Did you know that 500 years of YouTube videos are watched every single day on Facebook? How about that more than 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter per minute? The statistics behind online video are nothing short of amazing, yet we continue to see very few companies seizing the marketing opportunity. Despite YouTube stars and contagious viral videos, marketers seem to be almost ignoring the channel altogether.
While others hit the snooze button, some marketers are testing the waters to great results. They’re capitalizing on what is currently online marketing’s best kept secret. Not convinced you should have your hat in the ring? Here are the marketing secrets no one wants you to know.
Conversions and SEO
Without a doubt, video boosts SEO and increases conversions. We’ve seen it time and time again with companies like Rypple and Dropbox. But why?
- Google Loves Video: Just like plain text content, video can be optimized for search engines. In fact, search engines tend to favor video content over written content. If you have a video on your website, it’s 50 times more likely to be ranked on the first page of Google. If you’ve got great video content, Google wants the world to know.
- Visitors Love Video: A video increases the amount of time your visitors spend on your website. Seriously! Visitors will stick around for an average of two extra minutes. That’s two minutes to get the conversion that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Why stick around for video? Well, only 20 percent of visitors will read plain text on a website. 80 percent will watch a video with the exact same content.
- Video Breeds Conversions: “Video” and “conversions” are practically synonymous. A video on your website makes visitors six times more likely to convert. Take the video Rypple uses for example. Just by adding the video to their website, they increased their conversion rate by 20 percent. Soon after, they were even acquired by Salesforce.
Brain Science
What really fuels the conversions and SEO is brain science. Brain science is the psychology behind why visitors respond so well to online video.
- Videos K.I.S.S.: Keep it simple! Working memory is limited, which means we can only retain so much before we start to force information out. If you try to explain too much information too quickly, it will be forgotten within the next few days. That’s why 60- to 90-second videos perform so well. The script is limited to about 160 words, an information cap that respects working memory. There’s only time for the most important, persuasive information. The filler is pushed out, helping visitors retain more.
- Videos Stimulate Senses: 72 hours after you read or hear something, you will be able to recall 10 percent of it. 72 hours after you watch something, you will be able to recall 58 percent of it. By stimulating both the auditory and visual senses at the same time, video helps visitors retain 68 percent of your message. That means a video helps visitors remember 58 percent more information than plain text alone.
- Videos Relate Back: Videos have one very powerful secret: metaphor. They allow us to explain something novel and new in terms we already understand. This, of course, is difficult to do with plain text. Videos allow companies to put visitors in an everyday situation, using that familiar situation to explain something innovative! Explaining a complicated or fresh concept is so much easier.
Why is video marketing’s best kept secret? It’s hard to say, but the reasons for exploring the uncharted territory are loud and clear. Now’s the time to start unravelling the secret and using it to get ahead of the competition. If you need support along the way, this webinar will help introduce you to the secret world of online video marketing.
