People say a picture is worth a thousand words. So how much is a video worth? It wasn’t until a few decades ago that images started making an impact on advertising. Picture advertisements in India started as early as 1941 when Leela Chitlis appeared in the first Lux print advertisement. But with increasing development in technology, video advertising overtook every other form.

Here are 10 reasons why you cannot miss out on videos

1. Informing and Educating

Advertisements originated as part of product sales, but they also have the purpose of educating. Consumers who are not looking for products as a solution to their needs don’t need the product sold to them as long as they find it serviceable. The customer is likely to be more informed about a product and its qualities through a video advertisement than any other means.

In fact, 97% of marketers insist that videos help the customers in understanding their products in a more elaborate way, leading to hike in sales. In a world of quick online shopping, even a one minute advertisement is enough to educate a person enough to buy a product. Videos help give a closeup look on everything, for the customers.

2. Ease of Access

Video advertisements are readily accessible. It may not be possible to search for a static ad such as a poster or a banner for reference, but videos are always one click away.

Companies make sure that advertisements are displayed on television enough to attach itself to the viewer’s mind. Apart from this, videos are screened in stadiums, mobile applications, movie theaters and even on the streets. That makes it quite hard for the naked eye to miss.

3. Boost in Conversion and Sales

Video advertisements have brought upon a considerable increase in conversion rate in comparison to written or graphic/picture advertisements. A more feasible option than reading a paragraph of written content or viewing an image would be watching a video, which addresses the users and caters to their needs.

It’s appealing, economical and easier to understand.

77% of consumers agree on the fact that they are more likely to buy a product if they see it in a video advertisement. Presence of videos in a company’s landing page can increase the conversion by 80%, whereas having videos in the home page can increase conversions by 20%.

Studies have shown the direct involvement of videos in sales. 4.6 billion video ads are viewed every year, with an average individual spending around 16 minutes on ads every month. 55% of the shoppers research products on their phone and 25% claim they refer YouTube videos before buying products to check their authenticity and durability. After watching a video, 64% of customers are more likely buy the product online. In conclusion, 92% of the customers say that the visuals of the product is an influential factor in product purchase.

4. Search Engine Optimization [SEO]

Videos are the key to drastically improving your website’s SEO rankings. A website is evaluated on the basis of the diversity of content available. Google, and other search engines use algorithms to measure the quality of the website.

As per studies, 100 million hours of videos are watched every day on Facebook, whereas, 1 billion hours of video are being streamed on YouTube every day. Optimizing them for the internet can be done by adding a solid title with the right keywords in the description.

The usual practice among internet users is to upload videos on video hosting websites like YouTube or Vimeo and linking them to their website. Doing this can reduce the traffic on your website, and simultaneously attract a lost of readers.

5. Higher Retention Rates

Retention rate for videos is essentially the percentage of people who discontinue watching the video and switch to another screen. It can tell you at exactly what second the viewer lost interest.

Adding a video to your website makes the site 6 times more likely to convert a normal viewer to a paying customer. Viewers also retain 90% of the information conveyed through a video, compared to 10% of the information conveyed through text.

An average user spends 88% more time on a website that has a video than on a website that doesn’t. In relation, 52% of customers say that they are more inclined to purchase a product after viewing an explainer video on them.

6. Better Optimization Opportunities

Videos have a better scope for optimization and improvement through analytical study than text.

YouTube – world’s number 1 video search engine, offers a wide range of tools that allow you to run analytics and obtain statistics, namely – click through rates, views, drop off rate and even information down to a second. With these, you can analyze the crowd behavior and necessities and customize the video accordingly so that it works better on the viewers.

With the results you get through videos, you know what you are looking for and can search accordingly.

7. High Return on Investment [ROI]

Return on Investment measures the gain or loss generated on an investment relative to the amount of money that is invested. It’s a frequently used profitability ratio because of it’s flexibility.

It was observed in early 2017 that 63% of businesses were using video as a major marketing tool. It went up to 81% in the beginning of 2018, and 87% in 2019.

Video has completely changed the way B2C marketers approach customers. By producing brand-centric videos that display creativity and uniqueness, B2C marketers can earn sales by raising awareness for their brand and products.

Retail companies have a system where they hand out coupons or tickets or goodies related to their product to increase revenue. But B2C businesses have gone one step ahead by using the data they collect from the person’s social media interests and search history to tailor advertisements particularly for them. Using the data they get from the internet, only advertisements of interests will be shown.

For instance, if you regularly browse through music on YouTube, the advertisements shown to you will also be related to music, say the sales of an album or ticket for a concert.

How are static ads different from video ads?

For a static ad, a banner can cost as low as $20 if done by a beginner freelancer. A video ad, however, if produced professionally, can cost a lot, the amount being in thousands of dollars. Equipments, professionals, travel charges add a lot to the expense. In that respect, static advertisements are more convenient as they require images that can be either taken or obtained for free or a low cost. The longer the process of production, the more the people involved have to be paid.

Video ads help people understand better. With just a click, you can explore several topics related to the product. Videos and animated content also have a better shot at catching the human eye than static content. With the information you receive from videos, you can decide if you are interested in the product or not. Static ads on the other hand, tend to excel in industries that are highly regulated. They lose their impact over time and have to be replaced sooner.

Brands can incorporate video content for improved ROI by a number of means. It involves creating a YouTube channel, posting videos on social media and website, going live on social media like Facebook and Instagram and posting 24 hour snippets called stories on social media. YouTube lets you track your results, so you have a clear idea of where you are going wrong.

To get the desired ROI, brands often use call-to-action (CTAa). CTAs encourage the users to perform any type of action you require. By encouraging people to tag, share and publicize on social media platforms, companies have a considerable increase in revenue. The key is to determine what type of request suits the specific video.

Case Study : Old Spice

Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products, started in 1937. Initially, it was shown as an exotic, manly product directed towards older men. It soon started appealing to the younger generation in the 70’s. It had a dull run when it went from a product of luxury to a middle class cologne or aftershave. It was acquired by P&G in 1990. It wasn’t until a spectacular campaign in 2010 that they re-branded. This campaign, titled Smell Like A Man featured a series of humorous ads featuring NFL player Isaiah Mustafa. This changed the target audience from old men to the young generation.

8. Builds Trust

Videos help build a relationship of trust between the company and the consumer. Video advertisements can be part of campaigns which are a series of related advertisements. These campaigns, like TV shows, get the audience hooked onto the advertisements, making them regular users of the brand.

An appropriate example is the Cadbury 5 star ad that used to run between 2005 and 2016. The series of ads that ran for 11 years featured two characters – Ramesh and Suresh, who became so popular that, for a brief point, this product was referred as the “Ramesh-Suresh chocolate” by children. Ramesh and Suresh will go down in the history of video advertising as legends, while Cadbury is still making money out of the sales obtained through this ad campaign.

9. Product Launch

Videos play a very influential role in the launch of a product or series of products. Often, the first impression is what matters to the audience. If the appeal is not right, the company will not be treated fairly in the market. 

Oppo, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer made its way to the Indian market in 2016 with their N1 model. The model was announced to the country with a romantic advertisement starring Bollywood personalities Sonam Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. This helped boost the sales of the product and helped the company lay its foundation in India, therefore leading to the sale of millions of their products.

10. Creating Awareness

It’s 2019 and the world is rapidly drifting towards global warming and a possible human extinction if appropriate measures are not taken. National Geographic, an American television network is one of the front runners in taking an initiative to spread awareness and save the world. They do this through their videos. Nat Geo have a huge following, with 74% of the households in USA having access to the network. They produce unpalatable videos that portray reality as it is, and this has affected the masses directly.

What is the Future of Videos?

Videos, without a doubt, are the future of advertising. Technology and its users are only growing in number with time. Instead of printed banners, screens are set up on the streets in several places where advertisements are displayed. This will soon spread to all parts of the world with the accessibility of technology.

As for the future of videos, there’s always space for a creative, emotionally charged advertisement. The internet is a growing phenomenon and so is the people’s understanding of it. The advance of carbon fibers and high speed internet cancels out the time taken to load videos. Internet rates are falling and in India, almost everyone has access to internet because of cheap tariffs on data started by Jio, and the internet quality will only improve as we drift towards the future.