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5 Reasons Why Video Can Help You Grow Your Business

by | Mon, Sep 23 2019

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Whether you are a startup or an established business, video is a powerful tool in your arsenal to help your Christian business grow from strength to strength. Whether it’s live streaming or an Instagram video, the trend of video communications in our online world is one that every enterprise needs to pay closer attention to.

Michael Fardell, Founder and Managing Director of video production agency Screencraft  shares his views on why video is fast becoming the most effective form of content to reach your audience and how businesses can grow by utilising this dynamic form of media communications. 

1. Most People Are Visual Learners

How do most people recall and digest information? While it is difficult to measure, it’s estimated that around 65% of people are visual learners. This may explain the explosion of video content online over the past 5 years. 

Did you know:

  • YouTube has over 1.9 billion logged in monthly users and has launched in over 91 countries.
  • 6 out of 10 people prefer online video platforms to live TV.
  • Video on landing pages is capable of increasing conversion rates by over 80%.
  • 49 per cent of consumers connect with video streaming on Facebook.
  • 90 per cent of consumers indicate product videos directly inform purchase decision. 

The explosion in the growth of video content online can partly be explained by its ability to create an immediate and authentic route to connect with an audience. It also taps into the need of many to see things first before they believe it. Whatever your business sells, you will have a hard time successfully communicating your core messages if you don’t invest in visual content that resonates with your audience. 

Many businesses are turning to video now as they see the ability to reach an audience online that was previously inconceivable. A video on social media can be watched anytime, anywhere by anyone.

Girls watching video on mobile phones

2. Videos Can Go Viral

 We have all probably watched videos that have gone viral on the internet, viewed a million times over. The phenomenon of online videos becoming viral is a marketer’s dream and goes to the core of what a great video is all about – standing out from the crowd. It’s the surest way to cut through the noise of the internet. As American author and businessman Seth Goodwin puts it:

Our message becomes self-replicating and is repeated across the Internet only when our visuals or message strikes a chord with our audience. It may be completely unintended, as most viral videos are, but the community participation that sprouts from a deeply engaging video can help assist our sales, marketing and publicity objectives like few forms of media and advertising can. Unlike the one way entertainment of the 20th century, this community participation is encouraged by online channels such as YouTube, Facebook or Instagram that allow viewers of video to respond to video content in real time through comments and sharing. 

According to Harvard Business Review, people who watch shared content rather than videos they’ve found by browsing, are found to be more likely to buy a product and recommend it to others. In fact, audiences are about 10 times more likely to engage, embed, share, and comment on video content than blogs or related social posts. 

3. It’s All About The Story

With the proliferation of smartphones and easy to use editing software, it seems that anyone these days can make a video. But if you are looking to harness visuals to move your audience, you need to use moving images in a compelling story-like form to successfully amplify your business messages. This takes time to workshop the story so your narrative is shaped in such a way that your audience feels more connected to your brand. 

A story is only as good as the impact it creates and that impact is dependent on how you share your narrative to your audience. Try to answer questions such as: What are you passionate about? Why did you start your business? How does your business help others? If you are still needing direction, remember who your audience is. From one of the most visually successfully storytellers of our time, take it from Stephen Spielberg:

Clean audio, stimulating visuals and a well-crafted story are needed but not in a way that is contrived and put on. It is about producing a video that is truly unique, raw and genuine… that’s what really matters to your audience. In less than three minutes, your video can engage your audience, inspire them with a vision and convey complex ideas if told in an authentic way. By resonating with your audience through storytelling, you can extend your reach and build successful marketing campaigns.

Conversion Rate Increase illustration

4. Higher Conversion Rates

A powerful video can have a transformative effect on viewers and their perception of your business. TV advertisers have known this for years and that’s why high-end commercials cost millions to create because of the return they bring. 

While most businesses don’t have a multi-million marketing budget to play with, there are low cost ways to create video content that can be just as persuasive. Marketers evaluate the success of a marketing approach by measuring what is known as the conversion rate. The conversion rate can be defined by the percentage of users that take the desired action or outcome. This may be buying a product, attending an event or signing up to a program. 

While recent research shows that 71% of marketers say video conversion rates outperform other marketing content, the effectiveness of video is largely determined by the quality of the content and its ability to make a powerful impression on the audience.  When video content touches their emotions, they are likely to remember your content and absorb your messages.  

5. Video is Dynamic

Video is one of the most adaptable tools to carry your message so you can achieve the strongest impact on your audience. The first step in the video production process is to define what you are trying to achieve, whether it’s elevating your brand, promoting a product, market or service. 

For a business, you can use video content in-house for onboarding new staff or ongoing training resources. Externally, videos can be used as customer testimonials, an introduction video for who your business on your website or how-to videos to help your customers with problems.  

There is so much noise in the market, with everyone vying for attention. The only way to achieve sustained engagement with your audience is opting for creative video content. There are many elements of a video you can be creative with – light, sound, tone of voice, facial expression or typography. It can be animated, shot live or a mixture of both. World renowned video marketing expert, Mark Robertson, best describes the flexible nature of video:

The technology is available today that allows your video to be shown live and scheduled by your choosing so that it reaches a broader audience. A great example of this are webinars that can be streamed live but then later automated so more people are able to interact with the content. You also have the option to edit the content, to ensure your images and messages are hitting the mark. This saves you from pouring money into one expensive video that fails to deliver a return on investment. 

It’s all about getting over the hurdle of creativity that will determine whether your video delivers in the long-term or not. An experienced video production company can help you know what works creatively across multiple markets, industries and age groups.

At the end of the day, it’s all about leveraging the power of video to promote, brand, and grow your business in an increasingly online world.

Photos in this article are from Shutterstock.com