One minute of video is worth 1,800,000 words. Given this stat, it’s no surprise that all businesses are turning to video marketing strategies to increase SEO, engage with their audience or simply tell a story.
Video seemed quite intimidating a decade ago, but with the introduction of smart phones, video is easier and cheaper than ever to produce. While hiring a videographer and photographer for a day long shoot may be great, it may not be cost effective for local businesses. Luckily, the simpler the video is, the more authentic the content seems. Authentic content will increase SEO and placement on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Most platforms prefer authentic content over spammy or over curated content. With U.S. adults spending nearly 6 hours per day watching video, you will be meeting your customers where they already are. Additionally, organic engagement on Facebook is highest when posts contain a video.
Not only is video good for SEO, it gives the consumer extra insight into your business. You can share behind the scenes footage into your restaurant. This will make your brand seem more ‘human’ and ‘relatable.’ Video marketing also builds trust with your digital community of potential clients. By pushing brand awareness and educating your audience through video, you can cultivate more sales. Types of video that customers like to see are product reviews, customer testimonial and case studies. After all, you’d rather watch an engaging 15 second clip rather than read a whole 10-page case study, right?
Quick and Easy SEO Tips and Tricks for Local Businesses
The average user spends 88% more time on a website with video than they do with any other type of content. For SEO efforts, remember to keep your videos short. Videos under two minutes long get the most engagement. Also transcribing your videos and optimizing them by adding subtext, descriptions and meta tags will result in higher search rankings. Google bots will then be able to crawl your content with more accuracy. One of the simplest ways to optimize video for SEO is the filename. Name videos the same way you name images, with targeted keywords.
For the most part, any video is good video but there are a few types of videos that customers prefer to see from businesses. ‘How-to‘ videos rank among the most searched videos online. 93% of millennials go to YouTube to learn how to do something. You can simply teach your audience something new or educate customers on ‘how-to’ use a new product or service. Animated videos are another source of high engagement. They allow you to convey a message quickly and in a visually appealing way. These videos are great for topics that may be harder to explain. Beware that animated videos can incur a cost when using a freelance graphic designer or digital marketer on staff. If your business is hosting a conference or fundraiser, take clips of video periodically and put it all together for an event highlight reel.
Lastly, Live videos are taking social media by storm. Live videos give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at your business. Live videos also draw higher engagement rates; viewers will spend 8.1x longer watching live video rather than video on-demand. You can use Live video to live-stream events, preparation, Q & A’s, etc.
Videos can be one of the best and most inexpensive ways to engage with your audience online. Sharing videos present your business in an appealing way that otherwise can’t be demonstrated through text or images. When you are planning marketing for the duration of the year, make sure you’re allocating time and money for video marketing strategies if you want to be successful!
