Written by ContentPowered.com
A surprising new statistic has been discovered in the world of marketing: 73% of consumers stated that they’re more likely to make a purchase after viewing a YouTube video. In fact, online video is the fastest growing ad format. In 2012 it had grown a near 55%!
Studies have found that consumers were more likely to buy something after they watched a video on YouTube explaining how the product worked. If the video was informative and went in-depth about the product, this convinced consumers that it was something they wanted. 96% of people said that video content was useful when making purchase decisions online. 87% found business videos helpful for research and 93% said they sought out videos after the purchase for instructions and guidelines on how to use the product.
Content Creation
The advent of social networking has created an incredible and accessible new way to reach consumers and one of the best markets is YouTube. Many original content creators will do tutorials and reviews of products they’ve purchased and business will also create their own videos on how to use their products. The YouTube beauty guru community, for example, film a variety of videos reviewing makeup products they enjoy. They also create tutorials on how best to use different makeup products which can sway a consumer to purchase that item because they can see how to use it and how it looks when wearing it. Companies can even choose to sponsor these original content creators by sending them free products that the YouTuber will then review and use in a video and their subscribers will hopefully then go purchase that item.
83% of people surveyed said that the ideal length of a sales or business video would be five minutes or less. It appears that if the video is any longer, the viewer will lose interest. The content that viewers wanted more of were business videos describing electronics, restaurants, travel, and exercise/fitness. The most shared video content is humorous, heartwarming, and educational content. Business have a grand opportunity in the educational video market by creating in-depth and helpful tutorials on their products. Many people turn to the internet when wondering what to purchase and having tutorials available on electronics may convince them of which thing to buy.
Buying Decisions
Aside from YouTube alone, 90% of consumers have said that online reviews in general influence their buying decisions. Since the advent of the internet, finding out what to buy has become a whole lot simpler. Reviews from real consumers are much more honest than those of people who are sponsored to use the product. 86% of consumers have said that negative reviews influence their buying decisions. And companies that sent out emails with videos included cited increased clickthrough rates, increased time spent reading the email, increased conversion rates, and increased sharing and forwarding.
Now when it comes to marketing through video, what’s the best way to do it? It’s more complicated than simply just creating an advertisement and posting it on YouTube. It’s important to go in-depth on the product. In fact, 42% of consumers said that they wanted to see 360 degree views on products. Show them every possible angle! Explain all the uses of the product and use real customer testimonials. Consumers are often more interested in what other consumers have to say than what the business has to say.
Since the internet makes it easier to create more interactive content, use it as an opportunity to get your customers involved in the advertising. For example, Billabong’s “I Surf Because…” campaign gave consumers the chance to create their own statements about why they love surfing. You go on the Billabong website, choose a starting video and add your own personal statement about your love of surfing. You can then choose to share this with family and friends. The genius part? Billabong branding is all over it. While consumers have the opportunity to make it all personal, Billabong still gets to advertise with it.
Ways to Get Started
Hire professional and local video production companies to shoot attractive tutorials and informative videos for you. It’s important that the videos be high quality as many people do not want to watch a YouTube video that is unprofessionally filmed.
Take a look at YouTube users who already have a wide fan base. As stated previously, established YouTube content creators will often make videos reviewing products sent to them by companies. Consumers will see a user that they enjoy and trust speaking positively (or negatively. That’s just how it goes!) about the product and ultimately it may influence them to purchase it. Many professional YouTube creators will have business emails through which companies can contact them about sponsorship.
A Cisco survey of US and UK shoppers found that shopper prefer to research products online before making a purchase in-store thus resulting in recommendations to provide in-store kiosks, touchscreen, and smartphone integration. This will give the consumer the chance to access the store’s website and see real reviews from other customers before making the purchase. It’s all been found that online reviews make 57% of customers more confident in making a purchase and they are less likely to return the item. If given the opportunity to view such reviews while still in the store, it can decrease the amount of returns that businesses need to do and consumers can find products that they will really love and want to keep!
Smartphone users can also download on app that allows them to scan QR codes that companies can place on product labels and displays. Scanning these codes can direct users to the company website, YouTube videos on the product, and consumer reviews. QR codes are a simple and effective way to direct consumers to videos without them having to specifically search for it themselves. Scanning that little code will give them all the information they need!
It’s also important not to neglect those smartphones! Making videos and other services available to mobile users is an integral part of online advertising as mobile shoppers are three times as likely to view a video as a desktop or laptop user. Nearly 40% of con consumers said that online video increased their likelihood to make purchase on their mobile devices. Interestingly enough, users of tablets have higher transaction values than computers. 62% of iPad users spent more that $250 on consumer products!
Final Notes
It’s clear after all this research that online video is absolutely a beneficial way to go for companies! It’s even predicted by Cisco that by 2017, 69% of all global consumer traffic will be internet video. Currently, the average American spends a whopping 19 hours watching online video each month.
Put advertising in the hands of the consumer. Give them informative and descriptive videos about your product. Give them the opportunity to provide their opinions, not only on the products, but on the video itself. The feelings of consumers make a huge impact on products and content. If they don’t like what you’re doing, it could really hurt the company. With as much as the internet has grown, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it! Online video is surpassing even television in it’s ability to sway consumers to make a purchase. So give YouTube a try today. Anyone can do it and you’ll be grateful that you did!