Too Many Content Marketers Ignore Videos

One must understand that great content is worth much more than mediocre content, regardless of format. As the preeminent blog on content marketing puts it, “The first rule of Copyblogger is that you do not publish content that sucks.” So if visual content takes longer, that could be just the challenge you need to up your quality.

And for writers and readers, understand that they represent a minority. Even among successful, middle-class adults, a majority of people don’t read effortlessly. In fact, they equate reading with “work,” and would prefer to get their information through videos, podcasts, and infographics.

But are all those benefits for real? In a word, yes. Here’s why.

Video Boost SEO Rankings

In the easy syndication and linking for videos through sites like YouTube and Vimeo, and it’s easy to see why ranking on search terms through videos can be easier than slugging it out the keyword battles for written content.

But don’t take my word for it, prove it to yourself. Search Google for “content marketing” and check out the top five results

The rankings for videos are much more volatile, and easier to claim.

What you’ll find are the usual suspects of Wikipedia and Alltop, domain-specific websites like ContentMarketingInstitute.com, and Copyblogger.

Now click on “Videos” on the right hand side, to narrow your search to video content. What I found was that the top result was held by a video that was created only four days ago.

In other words, the top spot for videos is still up for grabs.

Videos Improve Audience Engagement

Here are a few eye-opening statistics quoted from Engage, a blog.

– “According to Emarketer.com, a majority of businesspeople surveyed by Forbes in October 2010 said they watched more video currently compared to last year.

– Nearly sixty percent of respondents said they would watch video before reading text on the same webpage, and 22 percent said they generally liked watching video more than browsing text for examining business information.

– Seventy-five percent of all executives said they watched work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, and more than 50 percent use YouTube to watch those videos.

– Sixty-five percent of U.S. executives surveyed by Forbes in October 2010 visit a vendor’s website after viewing a work-related online video.

– Fifty-three percent conducted a search for a vendor, product, or service for more information.

– Forty-two percent made a business related purchase [using video].”

While these results came from surveying enterprise-class CEOs for a Forbes study, it’s easy to see the patterns and to extrapolate them to other time-pressed business owners, and certainly to other consumers. In other words, if you sell business-to-business or considered purchase services, you can bet that quality video content will fair a better chance of reaching the right people than typical written articles.

Increased Word of Mouth

What kind of content gets shared the most on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest? It’s video content.

What kind of content is most easily embedded in other people’s blogs? Videos and visual content.

What content is most closely associated with the term “viral”? Videos. Videos go viral because they’re fun to watch and pack a lot of emotion. Blog posts and written articles very rarely go viral.

Tips for Getting Started with Video Content

If you’re convinced to start creating video content, the best first step is to identify your flagship or cornerstone written content, most deserving of a wider audience.

Find this content by asking the following questions.

– What are the pieces that best create your company’s unique, advocated position?

– What content has already proven itself popular with your audience?

– Which of your articles do you find yourself linking back to most frequently?

Now look at which posts would easily be enhanced by demonstrations, visualizations, video testimonials, or a condensed presentation via snazzy graphics.

Once you have that, just repurpose your already-created content in a new video. If you need to hire talent to create it, go look on Fivver.com or Elance.com. You’ll be surprised at how inexpensive the raw production of video or graphics can be when you come equipped with well-scripted message.