If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how many words is a video worth? A million? Forrester researcher, Dr. James McQuivey, estimates that one minute of video is equal to 1.8 million words.
Regardless of how many words are actually spoken during a video, we know that video captures the storyteller’s emotion in a way that words alone simply can’t. Video captures more attention spans with an added degree of personalization and makes complex ideas easier to explain. This makes it an ideal marketing tool, yet, surprisingly, not all marketers have embraced the power of video and distribution channels like YouTube. They’re missing out!
Here are 4 reasons why you should market your business with video and bring YouTube into your marketing mix:
- Reach: Your target audience is on YouTube
- Intent: Your customers want to find you on YouTube
- Engagement: People would rather watch videos than read
- Conversion: YouTube engagement helps you acquire new customers
1. Reach: Your target audience is on YouTube
Youtube is the second most popular search engine in the world with a staggering 2 billion users. Google, being number one, owns YouTube. So it should come as no surprise that SEO best practices for Google stand true with YouTube as well.
Marketers should take into account who their target audience is and where they spend their time online. On average, internet users spend six hours and forty-eight minutes per week watching video content. It goes without saying that YouTube should definitely be on your radar. However, given the vast amount of other videos posted — 300 hours of video uploaded every minute — it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.
To make sure your YouTube videos get seen by your targeted audience, make sure you employ keyword best practices with a strategy and purpose in mind. The number one rule to follow? Don’t create content for the sake of creating content.
2. Intent: Your customers want to find you on YouTube
Contrary to other social media channels where users subconsciously swipe through content, with YouTube the user has an objective in mind. That objective can be finding a solution to a problem (“how to install a kitchen sink”), improving a skill like (“5 tips to edit video like a pro”), or entertainment (“best vine compilations”).
The advantage that you have as a marketer is the ability to step into the shoes of your target audience. Make it easy for your target market to find your brand by thinking of the questions that your customers are asking and addressing them in the title and description of your videos.
3. Engagement: People would rather watch videos than read
It’s estimated that by 2022, online videos will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic — 15 times higher than it was in 2017. A large reason for this is that individuals simply prefer to watch a video than read an article. In fact, 59% of executives opt for video over text. The reason? Videos make things easier to understand.
Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. This explains the plethora of “how-to” videos and guides designed to teach viewers that proliferate YouTube. 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video than alternatives like text or infographics. And because video is so effective, it often gets shared by the individual who watched it. In fact, videos generate 1200% more shares than images and text combined.
An added benefit of posting video content to YouTube is its syndication. YouTube isn’t the end destination of your content; it’s just the beginning. YouTube makes it extremely easy for your content to be shared with others through other channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and other websites.
4. Conversion: YouTube engagement helps you acquire new customers
The increased traffic, engagement, and shares spurred by YouTube ultimately lead to conversion — and the statistics show it. According to Brightcove, 76% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video.
Overall, marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users. The math adds up to a positive ROI for your business. YouTube's algorithm is designed to help users find the right video to answer their question, and then keep them engaged and watching.
Even better, YouTube supports marketers by providing tools like playlists, cards, and end screens to keep users engaged with your videos. This encourages your YouTube video viewers to become your email subscribers, leads, customers and ultimately, advocates for your brand.
Starting a YouTube video channel is easier than you think
Arguably the biggest reason more marketers aren’t leveraging YouTube for their business is...themselves. One survey found that 83% of marketers would increase their reliance on video as a strategy if it weren’t for perceived obstacles like time, resources and budget. But getting started with video is likely much easier than you think.
If you'd like to learn more about all the opportunities using YouTube, get our complete guide to YouTube marketing.
Limitations of resources and budget should no longer be an excuse. Most marketers are walking around with a quality smartphone camera in their pocket and can start editing their content using a quality video editor for free! Given the amount of time people spend watching videos — along with higher conversion and engagement rates — making time to start a YouTube channel should be a marketer’s top priority.
How to start a YouTube channel for business
Your business can use YouTube to address customer questions, promote brand messages, portray life at the office and much more. The reach, engagement opportunity, and conversions are there; it’s just a matter of getting started.
Using a video editor like WeVideo for YouTube makes the editing process simple, but also gives you all the power to produce quality, professional-looking content.