7 benefits of video marketing

What is video marketing and why is it important?

Video marketing is the use of video content to advertise products, engage customers and generate brand awareness. Organizations have relied on this medium since the inception of TV ads in the 1940s, yet it has evolved significantly. Modern marketers now use many channels, like websites, social media and streaming platforms, to distribute their videos.

Video content is an important tool for marketers, because it aligns with the way people consume media. People increasingly rely on videos for news, entertainment and education, so marketers need to have a presence across social media and video platforms like LinkedIn and YouTube.

Types of video marketing

Marketers can use different types of video campaigns depending on many factors, such as their audience's preferred platforms, phases of the customer journey and campaign goals.

Common types of video marketing include the following:

• Product demos. These videos show viewers how to use a product. They can help customers at various stages of the buyer journey, such as the consideration or the onboarding phase, understand a product's features and how to use it.
• Webinars. Organizations can prerecord or livestream virtual seminars or webinars to offer in-depth training on a topic from experts. B2B organizations often host webinars to increase brand authority and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
• How-to videos. Marketers can use how-to videos as part of a broader SEO strategy. For instance, a makeup company might create videos on how to use its products for different occasions. Organizations can also use these videos to teach viewers how to accomplish specific tasks with their products.
• Live streams. This medium can generate high engagement because it lets audiences interact with brands in real time. For instance, many live streaming platforms offer chats and polls to encourage audience participation. Marketers typically use it for product launches, virtual events and Q&A sessions.
• Short-form content. Short videos offer concise information through mediums like Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and TikTok. People on social media tend to share short videos more than other types of content, so it can help marketers reach wide audiences, including younger generations.
• Influencer videos. These videos use the reach of online personalities to promote brands and products. Brands can work with influencers who believe in their products and services to create authentic campaigns and generate consumer trust.
• Customer testimonials. Marketers can encourage real customers to share their positive brand experiences on video. Like influencer marketing, testimonials can help brands convey authenticity, because consumers trust real people over brands.
• Shoppable content. These videos include links to product pages within videos. B2C retail brands -- especially those in the fashion and beauty space -- use this technique, because B2C shoppers tend to buy on impulse.

Benefits of video marketing

Video marketing can take many forms, each of which offers different benefits. Common benefits among all video formats include increased trust and engagement.

1. Builds trust

Video marketing can build consumer trust more effectively than other forms of content due to its ability to reach audiences on an emotional level. Unlike text-based content, video can easily convey facial expressions, vocal inflections and body language -- all to the backdrop of music -- to deeply engage viewers.

Many video types, such as brand stories and influencer videos, can help marketers build trust and brand loyalty with their audiences. For instance, the owner of a craft beer company might create a behind-the-scenes YouTube channel to teach audiences about the company's origins, mission statement and brewing process. This type of content conveys transparency and authenticity, which can help organizations generate trust, loyalty and, ultimately, sales.

2. Enhances SEO

Video content can enhance SEO strategies in many ways. For instance, webpages with video content tend to receive higher click-through rates and screen dwell time than those without video. This can help webpages rank higher on Google and Bing because search engine algorithms use these engagement metrics to determine page rankings for specific keywords.

Search engines also pull videos from platforms like YouTube into the search results. So, organizations that publish content on video platforms can receive traffic from web search engines, in addition to traffic from the video platform's own internal search function. This can help organizations expand their reach and appeal more to mobile users, as search engines often prioritize video content for mobile searches.

Additionally, video content can help marketers generate backlinks, which are links from external websites that direct audiences to their sites. For instance, as marketers upload videos to different platforms, they can include links to their websites in the descriptions or videos themselves. As viewers share the videos or embed them into their own sites, they create backlinks to the organization's site. Search engines favor sites with many backlinks from authoritative sources, which then improves an organization's search rankings and benefits its overall SEO strategy.

3. Grabs attention

Modern consumers frequently receive notifications from social media, text, email, mobile apps and wearable devices. This information overload has shortened people's attention spans and made marketing more competitive.

Video content can help marketers stand out from the crowd and engage audiences because the human brain processes visual content much faster than lines of text. A video can quickly capture viewers' attention and convey complex information to them.

Additionally, video content's ability to emotionally engage viewers makes it more memorable. This combination of attention-grabbing and memorable content makes video marketing an effective way to reach modern consumers.

4. Improves the sales process

Video content can enhance the sales process from the early stages to onboarding. For instance, marketers can embed call-to-action (CTA) buttons, links and forms within product videos to collect customer information, helping them identify leads for sales teams.

Videos can also automate parts of the first-contact stage in which sales reps reach out to leads and share product information. Marketers can personalize landing pages with tailored videos to teach leads about relevant products and services. This saves sales reps' time and helps customers research products at their convenience.

Additionally, video marketing can enhance the onboarding process after customers make purchases. For example, marketers can work with product teams to create videos on how to set up, use and troubleshoot products. This can improve CX, as it offers customers convenient self-service.

Marketers that publish videos on platforms like TikTok increase their chances of going viral.

5. Creates viral engagement

As video and social media platforms like Reddit, TikTok and YouTube let users easily share content, marketers can sometimes reach massive audiences for free. The concept of going viral -- the rapid sharing of a piece of digital content -- often involves video content, due to its ability to quickly engage viewers.

Marketers that publish videos on platforms like TikTok increase their chances of going viral, especially if they incorporate trending sounds, dances and skits into their marketing strategies. Viral videos can reach millions of people and quickly boost brand awareness.

6. Simplifies complex topics

Video content can break down complex information into simple charts and animations, which can help brands educate users on intricate products and services. Although some consumers prefer text-based content, visual and auditory learners benefit from graphics and human voice.

Brands that create content for different learning styles can improve CX and revenue. For instance, if a person is choosing between two CRM systems, but only one offers a clear and illustrative video on how the product works, the customer might be more likely to choose that one.

7. Gains more customer data

Most digital media platforms offer engagement metrics to help marketers track how users interact with their videos. These metrics can help organizations understand their audiences and address campaign pain points.

Common video engagement metrics include the following:

• Likes. Tracks how many people expressed their enjoyment of a video.
• Comments. Open response feedback for praise, criticism and discussion.
• View count. The number of times people viewed a video.
• Average view duration. The average length of time viewers watched a video.
• Audience retention rate. Identifies a video's most and least engaging segments.
• Click-through rate. Percentage of viewers who click on links and CTA buttons.

Marketers can analyze this data to improve the customer journey. For instance, the audience retention rate can let marketers know which parts of a product demo video require improvement.

Key takeaways

As video content can increase customer engagement, it can also help brands build trust and reach new audiences. It also offers various metrics to support data-driven marketing strategies.

Yet, video marketing can consume a lot of time and often requires businesses to invest in production staff and equipment. Organizations that have the proper resources should first identify their target audience to learn which platforms and video types are most likely to elicit engagement.

Tim Murphy is an associate site editor for TechTarget's Customer Experience and Content Management sites.