In 2022 we find ourselves in a different world entirely.
When YouTube was founded in 2005 it drew an audience of 30,000 viewers a day; fast-forward 17 years, where YouTubers are celebrities (millionaires at that) and the platform is the second-most visited website in the world – after Google – drawing over 30 million unique visitors each and every day.
Similarly, the world of video marketing has experienced exponential growth, and with nine out of 10 consumers wanting to see more videos from brands and businesses this year, today’s consumer is hungry for content. At 90 Seconds we work with over 4,500 of the world’s biggest brands to help feed that appetite.
Suffice to say, today’s consumer is more than simply adept at video – they’re connoisseurs, watching, on average, 100 minutes a day1 – up from 69 minutes a week just four years ago, with this figure only set to grow further. Video is the single most effective marketing tool available to marketers today, reaching audiences and driving results as a medium like no other. With skywards growth trajectories, the importance of video as a means for communication is only growing and in 2022, video is cited to be the highest priority for marketers, with 93% stating it’s an important part of their strategy for 2022 and 91% saying the pandemic has made video content all the more vital for their brand2. Businesses need to get ahead of this to ensure they’re meeting consumer demand, staying ahead of their competitors and fulfilling their full market reach potential.
Come 31 December 2022, video streaming will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic3. It therefore comes to stand that, given its paramount importance, getting it right is essential and for those new to the medium, it can be slightly difficult to know where to start. From Company Stories to Company News, Product Demos to Webinars, in this article we dive down into the varying categories of video marketing and how they may be used, as well as how to optimise each and every second of your video for success.
In 2021, we saw 100+ new brands join the 90 Seconds platform showing growth of just under 10%. At a time when the world was still grappling with the devastation caused by Covid-19, businesses and brands were learning first-hand the power and reach of digital video marketing and as the world’s premiere video creation platform, came to 90 Seconds to bring their ideas to life. We offer a seamless partnership, from ideation to distribution, advising every step of the way. What style of video is best targeted to achieving your goal and what are the best practices one needs to consider when producing one type over the other? What are the different ways each style can be used to achieve your aims? Read on to find out.
We all wish we could write our own reviews, and in that vein, customer stories are a fantastic way of doing so by quickly illustrating the value of a brand’s product or service.
In the same way you might check out the Airbnb’s reviews before making that final accommodation decision when booking, or filter your Uber Eats search by rating, consumers – B2C or B2B – do the same with the majority of their purchasing decisions. With trust from unbiased sources being more naturally cultivated, producing customer stories or testimonials speaking to your business is a powerful way to gain a competitive market edge. In fact, this form of content is the most relatable, with millennials trusting User Generated Content (UGC) 50% more than content from brands.
Customer stories are a great way to inform your audience through relatable and engaging content, highlighting the features of your product or service and providing a clearer understanding of how your business can benefit your audience. And because in theory, it’s someone else doing the selling, they bring clout and trustworthiness to a business, forging a connection between brand advocates and a viewer.
Its power is unparalleled and customers who end up on an e-commerce site through a UGC-style video, like a customer story, are 184% times more likely to purchase and when they do, they’ll spend approximately 45% more4. We only have to look to TikTok to see the appeal of community-generated content – with 600 million users a day and revenues expected to exceed USD 1.2 billion for 2022, UGC is only going one way, up.
A customer story is also a great supplementary piece of content to fit within an overarching strategy. When combined with other forms of video, customer testimonials increase brand engagement by an average of 28%5.
If you’ll forgive the shameless self-promotion, this video showcasing 90 Seconds’ customer testimonials showcases the power and strength of this form of video – and as a B2B brand ourselves, it’s all the more fitting. It’s also an example of how a Customer Story video doesn’t require great depth and production level; they can be short, cheap and cheerful.
Sometimes less is more – even more so when coupled with multiple stories showcasing the depth and breadth of customers using your product or service as we’ve done here. But don’t just take our word for it – for a fuzzy feelgood factor, this effective customer story video from WWF, focuses on the word of Wildcare, an organisation that rescues and rehabilitates sick and orphaned native wildlife following the devastating Australian bushfires.
Complex product or service? Finding it challenging to market the depth and breadth of your business offering? Case studies are the way to go and are the most efficient method to vividly illustrate the most compelling reasons for customers to purchase with your organisation. They provide potential customers with a better and more comprehensive understanding of how you can benefit from them and are an especially powerful choice for enterprise businesses.
Thirteen percent of marketers name case studies as one of the primary forms of media used within their content strategy6; however, when surveying B2B marketers specifically, this percentage rises to 75%7. Why is video an especially powerful tool for this segment? By showcasing a successful customer journey, you in turn help to visually illustrate this for other potential customers – a gentle but effective way to nurture leads. Potential customers receive the benefit of another brand’s positive experience, and this can, in turn, cultivate a sense of trust and help overcome initial reluctance while increasing understanding of the value your business brings to its consumers.
Namogoo, an Israeli technology platform that focuses on minimising disruption to a customer journey, has mastered the art of the case study in this example featuring popular fashion retailer, Kurt Geiger. Simplifying an otherwise complicated offering, Namogoo have been able to – very simply and clearly – demonstrate the brilliance of their business and the benefits to using their software in a compelling way – minimising loss of revenue. Money makes the world go round after all.
A product demo is the perfect option to showcase your product or service to potential customers, allowing the audience to be captivated by the various features of your offering. A great tool for showcasing your product and generating leads, product demos can be an especially powerful tool when placed on a homepage, with 74% of people who watch product demo or explainer videos going on to purchase the product or service8 – yes, please.
For maximum effect, B2B businesses should consider adding in an element of storytelling by weaving in a narrative, instead of focusing on the traditional ‘talking head,’ to stand out from the crowd. By mixing this up, you can capture interest and further traffic – adding animation can increase viewership by roughly half for example, as illustrated by global payments provider, Nium who have used this creative tool in their product demo to showcase the breadth of their offering.
But product demos aren’t just for enterprise businesses – and while it may not seem an immediate fit, we have seen amazing B2C product demos come to the fore in recent times. Like the Zen Neo demo for example, which may have otherwise been complicated to explain, but is best observed in action. Closing with a serene shot of a sleeping baby, it showcases how their product solves the goal of their customer – to get little ones sleeping so they can in turn, get some sleep of their own.
Where the offering may be simple but its end uses may not, product demos can do more than just bring your product to life – they can bring benefit to the customer by helping them to solve a problem of their own – such as how to create the perfect frothy cappuccino using plant-based milk, as illustrated here by Sanitarium for their Alternative Dairy Co Barista Milk. While not traditionally difficult to explain, this video showcases the product in use perfectly and illustrates how a demo can really bring any product to life, no matter the audience. Using a famed local Barista, they showcase how their milk can be used to make amazing coffee – dispelling the myth that plant-based milk alternatives can’t make a brilliant latte and getting their customers’ tastebuds salivating.
Company news videos are an excellent internal communications tool in terms of sharing information and building internal culture. With the war for talent well in play, companies need to ramp up their internal communication to connect with staff to ensure engagement and retention. Internal communication is essential for this – even more so in today’s largely hybrid working environment9. One of the biggest obstacles to remote culture is communication; however, video can help overcome geographical and multifaceted communication challenges.
Video gets greater click through, has a longer life span in that messages simply can’t be deleted like email, and when housed on the intranet, are a fantastic method for sharing more confidential communication preventing people forwarding outside of the business – for example, financial results or news of a confidential acquisition. Studies also show that video brings with it a personal element, a fantastic tool for establishing connection and fostering trust between executives and employees – even more so in global businesses, where a member of staff may not actually ever get to meet the CEO in person.
Moving visuals bring messages to life in a way words alone simply cannot. They’re processed 60,000 times more quickly than text10 and also promote message retention, with Insivia finding that when consumed via video, viewers retain 95% of a message compared to just 10% when read. By using video, internal communicators are not only promoting their ideas quickly – they’re also ensuring they stick, create greater connection, and come with greater guarantee of confidentiality. What’s not to love?
But don’t take our word for it. A recent survey11 revealed that 93% of company communication experts believe video to be an integral part of their internal communications strategy. As shown in this example from KPMG that immediately establishes a personal connection with their CEO, Andrew Yates. And an insider tip? If you’re the one writing the script, ensure sentences are kept to one page width minimum as a general rule for ease of delivery when reading from the autocue.
Nothing builds an employer brand like strong series of positive stories, helping to attract and retain talent. With the World Economic Forum citing 2022 as the year of ‘The Great Resignation,’ with 47% of people tipped to leave their jobs this year, businesses must cultivate strong employer brands to stand out from the crowd and attract recruits. By producing company stories that showcase your business, its values and help you stand out from the crowd by connection on an emotional level with your audience, you’re helping to cement your position as an industry leader.
Forgive us for the bias once more, but this video we created at 90 Seconds in celebration of International Women’s Day is the perfect example of a successful company story video. In it, we showcase our value as a diverse and inclusive employer, help to celebrate our people, as well as highlight our leadership as a global content creation business. It communicates key messages, whilst using our employees to tell the story – therefore it’s more trustworthy. It was also built largely using UGC, so it brings with it cost savings, as well as being a sustainable and socially responsible way of producing content.
In 2022, 35% of marketers claim to use live video with that percentage only expected to rise – exponentially so – and by 2025, the streaming industry is estimated to reach $124.6 billion. Consumers are actively calling for live content from brands, with 80% preferring live video to reading a blog12.
As a marketer, live video offers you a captive audience with Facebook live videos being watched three times longer than regular content, performing 59% better in terms of engagement13. Its faster, more direct, and the gritty nature of it garners a sense of authenticity and trustworthiness that is hard to beat through a more polished and highly produced piece of video content. With the changes recently made to Meta’s advertising platform, video content needs to be more authentic than ever before to capture attention and importantly, translate into conversion – live video is a magic bullet in helping you to achieve this.
But when should you opt for live video? Use it to host an interactive Q&A where you answer customer questions in real time, or to present a new product or service. Host an interactive interview with a high-profile name or customer, or perhaps people within your business who can tell important company stories. Go behind-the-scenes with a tour or product demo, building trust with your audience who feel as if they’re being let in ‘behind the curtain.’ Or broadcast a panel discussion, a tutorial, class or product demo in real-time. The opportunities are endless.
Dispersed global audience that is difficult to reach? No problem. Of the 41% of video marketers who use webinar as a marketing channel, 83% rate it as an extremely successful tool14.
Experiencing exponential growth during the pandemic, the future of the webinar is bright, with businesses and brands embracing it for the long-term as a sustainable way of producing events that can reach a global audience, without the heavy cost to both the budget and the environment in terms of carbon emissions.
In this example from Cisco we see a customer story video – that of their relationship with Real Estate Gym – presented in the format of a pre-recorded webinar, which combines both the accessibility and authentic nature of a webinar, with the connection and third-party endorsement that goes hand-in-hand with the customer story style of content. Double the win for Cisco in this compelling example.
The power of video is unparalleled, as is the skill and simplicity of 90 Seconds’ offering. Company news to company stories; live stream to live events… No matter the type of video, simply including video in your marketing campaign guarantees stronger results than what would be delivered from campaigns without.
From conception and creation to global distribution, we are the world leaders in video content creation, providing a tailored offering to suit any project, alongside a streamline platform to bring your ideas to life. Reach out to us today to hear how we can help.
Continuous Creation allows brands to produce various video types—like product demos, testimonials, and explainer videos—on a regular basis, ensuring content stays aligned with campaign goals and audience needs. This approach provides marketers the flexibility to experiment with different formats while maintaining brand consistency. By streamlining workflows, Continuous Creation ensures a steady flow of videos that engage viewers across multiple platforms, helping businesses remain relevant and responsive in a fast-changing market.
Get in touch with us today to chat about your next project.
Get in touch with us today to chat about your next project.
