Why video content is important for small businesses
It’s no secret that the online business space is busy! As business owners, we are constantly seeking ways to stand out and engage with our audience - especially on social media.
Video content has become one of the most effective tools for businesses to achieve their marketing goals with platforms like Instagram prioritising video content in their algorithm. Videos can provide a unique and captivating way to showcase your products and services, build brand awareness, and increase sales.
This post will explore why video content is essential and how it can help your business grow.
1: INCREASED ENGAGEMENT
Video content has been shown to increase engagement levels compared to other forms of content. This is because it provides a unique and interactive way for businesses to showcase their products and services, and connect with their target audience.
Think about when you’re scrolling through your Instagram feed - you probably scroll past a bunch of still images but slow down or even stop your scroll when you notice movement (i.e. a video).
A well-made video can grab the viewer's attention and keep them engaged for a longer period of time than a single image alone.
This makes it easier for you to share information with your audience.
And, if people are taking the time to watch your videos and actually pay attention to your content, they’re more likely to engage with it too!
2: BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Sometimes, it’s super hard to demonstrate what your business offers with a still image or written description alone.
By showcasing your offerings in a visually appealing and interactive way, you can provide a more comprehensive understanding of what you have to offer. For physical product-based businesses, this might seem quite obvious and an easy concept to understand.
But what about service-based businesses? Or virtual businesses? You can create videos that showcase the results you achieve for your clients or simply demonstrate the wide range of services that you offer (think about that super popular Reels trend where the audio says “I do this…but I also do this…”)
As I mentioned above, people are spending longer on video content which means they’re also more likely to consume the full information vs. a caption and still image content where they may only see the first couple of words of the caption and scroll on by!
3: INCREASED CONVERSION RATES
The aim of the game in any marketing efforts is to ultimately convert viewers into buyers!
One of the main benefits of video content for business owners is the increased conversion rates it can bring.
Because video provides a more comprehensive understanding of what businesses have to offer (see point number 2 👆) it makes it easier for potential customers to make informed purchasing decisions. The more information your potential clients and customers have about what you are selling, the better they can decide.
Not only does this help with making sales but it also leads to fewer customer service “issues” and fewer refund requests because they had all the information they needed right at the beginning.
Additionally, video content can help to build trust and establish credibility with potential customers, making them more likely to convert. Remember: humans connect with humans and video is a great way to showcase your personality!
4: YOU CAN CREATE LOADS OF CONTENT FROM A SINGLE VIDEO
Longer videos, like those created for YouTube really lend themselves to being repurposed into lots of other content. And we all love repurposing, right?!
Here’s just an idea of what you can create from one single YouTube video:
Your video itself (duh!)
1x blog post (Pro tip: run your audio file through a tool like otter.ai for a transcript in just a few minutes so you’re not starting from scratch!)
1x Podcast episode. Pull the audio from the video and create a short and sweet podcast episode from it.
3-5x Facebook posts.
1-2x LinkedIn posts.
3-5x Tweets.
1-3x Instagram posts.
3-5x Reels. Just chop up the video and pull out your best bits!
3-5x TikToks AND YouTube shorts (just reuse the Reels you just created!)
And that’s all just from one YouTube Video!
5: INCREASED SOCIAL SHARES AND THE POTENTIAL TO GO VIRAL
We’ve all seen those videos where the influencer looks directly into the camera and says “today I’m trying out the X, Y, Z that’s been going viral on TikTok!”
Imagine if that was your product or service/hack that they were talking about!!!!
Your audience shares your video with their audience who then share it with their audience who then share it with their audience and the ripple effect continues until there’s not a household in the world that doesn’t know about you (well, maybe not quite but you get the idea!)
People love sharing videos because they make them feel a certain way:
Video made you laugh? Share it with a friend.
Video made you emotional? Share it with a friend.
Video contains a mind-blowing fact or hack? Share it with a friend.
It’s easy to see how video content gains traction quickly and, if you’re not using video in your business, your missing out on this potential.
So what are you waiting for? Get out your phone and start filming today!
We’d love to talk about your video content requirements with you. If you like what you’ve read but feel the need for additional support you can get in touch with us here to discuss how we can help get your video content off the ground!