2017: The year of video marketing
By Team EtchRock in All,Content Marketing,EtchRock,Paid Advertisement
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Video marketing is the future
Video marketing is fast becoming one of the most important tools in an event organiser’s arsenal. Once thought as just ‘a piece to the puzzle’, video marketing has quickly established itself as one of the highest performing platforms. If you are still on the fence, here are a couple statistics that show why you need to incorporate video into your online marketing strategy.
- Video consumed on social media generates 1200% more shares than posts with just text and images (Brightcove).
- 4.8% is the average conversion rate for websites using video compared to 2.9% for those who don’t (Aberdeen).
- 74% of millenials find video helpful when comparison shopping (Animoto).
- 4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it (eMarketer).
- Daily video views on Facebook have increased from 1 million to 8 million in 2016 alone. Text posts, meanwhile, are declining year on year (Doubleshot).
It’s not just all about video either. The way people are consuming video content is changing too. The graph below from Oolya shows that in 2016, mobile video consumption now makes up for over 50% of total video views.
Event organisers need to adapt their strategy to fit the current market and have a presence in the places they congregate. Haven’t yet started to think about a video strategy? Have no fear. As the old Chinese proverb goes, ‘The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now’. Your events are content rich; you just need to figure out how to get it out there. Here are a few ways in that you could start experimenting with video for your next event or campaign.
Facebook is the mother of all social networks, and as such, you need to have a presence there. Especially when it comes to implementing a video marketing strategy. Facebook users watch an average of 100 million hours of video every day…Every day! With people accustomed to viewing so much on Facebook, your plain text or simple image post isn’t really doing you any justice.
As we mentioned earlier, your events are content rich. Use footage of previous events to create trailers and other promotion material for your race. Video is far more engaging than text and allows people to actually witness the ‘experience’ that your event provides. This organic content gives consumers a much more transparent view of what you are offering rather than to just list your USP’s in a bullet point list.
One thing to keep in mind when creating video for Facebook is that although the viewing numbers are ridiculously high, 85% of all Facebook video is watched without sound. Make sure your content is visually striking for the best results.
Live video
Live video has become perhaps the latest ‘hot topic’ in video marketing with the leaders being Facebook live and Periscope. It’s popularity stems from viewers feeling a sense of urgency knowing that they won’t be able to view the content in real time again. Think about watching your favourite football team, you want to watch the game live, not on catch up TV later on. It’s all a part of being in the ‘now’.
If you are planning live streaming part or your entire event, just make sure you invest in some good supplementary equipment. As great as the latest video technology is on smartphones, there is no out running the elements. Get yourself a tripod, lighting and sound equipment so that your video can look great in any weather.
Be sure to keep mentioning the name of your event in your live streams. Viewers from extended networks may not be familiar with your brand so you need to make that connection. Also try and make it longer than 10 minutes so it will give people longer to tune in and potentially share.
Instagram & Snapchat
These apps are built for visuals, so naturally, they are the perfect place to host some of your video content. They give event organisers the ability to show off another side to their business with their video marketing.
Instagram now allows you to post 60 second video, more than enough time to showcase some of your races best bits. Snapchat on the other hand, hosts over 10 billion video views per day, so there is certainly huge potential with both of these apps.
Experiment with different formats, see what others are doing and put your own spin on it if you are stuck for ideas but most importantly, see what your audience responds to. Find something that works and then build on top of it.
Looking at the graph below from KPCB, other than Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat lead the way in terms of time spent on each platform. Meet your audience where they are!
Website & Email
Video marketing doesn’t have to be all about promotion on social media. It is just important to have video on your website & email campaigns too.
When done right, video has the potential to up your conversion rate – so a video on your event site encouraging people to register by promoting an early bird discount can have a significant impact on your numbers.
A good video will help people move further along the buying cycle towards purchasing a ticket, something that pages of text probably won’t do when it comes to events. People want to see the experience that you provide, and video is the best way to convey this without actually previously being there.
Virtual Reality
Although we are still a few years away from providing a virtual reality experience for events, it’s always good to look to the future. Live events are often forgotten when it comes to discussing the opportunities for VR, but we digress.
Think about a court side seat in basketball, the most desired seats in the whole stadium. People shell out huge money to sit there, to be right next to the action. Previously, people may have paid $20,000 dollars upwards to sit there, with the introduction of VR technology, the potential is there for anyone to be able to share that experience from the comfort of their living room.
Although this may be a long way away in terms of development, it’s hard not to get excited as an event organiser with these ground breaking new technologies on the horizon.
Video is here and it’s here to stay. As marketers, we need to shift our focus in 2017 to creating new ways to engage with our audience. Although the benefits can be huge, the consequences of bad implementation cannot also be understated. Start slow, see what works for your business model and build upon it.
Still not sold? Check out this amazing infographic from the fine people at HyperfineMedia for some of the latest stats in video media.
Created by Hyperfine Media
Have you recently started using video to promote your event or to add an extra layer to your race experience? We would love to hear about it!
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