We introduced the concept of video marketing for the first time in 2016, and then again in our recent blog post on the declining consumer attention online. Since discussing the importance of creating attractive content that grabs consumers attention, we have resolved that video marketing is an excellent tool to stimulate reach and engagement this year. After all, over half of people watch videos online every day! Social media has undergone a notable shift toward this trend in the past few years with the rise of social video channels such as Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, and now 360 video! In fact, Facebook has just recently changed their algorithm to place video content higher than other forms of content on your newsfeed. All of these contribute to why the marketing world is setting its sights on video as it’s primary avenue to experiment with in 2017.

Check the facts.

Gone are the days where you had to go to YouTube to find the latest online videos surfacing. Now there’s more video content uploaded online in one month than in 3 decades of TV- and it’s not just on YouTube! Not to mention, currently, ⅓ of all online activity consists of watching videos. Video may seem like a marketing tactic that caters to the younger generation but in fact, 75% of executives watch work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, and the majority of those executives say they prefer watching videos to reading. That’s probably why over half of marketers named video the content type with the highest ROI, and including video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%!

So, how should you consider incorporating video into your online marketing?

Here’s our round-up of the top ways you should try to incorporate video into your marketing strategy this year!

Video testimonial:

If you can think of a loyal customer that you have had a great relationship with, it could be mutually beneficial to share a video testimonial of them talking about the service and quality products you offer, giving both their business and yours additional exposure in your common industry. This video could be posted in multiple places, both on your website and on your social pages, you can even tag them in it!

Video interview:

This would be an excellent addition to the “About Us” portion of your website. Having dealership management answer questions about how long you’ve been in business, how you’ve grown, what your mission is, etc. will likely keep your customer’s attention longer than reading a paragraph about your business.

360 video of product:

360 video has been a strong influencer in the automotive and real estate industries, and we think it is perfect for the equipment industry as well. Because it’s difficult to see everything about a piece of equipment in a few photos, having 360 videos of your products can be very helpful for your customers. Remember, we always want to keep their convenience at the forefront of our initiatives! Again, we beg you to look at the facts: 360 videos are 30% more likely to be watched than non-360 videos, something to keep in mind if you do often display inventory photos or videos on your website that you’ve taken, rather than stock photos provided by the manufacturer.

Talk is cheap, and so is video.

Chances are you already have all the tools you need to start implementing video into your marketing strategy right now! The quality of today’s smartphones in recording video is more than satisfactory for creating small clips of your team or your customers, and even your 360 videos of equipment. These videos can be easily edited using Adobe Spark Video or other video editing platforms or tutorials, making even the most basic videographer look like a pro. Adobe’s Spark wrote a recent post giving tips for how to create videos, and we definitely suggest you take a look. If you’re interested in 360, you might want to invest in a Theta 360 recording device, but we find that the panorama feature available on several smartphones works great as well. If you’re really committed to incorporating professional 360 video into your website’s inventory consistently, it might be worthwhile to invest in a more expensive 360 recording device like GoPro Omni which has 6 different sensors to create this effect.
For more ideas check out our blog post on 14 different ways to incorporate video marketing, or reach out to us at marketing@commercialwebservices.com! We’d love to hear from you.