Why video marketing is more important now than ever

You’ve surely heard the phrase “pivot to video” countless times over the last few years.

It’s the path a lot of media companies are on, but even brands that aren’t directly talking about this pivot have increased their production. This shift stems in part from studies showing users spend more time on pages featuring video content.

Social media has also played a significant role, and recently, new social platforms have made the pivot even more important.

Instagram and Facebook, along with TikTok, are the leading social media platforms, but the audiences for these platforms can skew quite young. The content on Tiktok, for example, tends to lean toward the meme-worthy and entertaining, raising the question: are these platforms a good use of your time and resources? The answer depends on your industry, but whatever your field, you can certainly learn from the pros dominating these new platforms.

The promotional angle

One of the primary ways that businesses use video content across platforms is by creating promotional content, which ranges widely in style, cost, and content, but there are a few strategies that can really help a promotional video succeed.

First, a great promotional video hooks the viewer within the first few seconds. Social media has shrunk everyone’s attention span, so even if it is on a longer form platform, the beginning has to be powerful. Having a strong start also means that your video will be more flexible, allowing it to gain traction across different platforms.

Audience matters

What you’re promoting – what your business does and who it serves – plays a critical role in what kinds of video content you make and what platforms you use. TikTok is a lot of fun, and it’s playing a growing role in business, but if your entire audience is age 30 and up, there’s not much point in trying to master the form and build a viewership there. You need a sufficient youth-heavy market to make TikTok a worthwhile investment, but Instagram or Facebook might be a different story.

It’s all about strategy

However you choose to approach video content, the fact is that today video is a necessary part of your content marketing strategy. In part, this is because, while blogs aren’t going anywhere, and short-form social media is definitely ascendant, both make use of video, but that’s not the only reason.

Video is so powerful because it’s deeply personal. It makes your audience feel that much more closely connected with you and your brand, and that alone is enough to change buying patterns.

Another key advantage of video is that consumers genuinely enjoy well-made videos.

Unlike blogs, which most users will typically only seek out if they need information, there are brands out there who are known for their video content. They’ve found a way to hook viewers and make them feel like they have two products: entertainment and whatever it is they actually sell. You, too, can do this with enough creativity and today’s social media tools.

Video doesn’t stop for anyone. At this point, video isn’t the future of social media or eCommerce – it’s the present.