Demand for video content is growing. It is becoming an increasingly important marketing tactic as 90% of customers say that videos help them make buying decisions and Google estimates that 6 out of 10 people would rather watch online videos than TV. Historically, the creation of video was time-consuming and expensive. However, today it is far easier and cheaper than ever to create content in-house as marketers are building corporate studios to efficiently keep up with content volume demand. Below, I share insight from Helen Aboagye, CMO of Divido and former CMO of Imagen, an intuitive video management platform.
Aboagye suggests that video content become more important? “With more consumers preferring video content, this demand has created a shift in how organizations create marketing and social media campaigns. The goal is to keep consumers and prospective customers engaged. Video enables companies to take control over their brand and how it’s perceived, and it’s infiltrating so many of the common marketing channels and tactics from websites and landing pages to blogs, vlogs, demos and social. Data supports its use. For example, video on landing pages can increase conversion rates by over 80%, and mentioning the word “video” in your email subject line increases open rates by 19%.”
“While video has historically been relegated to CMOs in certain industries (e.g., CMOs in sports, etc.), more and more CMOs today are having to develop a competency in video as it is becoming universally important to consumers across industries. Aboagye suggests that: “The demand for video is growing massively and shows no signs of slowing down – in fact, research shows that video is the most engaging form of content with video representing 60% of global data. The demand for more video has forced marketers to create more engaging, relevant marketing and social media campaigns that will resonate with consumers and customers alike, and thanks to modern technology, it’s cheaper and easier than ever to produce video content in-house as opposed to outsourcing these types of projects, and will soon become part of the whole business strategy. As such, not only is it in the CMO’s best interest to meet their audience with video, they should also consider using video as a wider corporate communications tool.
The emergence of connected devices has also lent itself to video consumption skyrocketing. Subsequently, consumers can easily browse and view videos, so marketing teams should expect little patience for second rate content experiences and those that don’t involve video. To add a bit of context, video is shared and engaged with 1200% more than images and the written word, and there are general nuances with tone and presentation that the written word cannot express, giving way to the explosion in video that we are seeing. This helps people to emotionally connect with and engage with a message and subsequently a brand or organization.
As a result, it fits well within the marketing remit to develop their department’s competency in video for their outbound and internal strategies. When communicating the product and offering, marketing departments are responsible for that customer interaction.”
Given the increased demand, a key concern for CMOs is how to incorporate this activity into their org structure. Aboagye suggests that: “As the sheer amount of content has grown, it has become increasingly onerous for people to take control of it alongside their full day-to-day job, largely due to inefficient storage, retrieval and distribution initiatives. Often, by the time teams realize this problem they are too heavily invested and can’t find a way to effectively control these valuable assets. This is why it’s important to make sure the proper tools and systems are in place to handle the breadth of content being produced before it becomes an issue.
For example, DAZN, a live and on-demand sports streaming service, produces tons of original content. As such, they’re taking this opportunity to reinvent their marketing strategy by creating a unified, sharing platform to make content accessible, allowing influencers and end users to easily and efficiently engage with and distribute videos that most resonate with their audiences. This is a good move considering recent studies have shown sports fans – especially those in younger generations – are most heavily impacted by influencers and have a positive impact on buying and viewing decisions.
In other cases, we’re seeing entire departments created around the growth in content, especially video. For example, BP operates their video management initiative on a global scale, with an entire dedicated department that reports into their business development teams. This team creates films and other multimedia assets that help train staff and promote BP’s achievements to both internal and external audiences.
In the sports industry, there is a market demand for more and more content – this is nothing new. Broadcasters, such as Sky, BT and BBC, among others, are familiar with using sophisticated tools for accessing content. If rights holders, sports federations and leagues don’t have these platforms in place, broadcasters will go elsewhere.”
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