More and more companies are making the transition to visual media, because it costs next to nothing and the ROI is substantial.
Video is the new home page, according to a recent New York Times article, which points out thousands of companies are slowly making the transition to video and/or viral video marketing because:
- customers are more engaged by visual media
- when using search engines, customers are more likely to click on videos than they are written descriptions
- YouTube currently boasts more than two billion hits per day, and
- video is a low-cost way for companies to engage buyers in a unique way, perhaps even giving a face to the company, its employees and its reputation for quality.
The most common use of corporate video is as a means of demonstrating products and services to customers all over the country (and the world, for that matter). Companies no longer have to spend the money to send a salesperson or technical advisor for small training or installation problems that can be addressed in a 5-minute video.
YouTube even offers analytic tools that allow companies to measure the effectiveness of their online video campaigns in terms of demographics, etc.
Meanwhile, small to mid-size companies with low or no advertising budget can now compete for market share with much larger companies, thanks to the viral video craze. It should be noted, however, that the most successful viral videos are those that mention a brand’s product or service in more of a periphery way.
In other words, people click and watch for the entertainment value, not the brand that sponsors it.
Eventually, it seems only logical that companies will transition almost completely to video for easy-to-follow how-to guides, troubleshooting, answers to FAQs, and perhaps even certain service issues.
Source: “Online Video as a Marketing Tool,” by Kermit Pattison, New York Times, 3/16/11.
