Is Video the Next Big Thing for SEO and Marketing?

It wasn’t all that long ago that we were talking about how mobile technology was advancing and the effects it was to have on changing the marketing and advertising landscape. With mobile now being the most commonly used technology by consumers, and more and more companies adapting to the ever-growing mobile marketplace, what’s the next big thing that will revolutionise the marketplace? Chances are, it’s going to be online video marketing.

Growth Potential

Today, video marketing and video communications are making up almost seventy percent of all Internet traffic, and it is forecast to reach 80% in the next 2-3 years. The popularity of video has spread to advertising and marketing, too, with companies such as eMarketer estimating that over US$7bn is going to be spent on online video marketing each year since 2015. In the next 3-4 years, the US-dollar amount spent on video marketing is expected to double, with mobile video growing at an average rate of 65-70% per year. Even the desktop computer, which is quickly becoming a thing of the past, is set to experience explosive growth in video advertising at over ten percent per year run rate. Video marketing is also becoming an essential factor for SEO, with digital marketing companies such as iFame giving it much more attention.

Video Effectiveness

The main reason for the rapid growth in video marketing is effectiveness. As the saying goes, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ – but, a video is worth a thousand more. Research estimates that one-minute of video is akin to over a million words of text when it comes to the message communicated. Moreover, the effectiveness of video content is more than simply volume. Even with all of that information crammed into one video, consumers are far more likely to remember videos than they are text or images. The Online Publishers Association conducted a survey that found that 80% of users could recall watching a video ad within the last month and almost fifty percent of those users/viewers took some kind of follow-up action – often a sales action – as a result of watching the video.

Ease of Use

Although there are some obstacles that still remain when it comes to using video for marketing and SEO, especially for small businesses, which report cost as being one of the biggest obstacles, video technology solutions are making the use of video content much more accessible and simplifying video production processes and distribution options to overcome these perceived obstacles. Due to the technology required to shoot, edit and distribute online video becoming more advanced and widespread, the price of online video production is decreasing dramatically. For example, it’s now possible to shoot videos in high definition using the latest smartphone and there are free and inexpensive video-editor, software solutions available online, if you are inclined to create videos on your own. Because simple and short video formats are often the most effective, meaning that there’s no need for your video to be a movie with special effects or actors, creating your own video content for your business is always an option, in the event you have the time, resources, and creative skills to map out a video production process properly so that you can be proud of your videos.

So in summary, using quality video content for marketing and advertising are significantly important when it comes to online marketing and SEO. If you want to get the edge over the competition, and increase your brand popularity and help you sales team, creating an online video marketing strategy and producing quality videos are the next big thing to get involved in; your sales and business development teams will love you for it, promise!