Got Video? Well, Your Content Marketing Program Probably Should

I love watching a great video online, and like millions of other people, I will eagerly share it on Facebook, Twitter, and even by email.

Even if it’s a branded video, I’ll share it for the value of the content – whether it’s funny, inspirational, or informational.

Brands that are creating content marketing videos that are engaging and entertaining are realizing the enormous opportunities in social video campaigns.

In 2011 alone, consumers chose to watch video ads over 5.6 billion times, according to The 2011 Social Video Advertising Report from Visible Measures. But here’s what makes social video advertising powerful: 35 percent of total views in 2011 were of campaigns launched before 2011. This “viral reactivation” keeps older social video ads alive, while other forms of advertising disappear after the campaign is finished.

If you look at the explosion of mobile and the broad adoption of smartphones and iPads, along with the data on online video viewing, it’s not hard to see why video should be part of your content strategy. Check it out: 

• Mobile video traffic was 52 percent of all mobile data traffic in 2011 (Cisco)

• The number of mobile-connected tablets tripled in 2011 to 34 million

• Two-thirds of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2016, accounting for over 70 percent of total mobile data traffic

• YouTube logged one trillion hits in 2011 (Washington Post)

• Over 500 branded social video campaigns gained more than a million views last year (ReelSEO)

• Nearly half of U.S. marketers plan to boost video ad spending in 2012 (eMarketer)

And here’s why it’s beneficial to you for people to share your video (Unruly Media study):

• Viewers who enjoyed a video demonstrated 139 percent higher brand association, 97 percent higher purchase intent, 35 percent higher brand favorability, and 14 percent higher brand recall, than those who did not enjoy the video

• Viewers are more likely to engage in a social video’s message when the video was recommended by a friend (10 percent higher) than when they found it through browsing

• Viewers are more likely to enjoy a video (14% higher) when it was recommended by friend than when they found it through browsing

B2B marketers may be late to the party, but video as part of content marketing strategy is on the increase, with 52 percent of B2B marketers planning to use video this year – a 27 percent increase from last year. (Content Marketing Institute).

But do B2B executives watch YouTube videos? According to a study by Google and Compete, B2B-branded searches on YouTube more than doubled from February 2010 to March 2011 (eMarketer).

As a B2B marketer, your video may not go viral – but that’s probably not one of your objectives. Your goals are more likely to increase brand awareness, build perception of your brand as a thought leader in your industry, and get people in your niche audience to share the information with others.

So what are you waiting for?

[Image: schmilblick]