeping in touch with customers (30 percent) or for marketing and public relations purposes (26 percent) according to Hiscox’s DNA of an Entrepreneur study. Using videos as content for your company’s Facebook, Twitter or Google+ profiles is an easy way to repurpose existing footage. Or consider creating a video campaign exclusively for social media, such as the ALS Association did with the Ice Bucket Challenge.
- In-House Displays – If your store has TV or monitor displays, add some short self-produced videos into the rotation. You can use these to answer common questions regarding products, give an overview of how your services work, or even run video testimonials from customers.
These tips can help your business break through the clutter and get your messages to customers and prospects in new and interesting ways.