Learning Hub | Digital Marketing Basics
Why your small business should consider video marketing
Despite what cable company executives have to say, cord cutting is a real phenomenon. According to Digital Trends, more pay-TV operators actually lost more subscribers than they added for the first time last year. Could it be true that the holy grail of advertising platforms could finally be seeing its demise?
Probably not, at least not anytime soon. However, the previously mentioned statistic is something that should definitely not be ignored. Along with great advances in consumer technology also comes a constant flux of the way the technology is consumed. Currently, media consumption is showing a trend of heading away from televisions and towards computer and phone screens instead.
For small businesses, this creates an opportunity to reach out to their local audience without having to pay exorbitant advertising fees and commissions as they normally would with television advertising. In relative terms, advertising on digital platforms like Youtube are much cheaper than advertising on your average local cable network. Additionally, digital platforms offer businesses the ability to target their advertising towards consumers who are more likely to buy their products or services based off of their respective interests. This allows business owners the ability to make more data-informed marketing decisions, potentially saving time and also budget. Capabilities like Youtube’s Pay-Per-View program makes online video advertising much more enticing by enabling businesses to pay only for quality video views – something that is very difficult to quantify in television advertising.
On the content creation side of things, the increased availability of high-end video production equipment has also contributed to the increase of the supply of skilled cinematographers and directors that specialize in creating video spots for local businesses. In the past, businesses had two options: (1) Make your own commercial with a low-quality camera (think: used car lot commercials) or (2) Pay an agency tens of thousands to millions of dollars to create one for you. Nowadays, with quick Google search, you can find an experienced freelance commercial video producer that can put out great quality content for a fraction of the cost of going to a well-known agency.
Businesses that utilize video marketing have a unique advantage over their local competitors who aren’t doing it. Creating a high-quality video marketing campaign allows businesses to connect with their users in a way that a print advertisement, blog post, sales copy or email cannot. Videos allow businesses to tell their story at the click of a button without requiring users to scroll down a long page filled with content. From a sales perspective, we all know that storytelling is a key aspect to a successful sales strategy.
What are some of the best local business video marketing campaigns that you have come across online?