Look around. Do you see people captivated by their phones? If they’re not texting, then there is a good chance they are watching a video that their friends/family sent them or one that they found while browsing the web or social media.
Over the past couple of years we have seen a full-on video revolution for businesses and marketers. Let’s look at some stats:
- 63% of businesses have started using video content marketing
- 82% of businesses feel video marketing is an important part of their marketing strategy.
- 81% of marketers say video has helped them directly increase sales
- 87% of marketers say video has helped them general good ROI.
It’s clear that video marketing is one of the newest additions to organization’s promotion toolbox.
Now, you might still have your doubts about video. After all, it can be daunting to film and edit your own videos. Is it worth to consider videos for your marketing strategy or for promoting your brand? Can video marketing really influence traffic, leads, sales, and ROI? The simple answer is: Yes and yes.
In case you were on the fence or simply need a little push to the video marketing side of the fence, I interviewed my colleagues to learn more about the reasons why you should be using video marketing right now.
Why should organizations be focusing on a video marketing strategy?
John Lynn, CEO & Founder, Healthcare IT Today
Video leaves a long lasting impression on people. The investment you make in video is going to have impacts on your business for years to come and across organizations if you do it right. Plus, the cost to produce a video has come way down. Finally, social networks are also prioritizing video content, so there’s a real opportunity to benefit from that prioritization.
Colin Hung, CMO and Editor at Healthcare IT Today
People love watching short videos on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. We can’t get enough. Everywhere you look, people are watching videos – in line at the grocery store, waiting for elevators, and walking on the street (not safe!). Incorporating video into your marketing strategy has become a MUST-HAVE rather than a nice-to-have. If you have a product or service, I expect to find a how-to video on your website. Same with customer testimonials. Video is quickly becoming the preferred way to consume content.
In your opinion, what makes a successful video?
John Lynn
This really depends upon the goal of the video. At the HITMC unconference session on video, we realized that while some were creating videos for the larger health IT audience, many of the efforts around video were extremely targeted as part of an ABM campaign or even an ABM campaign of 1. The key to a successful video is knowing what the goal is for the video. Once you know that, it will guide the creation. For example, I work with many people who just want to get their customer on the record. Video was a good way to do that and any distribution of the video beyond that was a bonus.
Colin Hung
It doesn’t matter if you are a healthcare provider or a health IT company, a successful video must always serve a purpose. That purpose can be to provide education, share an idea, or motivate the viewer to take action. I find it best for videos to have a singular focus. If you try to do too many things in a video, it can end up being a pointless mess.
In the past, video quality was an important fact. Nowadays, video quality is less of a concern and ‘raw’ videos without a lot of fancy graphics are perceived to be more authentic. Audio quality, however, is key to a successful video. If there are people talking, you want to make sure their voices are picked up clearly. If it is just music playing, make sure that it’s high quality.
Can video marketing really influence traffic, leads, sales, and ROI?
John Lynn
Absolutely, but it’s harder to measure. It also depends on how you use video. If you’re integrating targeted and customized videos into your sales process, then you’ll see how impactful it can be. However, it’s also worth remembering that most sales in health IT are done by committees of people and any one of a dozen people can hijack your sales process. A great video that’s viewed by the masses can create some quality brand awareness with those in the room where it happens so that they don’t hijack your internal advocate when they bring your solution to the table.
Colin Hung
Absolutely yes. Videos are useful in all parts of the marketing and sales process. Explainer videos are great for prospects who could not be present during the demonstration. Testimonial videos are useful in the early as well as late stages of the buying process. I see videos the same way I see blog posts and social media posts. Consistently making and distributing quality videos will help you build trust with your audience. Once you have that trust established, you can keep sending other content or even more videos to them to further engage them in conversation.
One metric, however, that videos should not be judged on is: # leads generated. Videos are not lead generating assets.
What tactics can we expect to see this year when it comes to video marketing?
John Lynn
I think this year we’re going to see the creativity unleashed in videos. Lots of companies and people have been investing in video and that will lead to some of the best videos we’ve seen. I also expect we’ll see a lot more short videos out there and we’ll see a number of companies and organizations playing around with video on platforms like Instagram and TikTok which haven’t been traditionally good for B2B marketers.
Colin Hung
I expect more B2B companies will start to use TikTok for marketing. We see consumer brands already there and B2B will not be far behind. I also expect more companies to move away from highly-produced corporate videos to more “raw footage” ones – shot with cell phones rather than professional crews. Lastly, I expect to see more companies and organizations to use video as part of their marketing initiatives.
Looking to incorporate video into your or your client’s marketing toolbox? We can help! Learn more about Healthcare Scene’s discounted video packages here.
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