Do you Need to Be Creating Video Marketing Content?

Do you Need to Create Content Marketing Videos

For my latest blog post  I had intended to write about emerging trends in Architectural Photography with the goal of creating a top ten list. However my research led me down a very different path. The role that content marketing video play in our everyday lives.

   1)In a recent blog post by Future of Everything: “82% of all consumer internet traffic will be video by 2020. In 2015 that figure was 70%. One billion different people visit YouTube each month.” 

2) people aged between 14 and 25 spend more time watching video online than on TV.

3) There are 2.1 billion smartphone users in the world, by 2019 this is expected to be 5 billion. In 2015 mobile data accounted for around 5% of total traffic, Cisco expect this to reach 16% by 2020. As more networked cameras come online more video content is inevitable.

4) Jason Hsioa writes on his 1/9/19 Animoto blog that” According to our consumer survey 32% of consumers checked out a brand’s presence on social media before their website in 2018”. Most consumers assume a company’s website is out of date. They presume your social media is current. In this same post Jason notes: “ 48% of consumers said they’ve made a purchase due to a brand’s video on Instagram. And this is a whopping 32% increase from 2017. Video is resonating with consumers on Instagram to the point that they’re purchasing.

5) Not to be out done by consumers; B2B video content is shared at a 20x rate over all other forms of LinkedIn content. Linkedin video ads are being viewed by B2B at 50% rate.

6)  72% of businesses say video has improved their conversion rate.

7) Jenny Mudarri writes in her blog that virtual conferences will continue to replace traditional conferences: “ Virtual conferences do the same thing, but with a global online community. We’re excited to see more companies bring people together with online conferences and presentations in 2019.”

8) Youtube is ranked number two for online searches.

9) According to Kesley Snyder of  Think with Google

“B2B researchers watch video during the entire path to purchase. Online video is where we’ve seen the most growth. Seventy percent of B2B buyers and researchers are watching videos throughout their path to purchase. That’s a 52% jump in only two years. And it’s not just light viewing. According to U.S. YouTube data, over 895K hours of some of the top B2B videos from brands were watched in 2014. Nearly half of these researchers are viewing 30 minutes or more of B2B-related videos during their research process, and almost one in five watch over an hour of content.  What’s got their attention? Videos about product features top the list, followed by how-tos and professional reviews.”

 How can you use video to promote your architecture, engineering, or construction firm? There are many ways from very simple inexpensive video options to complex expensive productions. The first step is to have an idea of what you want for a return on investment of time and money. Listed below are four content video marketing ideas for your firm.

1. Create  a short 3 minute video on a recent project your firm has recently completed. Interview key people involved in the project. Include video clips of  before, during, and after the project is completed. Do not forget about getting some great drone footage as well. Have a narrator for the video piece. 
2. Create a corporate video of your firm. Use it as your digital brochure. Ideally these videos should professionally produced. Done right this video will be a key asset for marketing your firm. Post this video on your website, all social medias channels, put on a thumb drive to hand out at trade shows.
3. Video blogging: Called vlogging, it is blogging done with video. This is something you can create in house with your own camera, or smart phone. Don’t be afraid to have fun with this. Make it fun/Entertaining. Soon you will have a huge audience.
4. Client Testimonials: In the old days a firm would ask a client to write a testimony for the firm’s benefit. In today’s digital driven marketplace a video testimony can give you a much larger audience over your many social media channels. These testimonies can be published on your website.

How much will it cost to produce video content for your firm? It can range from free do it yourself  type videos for blogging . To over one hundred thousand dollars for a high end premium professionally created marketing video. Your marketing team needs to decide who is your target market, what type of return on investment you are hoping receive. The more planning that goes on before hiring a video production team the better value you will receive.

It seems quite clear if you are not producing video content for your firm you will be left in the dust. The old ways of doing things may still work for older clients. But you are leaving out a whole generation on young buyers who look at the world from a video point of view.