5 Big Reasons You Should Try Video Advertising

Watching videos on the internet has come a long way since they first appeared. And the acceptability and popularity of watching videos online for education, information and entertainment is only increasing. YouTube has over 2 billion users. Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn both allow videos, and you’re not a leading online news outlet if you don’t have video. Videos are everywhere.

Here are some video statistics for you to chew on…

So, here are our 5 big reasons you should try video ads:

1. People Love Videos (Especially on Mobile Phones)

Just like people loved watching TV in the last half of the 20th century, people love watching videos online now. Why read a manual if you can watch a video of someone showing you how to do something? Why not just watch that obscure TV show whenever you want? If you can find out the information you need in a 2 minute video before making a buying decision, why bother reading through the rest of the website? People love watching videos because they are an effective and efficient way to find out information, to learn about something or just to be entertained. Smartphones are now the number one choice for people to watch online videos, taking over desktop computers, smart TVs, tablets and other connected devices. Which goes to show how many other uses people are making of online videos besides watching the latest movie (although they do a lot of that too!).

2. Video Ads Can Tell a Good Story

Like no other medium, videos have a way of evoking emotions, whether they are positive or negative emotions. Telling stories is a great way to make your brand memorable. Companies that do are often rewarded with ad campaigns that go viral. According to Forrester research, one minute of video is worth 1.8 million words. Hubspot put together 17 popular video advertising and marketing Campaigns, and the one thing you can see very clearly about these video campaigns is that they all tell a good story. The great thing about online video ads is that depending on the medium, you can run ads that are as short as 6 seconds or as long as whatever you want (although over 3 minutes is not recommended, and for YouTube, not allowed unless it’s skippable). If you watch the compiled HubSpot videos, the Canadian Tire “Wheels” video ad is one minute long and was one of the most popular viral marketing videos in 2017, while the Coca-Cola “The Last Customer” video ad is over 4 minutes long. As long as you tell a compelling story, the sky is the limit, and the effect on your brand can be profound.

3. Video Ads Can Reach Far and Be Shared Widely

No other type of advertising can be shared quite like Video Ads, which makes them particularly suitable for today’s world in which our friends, family and colleagues are considered a reliable and important source of information. 92% of mobile video users share video. Variety pulled together the top ten most viewed ads on YouTube, which 6 out of 10 originated as Super Bowl ads and were viewed by millions of people. If you’re video ad is informative, educational or entertaining (and you encourage sharing), there’s a good chance your video ad will be shared organically, increasing your return on investment.

4. Social Media and Search Engine Optimization

Social Media and video ads were made for each other. Obviously, social media was built for sharing, so getting your video ad shared is much easier via social media. Video is so popular on social media, Facebook was predicting in 2016 that they will be all video by 2021 (which is just next year!). In one study, 93% of businesses reported landing one new customer when they marketed with video on social media. Search Engines also love video. A study from Searchmetrics, found that 62% of Google universal searches include video. It is well known that Google ranks video content high in their algorithm. As well, Mox found that posts with videos included 3x more inbound linking domains than just text posts, which the number of credible inbound links is an important ranking factor for Google. So, if you want to rank high in Google searches, than using video is incredibly important. Leveraging video advertising on social media, posting videos on your blogs and website, will all increase the chances that someone can find you when they conduct a search. Check out our blog post on 5 ways to increase your rank on YouTube with SEO for videos.

5. Increased Brand Awareness, Conversions and Sales

With so many people loving video, no wonder many marketers find that video advertising leads to increased brand awareness, conversions and sales. Google found that 68% of YouTube users watched a video to help them make a purchase decision. They also found that 50,000 years of product videos have been watched within two years. People want to make sure they are making the right decision and watching a product video is an effective way to get the information they need. The effect on buying decisions might actually be even greater than just running an ad on TV, another Google study found that visual attention is higher for advertising on YouTube mobile than on TV. 78% of marketers rank YouTube as the number 1 social media site for video advertising. Perhaps it’s the skippability factor that makes YouTube advertising outperform everyone else, with many marketers choosing pre-roll skippable video ads as the most effective ad format.

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5 ways to increase your rank on YouTube with SEO for videos
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