Let’s keep it real – content consisting of still images and flat-lays that saturate Pinterest and Instagram feeds are starting to be overdone and our generation’s typical consumer is ready for something more! It’s been over 15 years of the marketing industry slowly evolving to meet the perpetual needs of our generation’s digital world and cravings for instant gratification.
Digital marketing as an industry is expanding to new avenues in order to “warm-up” cold audiences with valuable content to build brand exposure, brand credibility, and authority in one’s industry. As consumers continue to gravitate to content that provides immediate gratification, the best results come from providing information that is easily digestible, making videos the most popular form of content in today’s digital world.
In a recent study, statistics show that over 68% of consumers prefer to watch a short video about a brand’s product or service rather than any other form of content:
Nothing has the ability to visually tell your brand’s story like a well-crafted video. We have finally reached an era where we can elevate our platforms by connecting with our audience at any given time, making it easier than ever to build credibility, community, and education for your brand. Video content in 2020 and for years to come, will be the most crucial aspect of your marketing strategy.
Now is the perfect time to start perfecting your video strategy, as video marketing is here to stay — Cisco is predicting that by 2021, 80% of all Internet traffic will be video. Videos that are engaging, easy to follow, and provide answers to curious viewers are the type of content that will hook your audience and guide them to make a desired decision for your campaign. Anyone managing a thriving ROI-centric campaign knows that video content serves as the most effective stage of a sales funnel: a series of stages designed to convert your target audience into customers making a decision.
With video marketing, the 4 key elements of driving a successful sale are combined in just 60 seconds. With each element comes the 15-15-15-15 rule (15 seconds designated to every element). Hellooooo video-driven consumers: you asked – so, we provided!
Below are the 4 key elements of driving a successful video marketing sale:
Attention – 15 seconds
Solution – 15 seconds
Desire – 15 seconds
Action – 15 seconds
Depending on the platform, videos may be up to 2 minutes, therefore the rule will follow as 30-30-30-30.
ATTENTION
Every social media scroller’s dream – immediate answers! Videos that start off with quality + engaging content, combined with a strong Call-to-Action directive within the first 15 seconds is the recipe to success on grabbing the ATTENTION of your consumer. Now, the real kicker is holding the viewer’s interest after the initial hook. Quality, quality, quality! Creating a quality video is an investment that can be used for various platforms, campaigns and website content. Remember, high quality content produces high quality results. You might consider the “pay-to-play” approach, but we’ll go further into that in another blog post.
SOLUTION
Your next job as a video content marketer is to not only grab the consumer’s attention, but to also prove to them why they need to keep watching. In which would be – wait for it – THE SOLUTION. Why does your audience NEED this product or service you are promoting? What benefits does it provide for your consumer’s everyday life?
Reflect on your brand story, highlight the reason your consumer needs your amazing product and follow it with strong emotional or persuasive appeal for the ultimate “Solution” section of the 15-15-15-15 rule for an effective video.
DESIRE
After the 15-second “Solution” segment of your video is when the “Desire” segment kicks in. For viewers to move forward with every second of the video – it is important to really dig deep into what their ideal visual interest would be and to invite them to feel something while watching your video. ~mood is everything ~
Are you an organic skincare brand? Skincare enthusiasts want to feel bright, refreshing, and clean with a fresh emotional appeal. White lighting, while spotlighting the organic ingredients is perfect for gaining that attention. Are you a rustic woodfire restaurant? Foodies love the dark ambiance and up-close videography of real food production.
It’s all about consumer experience and the emotional appeal that your content takes on. By “emotional appeal” we don’t mean you have to make your viewer burst into tears or get so angry that they throw their laptop across the room–What we mean is that a great video makes your target consumer feel connected to your brand and your message, so much that they can’t stop watching it. There has to be an emotional and persuasive it-factor in the DESIRE segment that acts as the ultimate lead-in to the most important part – the ACTION segment.
ACTION
ACTION is the final stage of pushing your consumer to finish watching the video and take the desired action of clicking onto your landing page. Once the video is finished, reward your customers for watching your video by providing a discount promo code, a subscription reward for joining your email list, or even a free product with purchase. If a purchase is your end-goal of your sales funnel, know that 52% of consumers say that watching product videos makes them more confident in online purchase decisions and 72% of businesses say that video has improved their conversion rate from views to sales.
Now, that’s an impact.
The truth of the matter is that in order to compete in today’s market, you have to keep evolving with consumer needs and desires. It is important to stay relevant and avoid falling behind the oncoming marketing strategies that are making waves in your industry. Let’s face it – your business has an amazing story to tell and a message that people want to hear, so listen to the statistics and implement video content as the way to continue to spread your brand’s message and the benefits you can provide to your target customer. Stay ahead of the curve and become a leader in your industry!
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