Content Marketing Using Online Video
LinkedIn has become the latest popular social media platform to roll out a new video service for its user base.
30-second Q&A-style videos from LinkedIn Influencers were introduced today. If you have ever wanted to know the Bill Gates’ thoughts on Brexit, now’s your chance. The feature is currently limited to Influencers but we expect an expanded roll out and our very own Bryce Anderson giving his thoughts on Pokémon Go in your feeds in the near future.
LinkedIn introducing the video feature is just another in a long, long, line of moves made by today’s largest digital companies to add more video implementation to their repertoire. These moves beg the question: is a total shift to video content imminent in the near future?
According to a 2015 whitepaper by Cisco on global internet provider traffic forecasts, the tech corporation predicts that consumer internet video traffic will go from 64% in 2014 to surpass 80% by 2019. High definition content amongst that figure will rise from 59% in 2014 to 70% in 2019.
Businesses have taken notice of these video traffic trends. By the end of 2014, video posts on Facebook were promoted more than twice as often as they were at the start of the year. The result was a 135% increase in organic reach of video posts.
Video is the Future of Content Marketing and Advertising
With video becoming the future of content marketing and advertising, user experience is being thrust into forethought with more weight than it has ever had before. Agencies are being forced to hire creatives who are experts in effectively putting themselves in their audience’s shoes. They have to not only think like marketers, but think like publishers. Having the ability to save resources and outsource their production to businesses who thrive on creating high quality, engaging video content (like Lightswitch) is becoming more valuable than ever before. Even if an agency has its own in-house crew of videographers, having the ability to outsource a crew across the country for a shoot and not lose time with other obligations and goals is becoming more and more desirable with every online video innovation.
But enhanced user experience is not the only notable consideration rising from the trend.
A 2015 study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that of the 300 brand marketers surveyed, more than two-thirds (68%) expect to see their digital video and ad budgets increase over the next calendar year. Not only that, but they are moving budgets away from television and into online video.
Optimism about the medium has been on a steady rise since 2013, signaled by a 90% increase in commitment to digital video by brand advertisers. According to the study, most advertisers agree that original digital content will become as important as television within 5 years.
Major players in the digital advertising game have caught on to the digital video trend early-on.
Facebook introduced autoplaying videos for both their desktop and mobile interfaces in December 2013. All native Facebook videos (including advertisements) started to autoplay by default. The addition to the site prompted a massive increase in video views on the social networking platform. In 2015, the number of video posts per person jumped by 75%.
In August 2015, both Bing and Yahoo followed Facebook’s footsteps and started showing sponsored video ads within their search results. Thumbnails with related video appear next to “sponsored” results. Google announcing in September 2015 that YouTube-hosted TrueView campaigns would now be part of the core AdWords interface. Ad campaigns of various mediums will now be more easily integrated and managed with other campaigns.
Video has the power to engage audiences like no other medium. Sound, vision, and dialogue help bring brands’ stories and goals to fruition. Whether the marketer is just embarking on an ad campaign, a visual narrative for their company, or pounding the SEO pavement, it is becoming more and more obvious that video will be the medium of choice.
