The future is film
Video dominates the internet. Already, more than 64% of internet traffic is video content (Cisco) and Cisco predicts that, by 2019, this could rise to 80%: “Every second, nearly a million minutes of video content will cross the network.”
It’s clear why: video is an engaging way to inform and entertain people (and there’s no reason why your video can’t be both informative and entertaining!). It’s visually rich and easy to process, so we pick up information from a video without effort – without being fully conscious of it. And, with our HD smart phones, many of us are watching video content on the move, wherever we are.
Not whether, but how
Google understands that videos are important too, which is why having a video on key pages of your website improves your Google ranking.
So now the question is not whether video has a place in your marketing strategy, but how it fits in with it. How can video integrate with your marketing messages and channels: how should you share your video content with the world? You could share your video content throughout your website, on your YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, in tweets – it’s all part of your digital content strategy.
Films create connections…
In a world with so much choice, we want to connect with brands we identify with, or that feel special to us. We want to be part of their story. Creating these connections helps to build loyalty, and connections happen most rapidly with film.
Just a few seconds of film can elicit an emotional response – a laugh, a smile, a tear – and help viewers connect with your brand. This can be especially true on social media channels where videos play automatically; they catch the viewer’s eye and can embed your brand in memory even if they scroll on past.
… and connections create conversions
In October 2015 we made a film for cycle apparel brand Vulpine, to support their Crowdcube funding campaign. We helped them to tell their story – where they’ve come from and where they’re going – which was key to engaging investors. The proof? They hit their funding target in just five days. In fact, due to high demand from investors, the pitch was closed before the original end date, by which point they’d raised twice as much as they set out to.
And when it comes to exposure, From Timber To Tide – our film about traditional wooden boat builder Ben Harris – generated a lot of attention. It was watched more than 120,000 times after Vimeo awarded it a Staff Pick in December 2015 and several high-profile blogs (including Devour.com, hypebeast.com and theawesomer.com) featured the film.
Dropbox is another great example of how film can make a huge difference. They added an explainer video to their homepage, to help people work out what Dropbox is and why it could work for them. As a result, Dropbox increased its conversions by 10%, allegedly leading to somewhere between $24 million and $48 million in revenue.
It’s worth the investment
Video can make your digital marketing communications work harder. Including a video can give you higher click-through rates on your emails, generate more conversions from your homepage, and help you acquire new leads at a lower cost.
Let’s share stories
Whatever your marketing goals, investing in film is the perfect way to help people engage with the stories that make your brand. Not sure what your stories are? That’s just one more reason to get in touch – together we can discover the best way to have a conversation with your audience.