Online Video Marketing Will Have A Phenomenal 2017

People remember 20 per cent of what they hear, 30 per cent of what they see, and a whopping 70 per cent of what they see and hear. If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine the worth of a video, which is about 30 pictures a second! However, video remained an untapped channel of content marketing till recently. But now that's changing. Videos are being posted online rampantly for marketing and promotional purposes. Be it entertaining web series with ads plugged in, TVCs adapted for web, animations, webinars, surveys, demos and live-launches, online videos are emerging at a rapid pace. Youtube reports that mobile video consumption rises 100 per cent every year. Facebook video viewership doubled in 7 months to reach 8 billion views per day. A recent Forbes study shows 90 per cent of marketing respondents prefer to incorporate video in their campaigns. No wonder, online video is poised for a phenomenal leap as a marketing tool in 2017.

What Makes Videos So Effective?

Susan Weinschenk (author and consultant for Amazon, Disney and Walmart) says, video marketing is a must have in any marketing strategy for these simple reasons:

1. We are programmed to respond to humans. Our brain is wired to interpret what we see in other human faces and decide how believable something may be.
2. Video keeps our attention, it transforms meaningless text into living, breathing content. We pick up on emotion through video that we may often miss when reading text.
3. Movement grabs our attention and keeps us engaged in whatever is happening. Movement also prompts viewers to stay stimulated throughout the video.

What's the Catch with Online Videos?

The good thing about online content is that the audience will find the content. Whatever be the quantum of content or crazy data points, your audience will flock around the content as long as it has superb storytelling. Why? Because online videos:

1. Break the boundaries: Life has become hectic. You spend a considerable amount of time commuting, and digital content makes your idle hours meaningful.
2. Can't irritate you: There's no such time slot. You can play/pause/skip at will. You've the luxury of time. On the contrary, you don't miss out on anything. You can always check back.
3. Help you explore yourself: When you're in the luxury of solitude, watching the web is a means of self-exploration. You can go as slow, as detailed and as in-depth as you like. You've the power to choose, unlike other formats where the content creators decide for you what to watch and when. That's why good content will definitely resonate with you.
4. Address your personal side: We consume various media in broadly 3 viewing formats:
a) community viewing (cinema, exhibition, play)
b) family viewing (largely TV)
c) individual viewing (workstation, laptop, tablets and mobile).

You can enjoy digital content anywhere, at your convenience, with complete privacy. Consuming digital content on the internet, on your phone, laptop or tab is a great individual viewing experience. It such a personal experience - it's almost like reading a book. It's intentional, and you're more invested in what you see. That's why it leaves a greater footprint on your mind.

Benefits to Marketers

1. Online video on a landing page increases conversion by 80%
2. 90 per cent of users say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the sale decision process
3. Including the word "video" in the subject line increases open rates in emailers by 19%, reduces unsubscribes by 26 per cent, increases CTR by 65 per cent
4. When someone watches a recommended video, their brand recall goes up 7 per cent and enjoyment goes up by 14 per cent. Purchase intent goes up by 97 per cent and brand association by 139 per cent.

Amazing Statistics in Favor

1. 500 million users are watching Facebook videos every day
2. 10 billion users watch videos on Snapchat every day
3. 65% of viewers watch more than 3/4 of a video
4. 33% of viewers watch about an hour of video on their tablets every day
5. 28% of viewers watch a video on their smartphones at least once a day
6. 78% of viewers watch videos online every week
7. 55% of viewers watch videos online every day
8. 82% Twitter users watch video content on twitter
9. 81% of people feature their video on their brand website
10. 93% of marketers use video for Online marketing, Sales and Communication
11. 96% of B2B companies are planning to use video in their content marketing in 2017
12. 52% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the marketing tool with best ROI

The Stage Is Ready
Facebook is testing a dedicated video stream to let users watch videos shared by their network. It is also pushing the envelope to create more video infrastructure. Same thing is true for other social media platforms - the focus is video. While that's the case with social media, entertainment industry is also leaning favorably towards digital. Online videos have become so popular that thousands of indie startups have cropped up and started disrupting the popularity of traditional TV. In India, TVF, AIB and EIC set the trend with web series. And now biggies like Balaji Telefilms and Yashraj Films are following the suit, putting all their muscle and might with ALT and Y-Films respectively. All these combined, it's opening new avenues for digital advertisers. Besides, Jio has made data rates so affordable in India that users won't mind spending hundreds of MBs watching native videos while browsing the web. Other careers are slashing their data prices too. With cheaper smartphones mushrooming and 4G about to be the standard, people will demand and consume more content in video format.