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Why Video? A Few Facts...Online video users expected to reach

1.5 Billion

by 2016

Cisco expectsvideo traffic to account for

57%of all consumer internet traffic

by 2015

Dr. James Mcquivey ofForrester Research

says

1.8 Million

=of video words

1MinuteVideo results

appeared in

70%of the top 100

search listings on Google

in 2012

4 in 10Shoppers visited a store online or in-

person as a direct result of watching a video

Understanding the Importance of Video

A growing number of social and user generated channels are vying for user attention, and brands continue to push to be part of the conversation.

As the facts on the proceeding slide show, video is the fastest growing segment of content and continues to capture the attention of audiences like nothing else available.

Various channels continue to invest in integrating video into their capabilities, including:

‣ Instagram now allows both photos and short videos.

‣ LinkedIn encourages video in advertising options.

‣ Vine is one of the fastest growing social channels.

‣ The average YouTube visitor watches 388 minutes of video each month.

‣ YouTube has over 1 billion unique users to its site each month.

Video in the Funnel - The Old Way

One of the keys to success with video is understanding its place in the marketing funnel.

Many marketers make the mistake of thinking of video as only a tool for top of the funnel marketing like brand awareness. These videos are often expensive or flashy and out of reach for many small to mid-sized brands, and can’t be created frequently.

This misguided obsession with “top of the funnel” only videos means missed opportunities for video.

Awareness

Consideration

Conversion

Loyalty

}

Video in the Funnel - The Right Way for SEO

Using video throughout the sales and marketing funnel means marketers can sacrifice expensive production for quality content that explains a product or service to users.

Videos that help solve problems or address common concerns across a vertical have the highest conversion rates. Companies should focus efforts here to appeal to users specific needs.

Take a look at the funnel to the right for examples of where you can use videos along each step of your customer lifecycle.

Top of Funnel

Middle of Funnel

Bottom of Funnel

Brand awarenessCompany / feature overviewEvents / executive speakingHigh quality research

Detail product informationCase studiesWebinars and customer events

User generated contentInternal training / office fun

Where Does Video Fit in the Funnel?

High Quality

Low Quality

Infrequent

Frequent

Sales PitchFeature Tours

Customer SpotlightCEO Speaking Event

Tips and TricksSeminars

Screencasts / TutorialsInternal Training

User Generated ContentOffice Life / Fun

This graphic is courtesy of Kieran Farr, CEO & Founder of Vidcaster. The original use of this graphic can be found in the following FOUNDFriday episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktJlNqSSmKg

Videos that you are only going to produce once a year like a sales pitch or feature tours are great to put a lot of resources into to make a high-quality production; however frequency is important for content marketing. Since many organizations cannot afford to create multiple high-quality videos each year, it’s better to produce consistent videos of a lower quality that give users the information they need. The continuum below illustrates video production needs.

Best Practices in Video SEOTo make the most of using video throughout the funnel, try incorporating some of these best practices:

‣ Create a repeatable, templatable process for creating videos at various stages of the funnel. This will ensure that you and others in your organization can spend your time on the video content, not the details of getting things set up.

‣ Avoid hosting videos on both YouTube and your website. YouTube’s high domain authority makes it a formidable opponent in driving traffic and you’ll be essentially competing against yourself.

- For brand awareness, publish videos to channels like YouTube or Vine.

- To use videos for conversion, pick a video platofrm that will house the videos on your website so that you drive traffic to your existing site.

‣ Use screencast videos for overviews of product features and “how-to” guides.

‣ If you use audio, try to include a transcript, this will boost your SEO and provide users a guide to the content so they can follow along.