Why Industrial Companies Should Use Video

Written by Kerry O'Malley Monday, 27 June 2011 11:17

As recently as five years ago, it was only BtoC companies doing anything with video on the Internet to entice customers.  That was BG - Before Google.  Before Google acquired YouTube, that is.  That happened in 2006, and at the time, YouTube was mainly used by "the young folks" for sharing personal and music videos.  Then everything changed.   With each passing year, video has become increasingly important to not only BtoC companies, but manufacturers and industrial companies as well.  There are good reasons for that, and here are a few of them:

1. A survey conducted by video ad company YuMe revealed that 49% of respondents said they watch videos on the Internet every day.
2. In that same YuMe survey, 66% surveyed said they watched more online video now than they did a year ago, and 40% said they expected to spend even more time on the Internet watching videos in the future.
3. Video delivers substantial SEO benefits.  According to Forrester Research, video increases the chance of your website landing on the front page of Google search results by 53 times.  Did you get that?  You're 53 times more likely to come up on the front page of Google with a video than with text alone.  That's what I call an impressive statistic!
4. Forrester also reported that emails containing video deliver two to three times the click-through rates of emails without video.
5. Some individuals are much more comfortable "learning" through visual, as opposed to written communication.  For this segment of your target audience, video is your best bet for reaching them.
6. No matter how well written, text can never quite compare with video in demonstrating how a technical product, piece of machinery, or system works.
7. Video makes any company look more authentic, more credible, and depending on the content, more human.
8. The greatest copy in the world cannot engage and move an individual to action the way a well-produced video can.  Video sells - literally. Why do you think infomercials have made millions for inventors of ho-hum products?

The quality of the video itself is not quite as important as the content.  In this early phase of video use by industrial marketers, much is forgiven.  We're in the stage of new technology adoption, comparable to the romance stage of a relationship.  Many flaws are excused as we view the industrial companies stepping out with videos on their websites, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook as courageous pioneers and technically savvy marketing leaders.  Isn't that how you'd like your company to be viewed?

Next post: creative approaches and strategies for industrial companies that want to use video.