Over the past few years, the use of video content online has exploded. More and more websites are using video to engage their visitors, but does it work? What are the benefits of using video? Are there any downsides? Will it work for you?

Video accounts for an increasing percentage of online traffic

Let’s start with some facts; according to Cisco 69% of all internet traffic will be made up of video content by 2017, and by 2019 this will have risen to a staggering 80%!

Video content makes a massive impact

Research by Insivia has found that:

• Including video in a landing page can increase conversion to sales by 80%.
• 4x as many customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
• People spend on average 2.6x more time on pages with video than without.
• 51% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.
• 500 million people are watching videos on Facebook every day.

We can’t dispute that video is a powerful tool:

• It improves your SEO – Google really likes video.
• Used on social media it can generate massive reach.
• Done well, it will set you apart from the competition.
• Consumers like video – more than text!

Anything I need to be careful about?

One word of caution, if your site isn’t optimised for mobile use, it should be. 48% of millennials view video solely on their mobile device; for this audience web design is all about the experience, not just about how it looks. And it’s not just the millennials, according to Ofcom 65% of all adults are using a smartphone to go online, and watching video is most commonly undertaken on a smartphone over any other device.

With video increasingly the preferred method to absorb content, and the increasing use of smartphones to access the internet, we need to be optimising websites to meet this expectation. But you need to get it right. Just because it’s the marketing tool of the moment, doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to work for you.

Relevancy, relevancy, relevancy

Content always needs to be relevant to your business and your consumers – if you wouldn’t write it on your website, don’t film it. If your business lends itself to filming, great, if not think creatively about how to incorporate film on your site e.g. vlog it rather than blog it, or how about giving a visual insight into your business and team?

That’s a wrap!

Finally, just because video is in demand don’t forget there are consumers out there who don’t like it or can’t watch it due to poor bandwidth. It’s all about striking a balance, identifying what works best for your business and giving your customers what they want.

If you’d like some ideas on using video then give us a call, we’d love to explore how film could enhance your website.