5 Reasons Why Video Marketing is Important for EDOs
July 14, 2020 | By: Hanna GbordzoeWhile the idea of video marketing isn’t new, it’s often the element that gets overlooked in an organization’s content marketing strategy. Cost, skills and resources do play a large factor in why video may get pushed to the back-burner, but you don’t need lockers full of high-tech equipment and world-class editing skills to make a lasting impression on your audience. Video content is being consumed more now than ever and thankfully, there are several low-cost online video editors that can help you take advantage of that. According to Statistica, 85% of all internet users in the United States watched online video content monthly on any of their devices. Additionally, HubSpot reported that 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support. Intrigued? Here are five reasons why video marketing is important for economic development organizations (EDO).
1. Increase Your Engagement on Social Media
Nowadays, social media is one of the best ways to connect with your audience and generate awareness about your brand or organization. Video is a way to take your audience engagement to the next level. Sharing short videos on social media increases the likelihood that someone will interact with your content. In fact, social videos generate 1200% more shares than text-based posts and image posts combined. On Twitter, posts that contain a video see a 10X increase in engagement compared to posts without video and videos on Instagram receive 21% more interactions than standalone images.
Keep in mind, you don’t need to start from scratch to take advantage of consumers’ willingness to engage with video. If you’re currently creating blog or news content, use that already existing copy as the skeleton for your video. Think of video as a way to repurpose the written content that lives on your website and tell the story using your existing copy. In fact, the rule of seven states that it takes an average of seven interactions with a brand before an action is taken.
2. Compliment Your Content Marketing
Just like content marketing strategies, video strategies are not one size fits all. They also don’t have to break the bank to be effective. Thankfully there are several types of video content you can produce using cost-effective options like iMovie, Animoto, Lumen5 and Clipchamp, which help you create and edit impactful video content without professional training. Here are just a few types of video content you can share on your website and social media channels:
- Company interviews or testimonials from executives are a great way to share third-party endorsements to your location and organization. Not only could these be shared on social media, but they could be posted on your website as video “success stories.” This is also an easy way to create a “series” of videos and build a content bank that can be shared every week, month, etc.
- General education or “Did you know?” videos will help you generate awareness about a particular topic, industry or theme. These informational videos could be in the form of “5 Reasons Why [Insert Your Location] is a Leading Location for Aviation.”
- Promoting a product or service through video is a way to let talent, site selectors or corporate executives know what kind of services and resources your organization can provide, including site tours, fact-finding trips, free consultations, etc.
- Webinar recordings allow you to share short snippets or quick insights from a webinar. This can show your organization’s thought leadership and expertise on a particular topic or trend.
- Time lapses and live video may require some camera equipment (like a tripod), but don’t be intimidated by mounting a cell phone or GoPro to capture the evolution of a downtown development or a stunning sunset to show your location’s natural beauty. If you’re interested in creating a time lapse, there are plenty of how-to videos online for the most basic tripod set-up process with a phone or camera. If you’re using a phone to shoot a time lapse, try turning the phone sideways to capture video for desktop viewing.
3. Bringing Your Location’s Story to Life
By nature, video content educates and informs through visuals. We’ve all heard the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, when it comes to video content, you have a chance to increase awareness and build trust in your audience by showcasing your location’s quality of life, job opportunities, community and opportunity in a way that goes beyond words.
One of the reasons why a video testimonial from a company executive can be more powerful than a written quote is because video allows you to show emotion. You can see and hear the executive’s excitement and smile when talking about how happy they are in their new facility and how helpful your EDO was along the way. In the same vein, video content allows you to highlight your location’s character. From professional sports to local farmers markets to outdoor concerts, capturing the real-life movement and activity in your community will help your audience understand what it’s like to live and work in your location. Take it from Susan Brake, Senior Vice President of Digital, “Tell the real living human stories of the people who live and work in your region. Make sure your social media reflects the joy and depth of experience that new professionals will enjoy relocating to your region.”
4. SEO and Website Traffic
In case you needed another reason why video marketing is worth the investment, the videos you create can improve your SEO. In fact, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world and it’s owned by Google, which performs 3.5 billion searches per day. So, the more video content you produce and publish on YouTube, the more likely you will appear in top search results. This means that your content is more likely to be shown to your target audience and you’re more likely to generate leads.
According to Brianna Vetrano, DCI’s Manager, Paid & SEO, “creating videos helps SEO in two ways. If properly optimized for target keywords, a video hosted on YouTube can appear as a search result when users search on Google or within the YouTube platform. Additionally, embedding the video onto a website page helps to boost user engagement metrics by keeping users on the site longer and increasing on-page engagement, which can play a role in improving site rankings overall.”
A best practice to consider is to embed YouTube videos in your website, as opposed to uploading the original video files. Using YouTube will not only give your website a SEO bump, but online web streaming services like YouTube and Vimeo will convert different types of video files into a format that can be streamed and viewed by nearly all web visitors – no matter the device they’re using. In case you’re concerned about visitors leaving your site to watch the videos, most web-streaming services like YouTube and Vimeo offer embed codes, allowing you to embed your streaming video directly on your web page. This means that visitors can watch the video without ever leaving the page.
5. Lead Generation
As we learned earlier, video also increases engagement on social media. If you pair your videos with a call-to-action or website link where users can learn more, you’re increasing awareness of your EDO’s offerings. On the conversion front, video testimonials can help build trust in your audience, specifically corporate executives. “Video isn’t always the best way to reach decision-makers, but when done right, it can be effective. Whether it’s for testimonials, a brief community overview or some sort of virtual tour, the key is brevity and insight. In other words, get to the point and make it zing,” says Steve Duncan, DCI’s Senior Vice President of Digital.
If an executive sees a competitor company or another C-suiter praising your location and organization’s support during the expansion process, they’re more likely to buy into your messaging. All told, video is the way of the future and you can leave a lasting impression on your audience by adding this medium to your EDO’s arsenal.
If you need help developing a strategy for your first video or if you’re interested in learning more, DCI’s Digital, Brand and Creative Strategy team can help you elevate your content marketing work.
