MARKETING
8 Reasons for an Online Business to Invest in Video Marketing
Fighting for the precious time and focus of customers is harder and harder every year as an ever-growing avalanche of content is shrinking the attention span. Audiences are getting used to being spammed, bombarded by ads, clickbait titles, becoming immune to “special offers”, fear of missing out, and other tricks.
In this shifting field of online content, video marketing is becoming a more and more important tool, not only in sense of advertising, but also in establishing contact with the audience, building trust, and making sure your online business can grow.
#1 Video Marketing is the present and the future
If the content is the King, then the video content is the king of kings. The years of pandemic and lockdown have only accelerated the trend of video content taking over the digital space. Along with Netflix and YouTube, Twitch has emerged as another video-content giant.
Facebook is losing its audience, as Millenials and Gen Z switches to video-oriented platforms, first Instagram, now TikTok. The future of video marketing is already here. More than 80% of all internet content is video.
Growing your online business, you simply don’t want to be fighting for the remaining 20% of the internet traffic. Video marketing is the space where you will meet your audiences, investors, clients, communities.
#2 Videos drive traffic
The audience for video content is simply put – huge. Video marketing statistics report that there are 245 million digital video viewers in the US alone. And those are numbers from 2020! In the population between the ages of 12 and 24, more than 96% of users are consuming video content.
Very interesting stats connect live videos with sales. Not only live videos are already at more than 20% of all the video content, but consumers report 65-85% more readiness to buy a product of a company that has live video on their webpage.
If you are worried about live streaming, OneStream Live Spaces helps your online business by hosting and scheduling live streams directly on your page, or social media platform of your choice. And if you prefer to go with real-time streaming, it’s as easy as setting up your broadcasting software and selecting streaming destinations from the OneStream dashboard.
#3 Videos help with SEO rankings
How do you conduct your research? Google, right? The same goes for your audience. Customers are looking for info, products, and services using Google’s search. That’s why SEO is still one of the most important activities when it comes to online presence, and it will remain so in the future.
Guess what, videos rank in search results from 2007. Google’s rankings take hundreds of different factors, but other than keyword relevancy, backlinks, on-page optimization, and domain authority, videos have their own rules that can boost your page’s ranking.
And yes, you have an online business to run, so instead of delving into the Google-mancy and trying to decipher the arcane mysteries of Google’s SEO rankings, you can partner up with experts like Shrushti. Simply placing any kind of video is not a game-changer, but when coupled with technical SEO and link building, YouTube optimization, and SERP features, you could be seeing your online business on the front page of the internet.
#4 Sharing your vision with the customers
Videos engage the audiences. Videos build trust. Among the best content for an upcoming online business can be ‘explainer video’. The audience loves learning how things are done, how your service works.
You can even turn a product roadmap into a video, as roadmaps can be powerful communication tools. To reinforce your product vision and offer clarity on your online business goals and priorities, videos are a powerful tool to share the vision.
#5 Videos as part of customer’s journey
Speaking of the vision and impact of videos, they can be powerful tools for onboarding clients. The customer journey can be made more engaging through the use of videos. Considering that videos are consumed mostly on mobile devices, it makes sense to make them your primary communication channel. If you didn’t design your customer journey yet, or if you are expanding outside of your marketing segment, there are enterprise-sales solutions that can help your online business.
#6 Videos have great ROI
While the production of videos once upon a time was not the cheapest task, the breakthroughs in video editing tools made it possible to create decent videos even using smartphones. Stats are once more showing top numbers, as 83% of businesses report good return on investment. A video is like a cake, even when it’s not the best, it’s still quite good!
Oh, and if you are not a videographer expert, or your online business is not harboring such talents in-house, there are plenty of branded content agencies that can help you bring your vision to the compact and impactful video format.
#7 Video increases conversions
Why do you do branding? To convert clients. Experience from even the most traditional businesses, like restaurants, has shown that with restaurant video marketing there is a huge impact. Brick and mortar businesses like restaurants have managed to increase clickthrough rates by adding video to e-mails by 300%.
Videos on a landing page can increase conversion by 80% or more, due to the fact that 90% of the information from the video is retained, compared to just 10% of the information from text.
#8 Social media loves video
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. Every social media platform insists on videos. It is not only obvious in the way video content is prominently displayed, but also in the virality of the video content. Simply put, a video is seven times more frequently shared than any other link on Facebook.
People share emotions. If the content is entertaining, share comes naturally to users. The same goes for branded content. Emotionally charged, creative videos can go very viral. That’s why video marketing on social media channels is huge and is going to stay that way.
Social media is very mobile-friendly, and smartphones are in everyone’s hands, so it is no wonder 90% of consumers watch videos on their mobile devices.
Conclusion
Video marketing is going places. It is affordable, it shows great return on investment. Habits of modern users play into the strengths of video as advertising, a tool for communication, a way to connect users to your brand and get the biggest exposure.
Making video a cornerstone of your content strategy is no longer debatable. It simply makes sense, as the overwhelming majority of the action is on mobile devices, where video content is the norm. Whether you want to use video ads, live streaming, or carefully tailor your content to each broadcasting platform, you should definitely invest in video marketing to grow and nurture your online business.
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MARKETING
YouTube Ad Specs, Sizes, and Examples [2024 Update]
Introduction
With billions of users each month, YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine and top website for video content. This makes it a great place for advertising. To succeed, advertisers need to follow the correct YouTube ad specifications. These rules help your ad reach more viewers, increasing the chance of gaining new customers and boosting brand awareness.
Types of YouTube Ads
Video Ads
- Description: These play before, during, or after a YouTube video on computers or mobile devices.
- Types:
- In-stream ads: Can be skippable or non-skippable.
- Bumper ads: Non-skippable, short ads that play before, during, or after a video.
Display Ads
- Description: These appear in different spots on YouTube and usually use text or static images.
- Note: YouTube does not support display image ads directly on its app, but these can be targeted to YouTube.com through Google Display Network (GDN).
Companion Banners
- Description: Appears to the right of the YouTube player on desktop.
- Requirement: Must be purchased alongside In-stream ads, Bumper ads, or In-feed ads.
In-feed Ads
- Description: Resemble videos with images, headlines, and text. They link to a public or unlisted YouTube video.
Outstream Ads
- Description: Mobile-only video ads that play outside of YouTube, on websites and apps within the Google video partner network.
Masthead Ads
- Description: Premium, high-visibility banner ads displayed at the top of the YouTube homepage for both desktop and mobile users.
YouTube Ad Specs by Type
Skippable In-stream Video Ads
- Placement: Before, during, or after a YouTube video.
- Resolution:
- Horizontal: 1920 x 1080px
- Vertical: 1080 x 1920px
- Square: 1080 x 1080px
- Aspect Ratio:
- Horizontal: 16:9
- Vertical: 9:16
- Square: 1:1
- Length:
- Awareness: 15-20 seconds
- Consideration: 2-3 minutes
- Action: 15-20 seconds
Non-skippable In-stream Video Ads
- Description: Must be watched completely before the main video.
- Length: 15 seconds (or 20 seconds in certain markets).
- Resolution:
- Horizontal: 1920 x 1080px
- Vertical: 1080 x 1920px
- Square: 1080 x 1080px
- Aspect Ratio:
- Horizontal: 16:9
- Vertical: 9:16
- Square: 1:1
Bumper Ads
- Length: Maximum 6 seconds.
- File Format: MP4, Quicktime, AVI, ASF, Windows Media, or MPEG.
- Resolution:
- Horizontal: 640 x 360px
- Vertical: 480 x 360px
In-feed Ads
- Description: Show alongside YouTube content, like search results or the Home feed.
- Resolution:
- Horizontal: 1920 x 1080px
- Vertical: 1080 x 1920px
- Square: 1080 x 1080px
- Aspect Ratio:
- Horizontal: 16:9
- Square: 1:1
- Length:
- Awareness: 15-20 seconds
- Consideration: 2-3 minutes
- Headline/Description:
- Headline: Up to 2 lines, 40 characters per line
- Description: Up to 2 lines, 35 characters per line
Display Ads
- Description: Static images or animated media that appear on YouTube next to video suggestions, in search results, or on the homepage.
- Image Size: 300×60 pixels.
- File Type: GIF, JPG, PNG.
- File Size: Max 150KB.
- Max Animation Length: 30 seconds.
Outstream Ads
- Description: Mobile-only video ads that appear on websites and apps within the Google video partner network, not on YouTube itself.
- Logo Specs:
- Square: 1:1 (200 x 200px).
- File Type: JPG, GIF, PNG.
- Max Size: 200KB.
Masthead Ads
- Description: High-visibility ads at the top of the YouTube homepage.
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080 or higher.
- File Type: JPG or PNG (without transparency).
Conclusion
YouTube offers a variety of ad formats to reach audiences effectively in 2024. Whether you want to build brand awareness, drive conversions, or target specific demographics, YouTube provides a dynamic platform for your advertising needs. Always follow Google’s advertising policies and the technical ad specs to ensure your ads perform their best. Ready to start using YouTube ads? Contact us today to get started!
MARKETING
Why We Are Always ‘Clicking to Buy’, According to Psychologists
Amazon pillows.
MARKETING
A deeper dive into data, personalization and Copilots
Salesforce launched a collection of new, generative AI-related products at Connections in Chicago this week. They included new Einstein Copilots for marketers and merchants and Einstein Personalization.
To better understand, not only the potential impact of the new products, but the evolving Salesforce architecture, we sat down with Bobby Jania, CMO, Marketing Cloud.
Dig deeper: Salesforce piles on the Einstein Copilots
Salesforce’s evolving architecture
It’s hard to deny that Salesforce likes coming up with new names for platforms and products (what happened to Customer 360?) and this can sometimes make the observer wonder if something is brand new, or old but with a brand new name. In particular, what exactly is Einstein 1 and how is it related to Salesforce Data Cloud?
“Data Cloud is built on the Einstein 1 platform,” Jania explained. “The Einstein 1 platform is our entire Salesforce platform and that includes products like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud — that it includes the original idea of Salesforce not just being in the cloud, but being multi-tenancy.”
Data Cloud — not an acquisition, of course — was built natively on that platform. It was the first product built on Hyperforce, Salesforce’s new cloud infrastructure architecture. “Since Data Cloud was on what we now call the Einstein 1 platform from Day One, it has always natively connected to, and been able to read anything in Sales Cloud, Service Cloud [and so on]. On top of that, we can now bring in, not only structured but unstructured data.”
That’s a significant progression from the position, several years ago, when Salesforce had stitched together a platform around various acquisitions (ExactTarget, for example) that didn’t necessarily talk to each other.
“At times, what we would do is have a kind of behind-the-scenes flow where data from one product could be moved into another product,” said Jania, “but in many of those cases the data would then be in both, whereas now the data is in Data Cloud. Tableau will run natively off Data Cloud; Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud — they’re all going to the same operational customer profile.” They’re not copying the data from Data Cloud, Jania confirmed.
Another thing to know is tit’s possible for Salesforce customers to import their own datasets into Data Cloud. “We wanted to create a federated data model,” said Jania. “If you’re using Snowflake, for example, we more or less virtually sit on your data lake. The value we add is that we will look at all your data and help you form these operational customer profiles.”
Let’s learn more about Einstein Copilot
“Copilot means that I have an assistant with me in the tool where I need to be working that contextually knows what I am trying to do and helps me at every step of the process,” Jania said.
For marketers, this might begin with a campaign brief developed with Copilot’s assistance, the identification of an audience based on the brief, and then the development of email or other content. “What’s really cool is the idea of Einstein Studio where our customers will create actions [for Copilot] that we hadn’t even thought about.”
Here’s a key insight (back to nomenclature). We reported on Copilot for markets, Copilot for merchants, Copilot for shoppers. It turns out, however, that there is just one Copilot, Einstein Copilot, and these are use cases. “There’s just one Copilot, we just add these for a little clarity; we’re going to talk about marketing use cases, about shoppers’ use cases. These are actions for the marketing use cases we built out of the box; you can build your own.”
It’s surely going to take a little time for marketers to learn to work easily with Copilot. “There’s always time for adoption,” Jania agreed. “What is directly connected with this is, this is my ninth Connections and this one has the most hands-on training that I’ve seen since 2014 — and a lot of that is getting people using Data Cloud, using these tools rather than just being given a demo.”
What’s new about Einstein Personalization
Salesforce Einstein has been around since 2016 and many of the use cases seem to have involved personalization in various forms. What’s new?
“Einstein Personalization is a real-time decision engine and it’s going to choose next-best-action, next-best-offer. What is new is that it’s a service now that runs natively on top of Data Cloud.” A lot of real-time decision engines need their own set of data that might actually be a subset of data. “Einstein Personalization is going to look holistically at a customer and recommend a next-best-action that could be natively surfaced in Service Cloud, Sales Cloud or Marketing Cloud.”
Finally, trust
One feature of the presentations at Connections was the reassurance that, although public LLMs like ChatGPT could be selected for application to customer data, none of that data would be retained by the LLMs. Is this just a matter of written agreements? No, not just that, said Jania.
“In the Einstein Trust Layer, all of the data, when it connects to an LLM, runs through our gateway. If there was a prompt that had personally identifiable information — a credit card number, an email address — at a mimum, all that is stripped out. The LLMs do not store the output; we store the output for auditing back in Salesforce. Any output that comes back through our gateway is logged in our system; it runs through a toxicity model; and only at the end do we put PII data back into the answer. There are real pieces beyond a handshake that this data is safe.”
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