Hey Ms. Consumer, when would you like more video marketing?
Like Veruca Salt demanding a treat while visiting Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, consumers want more video content on the Web, social, and email, and they want it now!
Animoto’s annual “Online and Social Video Marketing Study” shows that video marketing is growing and that consumers prefer to learn about products through video. The study also illustrates how video marketing plays a pivotal role in the acquisition of new customers, as well as helps brands engage with existing ones.
The study says that four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. And doing so helps them retain information about that product. Only 14% of the 1,051 U.S. consumers surveyed could remember the last display ad they saw, while 80% could recall the video ads they watched online the week prior.
“The growth of online video marketing in recent years has been tremendous,” said Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto. “Today there are more than 7 billion videos watched every day on Facebook and YouTube. Historically, to create and distribute high-quality video to your customers it was cost-prohibitive for all but the largest brands. However, today’s tools and platforms ensure that small and medium businesses can reach their audiences where they hang out online. This represents one of the biggest marketing opportunities for small businesses in a long time.”
Video marketing is so popular, in fact, that nine out of 10 consumers say they watch at least one online video per week. In addition, the channel does wonders for brand perception:
- Sixty-three percent of consumers say companies that use video know how to reach their customers.
- More than half (56%) of consumers believe that if a company has a website, it should have video.
Video marketing is so powerful, it can enhance a brand’s chances of connecting with consumers via email marketing and social media engagement.
- Eighty-four percent of consumers say they’ve liked a company video that has appeared in their newsfeed.
- More than half (56%) of consumers have watched a company video that came via email.
- Nearly half of consumers have shared a company video on their own social media profile.
- Forty-three percent of consumers are more likely to read email newsletters that include links to video.
Video is even a boon to the purchasing process. The majority of consumers polled find it helpful to watch a product video more than once prior to making a purchase. And video doesn’t have to be long to be effective. Nearly two thirds of those polled believe that company videos should be 60 seconds or less. Furthermore:
- Eighty percent of consumers say a video showing how a product or service works is important when learning about a company.
- Fifty-six percent of consumers say customer testimonials are helpful when purchasing a product/service.
- About half of consumers say that “about the company” videos are the most helpful when purchasing a product/service.
And perhaps the golden goose of all stats to convince marketers to embrace video: One in four consumers lose interest in a company if it doesn’t use video.
